December 19, 2001
Konrad Switters

Football is a game, and like all games, Football has rules. As is the nature with rules, they are subject to interpretation. In the game of Football, rules can only be enforced insofar as they are witnessed by a referee, who is the chief official and is expected [and paid] to ensure fair play. Last Sunday, in a professional [and I use that word loosely] football stadium in Cleveland, Ohio, the fans in attendance showed their disagreement, with the official's judgement, in an astoundingly irreverent way.

The bedlam began after the referees used instant replay to overturn a fourth-down reception during Cleveland's final drive; it is worth noting that the instant replay clearly showed that the catch was indeed incomplete. The fans, however, were angered by the call, and threw hundreds of plastic beer bottles, water bottles, soda bottles, paper cups and other debris onto the field. This would have been funny, had it not been broadcast live on national television three months after the worst terrorist attack in United States history, during a massive military campaign in which hundreds of Americans are currently risking their lives in battle in Afghanistan in order to support the American freedom to gather at massive [and massively inconsequential] sporting events and have the privilege to get pissed off at the instant replay officials and hurl garbage down onto the field of play.

The particular circumstances of the overturned reception, are inconsequential to the ensuing sophomoric crowd reaction. The crowd's disagreement with the official's call went so far beyond acceptable behavior, that the subsequent sports analysis of the technicalities surrounding the referees decisions seems almost as embarrassing as the crowd's reaction. As if to render this entire scene even more preposterous, the comments from the team president and owner indicated that they were actually supportive of the crowd's juvenile actions. The New York Times reported that the Cleveland Browns president, Carmen Policy stated the following, at a press conference immediately after the game:

"I'm not criticizing the fans at all. I think people's hearts have been ripped out from this... I've seen snowballs flying in New England. I've seen snowballs fly at Giants games in the Meadowlands. I don't think Cleveland will take a black eye over this... I like the fact that our fans care that much." <link>

CNN-Sports Illustrated on-line reported that the team owner, Al Lerner, went as far as to excuse the rowdiness: "I think everyone controlled themselves considering they spent 60 minutes out in cold weather. It wasn't pleasant. I wouldn't suggest anything like that. But it wasn't World War III." <link>

No, it wasn't World War III. In fact, it wasn't a war at all. It was a game. Just a football game. We might have anticipated that the events of September 11 would adjust the American psyche to reconsider the value of social and cultural events within each of our lives. And this in turn might have allowed our culture, as a whole, to shift its perspective significantly enough that the energies and passions applied to scrutinizing a referees' objectionable call would be equally administered in a critical analysis of the politics and socioeconomics of our new world order. Or perhaps, one might simply resolve that things really are, sadly, back to normal.