Do you recall the old football vs. baseball bit by the legendary late comedian George Carlin? The bit juxtaposed the overwhelming war imagery and militaristic terminology found in the jargon of football basics against the pleasant, wholesome and pastoral emotions evoked from the basic terminology of baseball.
HBO “Real Time” host Bill Maher has done the same thing as it applies to basic economic structure and revenue sharing in the NFL vs. MLB. It’s something I’ve been saying for years, unfortunately I’ve never taken the time to write it down, and develop the idea further. But here’s the gist of it, the NFL is number one because of their socialist system that facilitates parity, while MLB’s unfettered, laissez-faire capitalism keeps the big boys up at the top and the little man down.
Green Bay vs. Pittsburgh in this year’s Super Bowl only reaffirms this.
Here’s an excerpt of Maher’s final “New Rule” from his latest show Friday night
New Rule: With the Super Bowl only a week away, Americans must realize what makes NFL football so great: socialism. That’s right, for all the F-15 flyovers and flag waving, football is our most successful sport because the NFL takes money from the rich teams and gives it to the poor teams… just like President Obama wants to do with his secret army of ACORN volunteers. Green Bay, Wisconsin has a population of 100,000. Yet this sleepy little town on the banks of the Fuck-if-I-know River has just as much of a chance of making it to the Super Bowl as the New York Jets – who next year need to just shut the hell up and play.
Now, me personally, I haven’t watched a Super Bowl since 2004, when Janet Jackson’s nipple popped out during half time, and that split-second glimpse of an unrestrained black titty burned my eyes and offended me as a Christian. But I get it – who doesn’t love the spectacle of juiced-up millionaires giving each other brain damage on a giant flat-screen TV with a picture so realistic it feels like Ben Roethlisberger is in your living room, grabbing your sister?
It’s no surprise that some 100 million Americans will watch the Super Bowl next week – that’s 40 million more than go to church on Christmas – suck on that, Jesus!……
…….the same angry white males who hate Obama because he’s “redistributing wealth” just love football, a sport that succeeds economically because it does exactly that. To them, the NFL is as American as hot dogs, Chevrolet, apple pie, and a second, giant helping of apple pie.
To read the whole essay on the Huffington Post go here
And as promised, here’s Carlin’s famous bit on video