More Than a Game
Thoughts by Jodi Dorshorst
What some consider a game has more serious consequences
You must have something you’re passionate about. Something that gets your motor going. Something that, for unknown reasons, makes your heartbeat fast, and gets your emotions deeply involved.
For me, it’s the Green Bay Packers.
I was at the Monday Night Football game where the Packers lost to the Seahawks on a bad call. You might have seen it, you might have heard about it, or you might not give two shakes of a rusty tin can about the sport, but what happened matters to everyone— and here’s why.
Consider the sport of American Football as a microcosm of the American corporation. Power and money is held in the hands of a few, there are some very visible, powerful players, and then there are a lot of little people making sure the whole thing works. We’re talking about hot dog venders to camera operators– and of course the refs who officiate the games. A lot of the time, these people go unnoticed by fans and outsiders, but as with any machine, if one part gets messed with, the whole unit can be compromised.
In the last three weeks, the health and safety of the players have been in the hands of amateur officials whose experience includes officiating in the high school circuit and the Lingerie Football League. I’m not saying that these guys were not trying their best to officiate, it’s just that they are in a different league—literally. Plus, the NFL is a corporation that makes about $9 billion a year and is willing to sacrifice skilled and experienced officials merely to save about $5 million a year. For all you non-math majors out there, that’s about five hundredths of a percent. An assault on worker benefits and retirement plans from one of the most profitable business enterprises in the country can’t bode well for anyone else in corporate America.
There’s no way to overturn the game, so the only thing to do is move forward. But it’s good to know that the real officials are coming back. I just hope that people make the connection that you get what you pay for. Wisconsin recently cut public employee benefits under Gov. Walker and many of the fine teachers and other public servants are now looking elsewhere. Many cities and states across the country are following suit. The Packers might miss out on their rightful spot in the playoffs this year, but hopefully the unskilled and inexperienced replacement teachers, police officers, and fire fighters won’t mess up the future for years to come.
