More and more people are starting to believe that football has replaced baseball as America's national pastime. I see their point, although I'm not sure I buy it just yet.
Rich Primo, a contributor to bleacherreport.com, makes the case that baseball is still this country's sport and he uses its biggest scandal — steroids — to cement his point. He correctly points out that when Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez and countless not-so-recognizable names were busted for steroids, they suffered intense public condemnation that NFL stars like Shawne Merriman and Rodney Harrison did not have to endure when they tested positive.
Primo concludes that this is because people genuinely care about the history and enduring legacy of baseball, whereas they don't feel the same way about football. While his argument certainly has its flaws ,and his flippant remarks like "football has no integrity" appear unwarranted, his overarching sentiment is pretty reasonable.
And yet, football does appear to have the kind of stranglehold on America's heart that baseball hasn't enjoyed since its 1994 strike. The possible explanations are endless: Football has parity and a salary cap (knock on wood), it allows for a party atmosphere, it's generally more exciting and so on.
But if I had to choose one reason as to why football is growing more popular with each passing year, I would have to say that the NFL as a whole does not have an enormous stick up its butt like the MLB, its baseball brother.
Football players simply seem to have a better time playing their game. I understand that playing 162 games is a lot different than playing 16, and if you're a Washington National or Pittsburgh Pirate these days, by mid-May you're probably second-guessing every decision that brought you to a baseball career.
But even the general attitude of the league squelches any joy that a player might feel over the course of a game.
Earlier this season, New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes and first baseman Carlos Delgado did a small dance routine in their dugout after a Delgado home run. Never before has a three-second dance been so mercilessly criticized. Commentators on WFAN The Fan, New York Sports Talk Radio, insisted that the dance was an amateur display of poor sportsmanship and that the two players should be embarrassed by their "antics."
In mid-August, much-maligned Orioles outfielder Félix Pié hit for the cycle, and after he slid into third base for the triple that completed the feat, he stood up and clapped his hands in celebration — just once. Mike Scioscia, manager of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, who was sitting in the third-base dugout at the time, ranted and raved in his post-game press conference about how Pié's clap was a bush-league attempt to embarrass the Angels.
Two words of advice to Scioscia and the puffed-up buffoons on The Fan: Lighten up.
As a baseball fan, I want to see players excited about what they do on the field and I want to see them celebrate with their teammates. It's not like Pié and Delagado and Reyes flipped off the opposing team and insulted their mothers.
And if Francisco Rodriguez wants to beat his chest and point to the sky after a save, why is that considered "showing up" the other team? He's an intense guy, and the gesture is meaningful to him. If you're a religious person, I guess you should start being more careful when the spirit moves you in church; you can't have God thinking you're trying to steal His thunder.
The line between professionalism and amateurism has been drawn in an absurd way when it comes to baseball, and while certain celebrations in the NFL are indeed over-the-top, you have to admit one thing: They have a good time.
Silly me; I thought that's what sports were all about.
