Bob Franken: Super snoozer

  • By Bob Franken
  • Tuesday, January 27, 2015 8:18pm
  • Opinion

Will somebody please explain why we give a hoot about “Deflategate”? For those who have had the good sense to avoid the news and sports on TV, that’s the inevitable “gate” tag we clever ones have attached to the scandal over whether the New England Patriots cheated by using footballs that were not blown up to legal size and therefore made easier to grip. The Patriots easily won the playoff game that propelled them to the Super Bowl, and even though the consensus was that ball size was not a deciding factor, size still does matter sometimes. It’s to the point that the controversy has shoved aside the usual banal conversation leading up to the big game, which not only decides the NFL championship, but is an event that is the most watched each year. It continues to be a big deal, even in a professional sport facing real controversies — players who are domestic abusers, a game itself that leaves so many of its players severely injured for life and an organization that tolerates a franchise with a blatantly racist name? Despite all that, each year we get caught up in the Super Bowl, with its excess and grossly outsized egos.

All of the hype kinda reminds us of politics, doesn’t it? How else to comprehend the attention that the political media pay to a gathering of hard-right Republicans in Iowa, convened by the unapologetically extreme-right Congressman Steve King. A big chunk of the GOP presidential field was there, largely those who are trying to outdo each other in appealing to party members who prefer their meat red. And in Iowa, they are all about red meat. To give an idea of who made up the 1,200 or so in the audience, Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush decided not to attend, possibly to avoid the embarrassment of being booed off stage. Actually, one “moderate,” Chris Christie, did decide to show up, but as he pointed out, he’s from New Jersey and is used to nastiness.

Of course, the lineup of far-right fielders was well-represented; Ted Cruz, Ben Carson and Rick Santorum were there to insist that they could rescue America from the scourge of liberalism and undo damage that the Satan Barack Obama has inflicted. But they were not the headliners: Donald Trump and Sarah Palin were. Both announced to the world that they were available to lead our nation back from despair. Palin said repeatedly she is “seriously interested,” and Trump did, too, insisting: “I’m the one person who can make this country great again, that’s all I know.”

So that brings to nearly 30 the number of Republicans who think they have what it takes to win the election Super Bowl. But that’s not till November of next year. Between now and then, they’ll be flocking to endless exhibition games like Congressman King’s gathering of the Iowa faithful, and we in political pack journalism will be there in force, as we scramble for every morsel tossed to us by those who frequently insult us.

Why do we participate? What else would we do? Cover substance? Surely you jest. Even as the aforementioned President Obama continues to hurl policies with significant impact, we’ll spend most of our time regurgitating how angry he has made the opposition Congress, and dwell on the GOP’s maneuvers. We’ll spend almost no time digging in to the pros and cons of his proposals. They are only the backdrop for the really big shoe, which is the campaign.

Maybe that’s why Deflategate became such a big deal. The first of the two weeks before the big football game isn’t very newsworthy, so we had to create some controversy. But let’s not get too carried away looking for similarities. When it comes to sports and politics, there’s one big difference: People care about the Super Bowl.

Bob Franken is a longtime broadcast journalist, including 20 years at CNN.

More in Opinion

This image available under the Creative Commons license shows the outline of the state of Alaska filled with the pattern of the state flag.
Opinion: Old models of development are not sustainable for Alaska

Sustainability means investing in keeping Alaska as healthy as possible.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy unveils proposals to offer public school teachers annual retention bonuses and enact policies restricting discussion of sex and gender in education during a news conference in Anchorage. (Screenshot)
Opinion: As a father and a grandfather, I believe the governor’s proposed laws are anti-family

Now, the discrimination sword is pointing to our gay and transgender friends and families.

Kenai Peninsula Education Association President Nathan Erfurth works in his office on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Voices of the Peninsula: Now is the time to invest in Kenai Peninsula students

Parents, educators and community members addressed the potential budget cuts with a clear message.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy holds a press conference at the Capitol on Tuesday, April 9, 2019. (Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: An accurate portrayal of parental rights isn’t controversial

Affirming and defining parental rights is a matter of respect for the relationship between parent and child

t
Opinion: When the state values bigotry over the lives of queer kids

It has been a long, difficult week for queer and trans Alaskans like me.

Dr. Sarah Spencer. (Photo by Maureen Todd and courtesy of Dr. Sarah Spencer)
Voices of the Peninsula: Let’s bring opioid addiction treatment to the Alaskans who need it most

This incredibly effective and safe medication has the potential to dramatically increase access to treatment

Unsplash / Louis Velazquez
Opinion: Fish, family and freedom… from Big Oil

“Ultimate investment in the status quo” is not what I voted for.

An orphaned moose calf reared by the author is seen in 1970. (Stephen F. Stringham/courtesy photo)
Voices of the Peninsula: Maximizing moose productivity on the Kenai Peninsula

Maximum isn’t necessarily optimum, as cattle ranchers learned long ago.

(Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)
Opinion: The time has come to stop Eastman’s willful and wanton damage

God in the Bible makes it clear that we are to care for the vulnerable among us.

Caribou graze on the greening tundra of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska in June, 2001. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
Opinion: AIDEA’s $20 million-and-growing investment looks like a bad bet

Not producing in ANWR could probably generate a lot of money for Alaska.

A fisher holds a reel on the Kenai River near Soldotna on June 30, 2021. (Photo by Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Voices of the Peninsula: King salmon closures long overdue

Returns have progressively gone downhill since the early run was closed in June 2012

(Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
Opinion: Fixing legislative salaries and per diem

The state Senate was right to unanimously reject giving a 20% pay… Continue reading