Football Fairytale or Fable?
admin February 8th, 2010
Americans love a good comeback, a rags-to-riches story, an innocent man who gets justice or victory for a city that has been living in turmoil.
This is why yesterday’s Super Bowl win tasted like Pecan Pie for New Orleans and for many Americans. For the first time in NFL history the Saints came up and conquered, restoring hope to a city that has been in a struggling economy for the last four years.
After Hurricane Katrina, Americans showed solidarity and assisted New Orleans by setting up relief funds, medical aid, rebuilding houses, and donating time to America’s city in chaos.
New Orleans hung in there, took their handouts and did what was necessary to survive after such a devastating event. But, yesterday was different.
The Saints sent out one big thank you to all of America and finally won back their city fair and square. No more handouts. It was symbolism at its best. Maybe even a fairytale…the stories my mom would prelude with, “remember this is only imaginary.”
After the game, I thought… finally some good karma, some divine intervention for this city. This is a perfect scenario for an economy that has been suffering for so long. This victory is sure to give New Orleans a good boost.
However, my cynical side kicked in, the one where people yell not another conspiracy theory! No, not the voices in my head, but the die-hard Saints’ fans and of course my friends who always cheer for the underdog.
I started to think… was this another handout given out by Corporate America? Was this an Ode to My Mum: putting out that disclaimer at the beginning of the fairytale?
The NFL is big business… Did Peyton Manning take one for the other team? Or, did he take one for his home town?
And, if the Colts did lose this Bowl for the betterment of society aren’t they the real heroes or are they just gettin paid.
Didn’t this sort of thing happen with boxing too? After a while, we pretty much knew a fight might be fixed? It’s hard to believe that we can’t just have a good ol’ fashion American Football Fairytale rather than a Corporate American Hand-Me-Down Dream.
Or, perhaps I’m still dealing with mommy issues?