Is it time to reconsider our devotion to big sports?
“...films, football, beer and above all, gambling filled up the horizon of their minds. To keep them in control was not difficult.” George Orwell, " 1984 " I have to admit, I am totally into people turning off professional football. Sure, I do not like it when players use a pre-game platform to kneel during the National Anthem as a form of protest. However, my hopes would be that we could return sports to something less corporate in nature, and if the public’s reaction against this new controversy helps in that process then all the better. Today professional sports have turned into something bigger than life for many people, and it is not just Americans and football – just look to people across the pond and their obsession with soccer. And this is nothing new really: look at how the gladiator games captivated audiences and were used by the ruling Roman elite not just to unify the population but also distract them from what was taking place in the empir