NFL ==> Nothing Finer than Loot
The National Football League has long been an interest of my partner and I. Recent events ( September 2014 ) have brought the NFL into even sharper focus than before. Here are the axioms of the NFL and some of it's supporters.
Orwellian Double-Speak
Sponsors of the NFL have complained about it's handling of Domestic Violence.
Pepsico is pretty straightforward
“Domestic violence is completely unacceptable,” the company said in a
statement. “We are encouraged to see the NFL is now treating this with
the seriousness it deserves.”
The beer maker Anheuser-Busch is more Orwellian....
“We are not yet satisfied with the league’s handling of behaviors that
so clearly go against our own company culture and moral code,” the
company said. “We have shared our concerns and expectations with the
league.”
Notice that Anheuser-Busch has not said it opposes Domestic Violence. Nor does it say how far it is willing to go to support it's mystery moral compass. Perhaps some other statement by Anheuser-Busch will make their axioms more clear.
Only the Radisson hotel chain went as far as doing anything substantial. It announced it was suspending its sponsorship of the Minnesota Vikings football team.
"We support due process but ........ "
This verbiage has been uttered by members of the NFL , members of the media , and just about every other group that has weighed in. The fact is clear that none of them really give a flying parakeet about due process. The general tenor is " We know what we saw in the videos and photos and that is all that is required"
"We want to get this right ........"
Every time this uttered .... not much is said about what getting it right would look like.
Bow to the power of Social Media ( S&M )
The 3,985 kilogram gorilla ( or 16,000 pound elephant ) in the room is Social Media. The "quick to judge", viral nature of Internet opinion is being given immense attention by the NFL. I have heard no one talk about the characteristics of Social Media.... one characteristic is that it is mob rule. It has no known axioms ........ such as respect for the individual to be free to define Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness ( #LLPOH ).
Who bows to S&M ?
The NFL marketing gurus , the people employed in the NFL ( coaches, players, ... ) , the media owners ( look what happened to Stephen A. Smith ), the media pundits ( look what happened to Stephen A. Smith ) , .......
The Bottom Line
Here is a simplified equation for the NFL ( and others ).
[ ( Number of Satisfied Members of the Mob ) times ( $$$ spent by each Mob Member ) ] plus [ ( Number of Complicit Advertisers ) times ( Budget of each Advertiser ) ] is much greater than ( population of earth ) times ( value of LLPOH ) ....
