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Posted on 02/08/2026 11:41:24 AM PST by Rummyfan
Three weeks ago, my beloved San Francisco 49ers were unceremoniously dispatched from the NFL playoffs by the Seattle Seahawks, who are vying for their second Super Bowl championship today. The result didn’t surprise many; the Niners were hobbled by injuries to many of their best players and, frankly, enjoyed more than a bit of luck in getting as far as they did this past season. But every year, the Grim Reaper comes for all but one team, and my guys could not evade his grip.
More alarmingly, in his new book, the writer Chuck Klosterman predicts the Reaper will soon come for all of football, despite its wild popularity. "Football is doomed," writes Klosterman, a self-described huge fan of the sport, and, in the future, people "are going to misunderstand why it once mattered as much as it did." So as you mash your guacamole, ice your beers, and broil your wings in preparation for the big event, be forewarned: America’s favorite game is in trouble.
"Football is so ingrained in American society that it’s hard to visualize an America without it," Klosterman begins. After all, of the 100 most-watched telecasts in the United States in 2023, no fewer than 93 were NFL games—and three more were college football broadcasts. More Americans watch the Super Bowl than election results. And today’s game will be aired in nearly 200 countries.
(Excerpt) Read more at freebeacon.com ...
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President Trump has an opportunity to do the funniest thing during the halftime show.
F-22s suddenly pulled from Super Bowl flyover due to ‘operational assignments’
...He also touches on how gambling has affected the game ("you can’t understand football if you’re not betting on it"), although he mostly punts on the topic. He tackles the elephant in the room, daring to engage on race and football and urging the Hall of Fame to admit Colin Kaepernick, the 49ers quarterback who famously knelt during the national anthem to protest police misconduct.
Kaepernick in the HOF? NFW!
and urging the Hall of Fame to admit Colin Kaepernick
How to say “I’m a blithering idiot”, without saying “I’m a blithering idiot.”
I think he’s right about its eventual demise, but how can anyone who thinks that Kaepernick should be in the HOF be taken seriously? As an aside, my nephew worked for the NFL at its headquarters for several years. He said the NFL would cease to exist without gambling.
Gambling has given all professional sports a huge boost. With proposition bets on all aspects of any game or tournament, it's probably the fastest growing sector of the economy today. I'm watching golf - I'm sure I could get a bet down on Hideki Matsuyama birdying the next hole for example.
Now days the teams have no local players and even the team is for sale to who ever has the most money.
Not to mention that professional betting has resulted in some rather INTERESTING calls.
Charles John Klosterman (/ˈkloʊstərmən/;[1] born June 5, 1972) is an American author and essayist whose work focuses on American popular culture. He has been a columnist for Esquire and ESPN.com and wrote "The Ethicist" column for The New York Times Magazine. Klosterman is the author of twelve books, including two novels and the essay collection Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto. He was awarded the ASCAP Deems Taylor award for music criticism in 2002.
And players used to have to get jobs in the off-season. And the money you got from winning a playoff game, was substantial.
I remember an interview with a player, when they asked him how he mentally prepared for a game, and his answer was, “I just look at the other team and think, “Those guys are trying to steal my money!”
I think your nephew meant that the NFL would cease to exist,AT THE CURRENT POPULAR STATE, without gambling.
It is a very good game, in its more “primitive” early years.
Nowadays, it is a sculpted, made for gambling, primetime broadcasts, and advertising, travesty . The game is a 3 hour commercial, with some plays allowed to be run between commercials.
Replace it with rugby!
I’ve played both. Rugby is a much better game.
Rugby has much much more!
All of that made it a more relatable and IMHO enjoyable game to watch.
About the only place you find that any more is in high school games and somewhat in junior, college or minor ball games.
I got roped into going to my daughter’s housefor the game. She invited my friend to go too, nice woman who took care of my cat when I was hospitalized. Have to run to the store right now for a tray of veggies I was asked to bring.
I HATE FOOTBALL.
Rugby is the only team sport I love to watch. Apparently no rules, and always funny stuff going on.
Golf season starts today, thank goodness. A civilized and extremely difficult sport to play. I flunked my lessons, vision sux.
Do you buy his case that suburban Moms will kill it by way of not letting their boys play on account of the potential health danger?
All-American Halftime Show
vs
Half America all the time show
Hmm... tough choice.
Rugby has plenty of rules!
I like football I hate what its evolved into!
Who? Eleanor Rugby?
Yes.
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