I want you to read the comments posted by two blog readers, John Odin and Severed End, to the post below this one.
It's two quite-expected responses to the repulsion of the theory of "Mr. 'Fuck the NFL'".
I've posted on this subject before, but I'll do it again: Situations can obviously change over the course of time.
I think it's clear to anyone who has basically paid attention this season that Mr. Goodell and His Merry Men have abandoned basically all pretense: You'll take the games however they present them to you and you will like it. And, you will believe that, no matter how ridiculous the situation is, that the players are either too stupid or inept (not to say anything about the officials, whom you would have to believe even more so!!) for this not to be the genuine article of professionalism, athletic excellence, and the best all this country will ever have to offer -- so swear your life, fortune, and sacred honor to THE SHIELD...
(And, no, I'm not referring to Reigns, etc., in the WWE...)
At least one of them said something to the effect of "Whichever team wins, you'll have an angle for it..."
You know what?
You're right, sir. You don't win in the NFL without being anointed by the Kingmaker, Roger Goodell.
And, after the post by Mr. "Fuck the NFL" actually began getting play outside of conspiracy circles, that created one of the oddest weekends I can remember covering in recent Goodell NFL times.
It was certainly... "un-Goodell-like"...
The only game which appeared, in much way, to be in any degree of doubt was the shenanigans in Seattle.
But, back to the comment made. I've got at least one angle for each of the four remaining teams.
San Francisco: I have two here. The first should be obvious to anyone who lived through the ESPN glorification of Montana, Young, and Rice: The Return of the Niner Empire. NSPN, as it was known to many Niner-haters, couldn't (and, to some extent, still can't) get enough of San Francisco Forty-Niner football.
Double that with a new stadium and the thought that the season opener (in most cases) is now played at the home of the Super Bowl Champion.
Seattle: The 12th Man. The biggest cult in football.
I have personally witnessed the extent to which these people bow to their flag (which is raised before every home game in Seattle) and will ignore life, limb, and everything else. It's all about the Seahawks...
Just as Roger Goodell would want it. I swear, the guy must wonder how this country survives the other seven months of the year.
New England: Old Reliable, The Fallback Plan.
Denver: By a sliver over Seattle, I now believe this *MIGHT* be the line they are planning to go.
It's not only Peyton Manning, but the question from what I asked before: Why do we find out about the potential for Peyton's career to be over _on the day of the game with San Diego_?
Consider: If Murderer Ray Lewis can get a ring on the way out the door, you think Goodell (and the owner of Papa Johns in his moat-surrounded mansion with 57-car garage or whatever garbage it is...) wouldn't want Peyton to have one too?
But the thing is: Roger Goodell, by having his hands on all the little dials which control the social hierarchy and the "bully pulpit" and the rhetoric, basically also controls all else.
So now, even for those of us who do question legitimacy, do we know which way they will go now?
Just a thought...
--
Oh, and one more thing, Mr. Goodell:
If your game was unscripted, if your corrupt and rigged bloodsport was so unscripted:
Then, if I were you, I'd have had NFL Security in the Saints locker room after the game with a little message for Mr. Colston:
New York. Monday. We'll subpeona you if we have to. We have some questions for you after that last play...
