You may not have been aware of this, but the inaugural season of the MFL just ended. No this is not an obscure football league, the MFL is the Minnesota Fantasy Legislature. That’s right, fantasy legislature. Just as in fantasy sports leagues, team owners in the MFL draft politicians from the available office holders and score points based on the legislative accomplishments of their “players”. Points are awarded for among other things, bills that are filed, heard in committee, sent to the chamber floor for a vote, passed, signed by the Governor, and even passed by the override of the Governor’s veto.
Sports have always had a certain political aspect to them. The Heisman Trophy, the Most Valuable Players for any professional league, even the NCAA football championship are all chosen by the collective votes of everyone from sports writers to the fans themselves. There was speculation that Houston Rocket center Yao Ming was voted to the All-Star game his rookie year not because of his on court accomplishments, but the number of votes he received over the internet from fans in his native China essentially “stuffing” the ballots with votes for him to be included in the game. If memory serves me correctly, I think he started the game that year.
All things considered, the parallels between sports and politics have at times blurred the line that separates the two. Each has their own vernacular, but some terms have similar meanings. How many times have you read the word “campaign” substituted for the word “season” when describing the record of a sports team? From now until November of next year the cable news channels will never let us forget that it’s election “season”. A “yellow dog democrat” is basically the same as any “diehard fan”, casting allegiance with a favorite team, and nothing, not even a winless season, will make them change. A sports fan who follows a team because they’re winning is called a “band Wagoner”. These barnacles on the hull of the good ship victory, are just the same as a voter casting a ballot for a candidate without researching the person behind the persona.
Political “pundits” are basically cheerleaders without pompoms. For every James Carville there’s an opposing Rush Limbaugh. For the record, I agree with 90-95% of what Limbaugh says, but he has become so enamored with the sound of his own voice, that I‘ve stopped listening to his program.
J. C. Watts and Steve Largent are both political office holders in Oklahoma, and both enjoyed stellar football careers, Watts and Largent both played college ball for the Oklahoma Sooners, and Largent is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Former Knick Bill Bradley is a New York congressman. One can argue that the reason each of these men ventured into politics is the high public profile they attained during their playing days.
When I was in college my degree plan required a science class. The Environmental Science class was small and took a field trip to a water treatment plant, where I saw a poster that showed a large mouth bass floating on it’s side. The caption read “Only a dead fish goes with the flow”. I adopted that phrase as my motto and basic philosophy on life in general. In short, whether in choosing a political candidate to vote for, or a sports team to root for, don’t follow the crowd. Do the research. Think with your own brain.
