The NFL Draft will be virtual this year, moving us a step closer to a Madden-esque existence. The sports world is struggling to deal with the crippling effects of the Covid-19 plague scenario. We are functioning in a world where public gathering is outlawed yet we are a nation that is supremely focused on such things. We mark our seasons by gatherings. In truth, many Americans mark our seasons by sports seasons. We crave the start of the football season. It is unthinkable that the NFL will not start on time, but that is our present reality. It triggers a deeper question: Does it actually matter?
Yes. and No.
See, we are also a nation powered by distraction. There is a constant schedule of distraction to move us off the idea of considering our own lives in any other context beyond consumption. What makes us the global financial engine that we are is that we consume so much. We must constantly generate more material, new seasons, greater highs, all in pursuit of not processing the unmanageable reality of the vapidness of our own human lives.
This is tribalism at its core. Many more of us are followers than leaders. We want direction and want to believe in a specific and central thing–be it our faith, our political affiliation, even our sports teams. Taken away from us we are aimless and bored and dangerous. Sports matter more than they ought to, but that does not change the reality that they do matter.