Of NFL TV Ratings and Andrew Breitbart

Kathy Willens

In the NFL’s grand scheme of things, the Dallas Cowboys-Las Vegas Raiders game this past Thursday, won by the Raiders 36-33 in overtime, may not go down as a seminal matchup of the 2021-2022 season. However, it did mark an occasion worth noting. As sports reporter Michael Gelhken noted on Twitter, the game was watched by an estimated 38.5M viewers, making it the most-watched NFL regular-season game in thirty-one years.

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Thirty. One. Years.

And here we were, thinking no one watched football these days.

Much has been made, ever since the NFL bowed the knee to the wokesters in general and BLM in particular, of how conservatives were tuning out in droves. Ratings were tanking. Red ink was hemorrhaging. We’ll show them who’s the boss! This is still the case, although the evidence dictates we’re not running things. Either there are a lot fewer conservatives out there than is perceived to be the case or a lot more conservatives are watching football than is being let on. In terms of effectiveness, conservatives boycotting the NFL is at the same success level as the Lincoln Project’s war on pedophilia.

Maybe we should rethink things. For starters, we can accept the truth. We who hang out together online are the minority within the majority. The majority of conservatives do not frequent this site’s comments area. Or spend much if any time on Twitter arguing politics. While they’re missing out, it’s apparent they’re not interested in 24/7 political talk. They have families and jobs and hobbies and such taking precedence, which is as it should be.

Remember the late great Andrew Breitbart’s truism: Politics is downstream from culture. Marinating in politics all day, every day, is a luxury few can afford. It warrants asking if doing so, rising in righteous anger whenever someone or something gores your sacred cow, accomplishes anything. Certainly, the Biden administration’s miserable failures arouse our ire every time any of us shop for food or fill our car’s gas tank. But until the next election, we’re stuck with these clowns. Getting mad won’t change that.

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You can sit around until the cows, sacred or secular, come home, puffing out your chest as you boast about your great righteousness in not watching sports anymore. Hey, fine. Don’t watch. No one is forcing you to do so, or buy tickets or a jersey or hat or shirt or other team apparel. Huddle (no pun intended) together with others of like mind all you want. And then take a look at the TV ratings. Numbers don’t lie. You are not implementing change.

Again, maybe we should rethink things. Perhaps we should ask ourselves if we’re doing a decent job networking with conservatives outside our social media bubbles. Here’s some news: We’re not. Let’s start asking ourselves why this is the case.

Pogo was right. We have met the enemy and he is us. If your idea of an alternative to woke scolds is being a conservative scold, you’re doing it wrong. If your idea of proclaiming the conservative evangel is slapping litmus tests on everyone, you’re doing it wrong. So stop.

Try enjoying life. Watch football if you like. Talk to your neighbors. Play with your kids. Become an active member of society, not an echo chamber bell ringer. If you run across someone of like political mind who still watches sports, be like Elsa and let it go.

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Again, refer back to the example Andrew Breitbart set. Be a happy warrior. Live life. Show the world that when it comes to savoring our all-too brief time on this planet, conservatives know how to make the most of it. Life is going on regardless of your approval, so you might as well get on with it.

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