![\"It](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dougsbriefcase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/credit-warroomphilly.jpg\")
<\/a>It won\u2019t be a Very Brady pre-Christ\u00admas game on Sun\u00adday night, as NBC<\/span> will fea\u00adture Nick Foles and the Eagles against the Bears, rather than Tom Brady and the Patri\u00adots vs. the Ravens. [Cred\u00adit: warroomphilly.com]<\/p><\/div>Foot\u00adball com\u00adbines the two worst things about Amer\u00adi\u00adca: it is vio\u00adlence punc\u00adtu\u00adat\u00aded by com\u00admit\u00adtee meet\u00adings<\/em>. \u2013 George Will<\/a>\n The NFL<\/span> has decid\u00aded that today\u2019s fea\u00adtured game \u2013 played at night dur\u00ading prime\u00adtime, rather than dur\u00ading the after\u00adnoon \u2013 will be the Philadel\u00adphia Eagles against the Chica\u00adgo Bears<\/a>. That deci\u00adsion shows just how con\u00adfi\u00addent the league is that you will watch just about any game they decide to air, a well-ground\u00aded con\u00adfi\u00addence built on decades of sol\u00adid leadership.<\/p>\n They could have put the Bal\u00adti\u00admore-New Eng\u00adland game in the slot. It pits the reign\u00ading Super Bowl Cham\u00adpi\u00adon Ravens against Tom Brady and the Patri\u00adots. It seems a bet\u00adter rat\u00adings-get\u00adter. Tom Brady is an elite quar\u00adter\u00adback who has won 3 Super Bowls, done GQ<\/span> cov\u00aders and has a super\u00admod\u00adel wife. Your sis\u00adter knows who Tom Brady is. Ask her if she\u2019s heard of Nick Foles. Or Jay Cutler.<\/p>\n Foles and Cut\u00adler are the lead\u00aders of the two high\u00adly flawed teams you\u2019ll be watch\u00ading tonight. The Eagles and Bears have won bare\u00adly more games than they\u2019ve lost and nei\u00adther is a sure bet to make the play\u00adoffs. That each team leads its respec\u00adtive divi\u00adsion with an 8\u20136 record is less a tes\u00adta\u00adment to their strength than to the weak\u00adness of their rivals.<\/p>\n The game does have what com\u00admen\u00adta\u00adtors call \u201cplay\u00adoff impli\u00adca\u00adtions.\u201d But so does the Patri\u00adots-Ravens match. Of the 16 games to be played today and tomor\u00adrow, 12 fall into that cat\u00ade\u00adgo\u00adry. Under the NFL<\/span>\u2019s play\u00adoff sys\u00adtem, the best teams are com\u00adpet\u00ading for home field advan\u00adtage, above-aver\u00adage teams are vying to win their divi\u00adsions, and mediocre teams are hop\u00ading for some improb\u00ada\u00adble chain of events that will secure them a berth in the post-sea\u00adson tour\u00adna\u00adment. Even the games of mis\u00ader\u00adable teams count for some\u00adthing, as the worst seek high\u00ader draft picks (unless, like the Red\u00adskins, you\u2019ve already trad\u00aded away your first-round pick<\/a>). Near\u00adly every game is relevant.<\/p>\n The NFL<\/span> knows that casu\u00adal fans with no root\u00ading inter\u00adest will tune in tonight to watch two teams that lack impres\u00adsive resumes and mar\u00adquis quar\u00adter\u00adbacks. That\u2019s because the game\u2019s over\u00adlords have devel\u00adoped a prod\u00aduct that peo\u00adple will con\u00adsume, almost entire\u00adly with\u00adout respect to the teams involved.<\/p>\n The NFL\u2019s suc\u00adcess con\u00adtrasts sharply with Major League Baseball\u2019s fail\u00adures. Once the nation\u2019s pas\u00adtime, even baseball\u2019s pre\u00admier event now strug\u00adgles to attract view\u00aders. It was big news in Octo\u00adber when the fourth game of the World Series edged out<\/a> the Sun\u00adday night tele\u00adcast of a mid-sea\u00adson Pack\u00aders-Vikings game.<\/p>\n The World Series, America\u2019s top sport\u00ading event just a gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion ago, does\u00adn\u2019t belong in the same con\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adtion with the Super Bowl. More than 108 mil\u00adlion peo\u00adple<\/a> watched this year\u2019s NFL<\/span> cham\u00adpi\u00adonship game. The World Series typ\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly aver\u00adages 15\u201320 mil\u00adlion view\u00aders<\/a>. The two sports are mov\u00ading in oppo\u00adsite direc\u00adtions. Super Bowl view\u00ader\u00adship is up 30 per\u00adcent over the past 25 years despite the pro\u00adlif\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion of view\u00ading options, while World Series rat\u00adings have declined by half <\/a>over that same period.<\/p>\n Football\u2019s advan\u00adtage over base\u00adball isn\u2019t about action and pace. Dur\u00ading the 3 hours and 10 min\u00adutes<\/a> it takes to play the aver\u00adage NFL<\/span> game, the ball is in play for about 11 min\u00adutes<\/a>. The remain\u00ading three hours, as George Will notes, con\u00adsist of com\u00admit\u00adtee meet\u00adings, com\u00admer\u00adcials, half\u00adtime blath\u00ader and lit\u00adi\u00adga\u00adtion, as games are halt\u00aded for inter\u00adminable reviews of con\u00adtro\u00adver\u00adsial calls.<\/p>\n Foot\u00adball is beat\u00ading base\u00adball not because it offers non-stop action like hock\u00adey, but at least in part because its exec\u00adu\u00adtives have worked to gen\u00ader\u00adate nation\u00adal \u2013 as opposed to local or region\u00adal \u2014 inter\u00adest in the out\u00adcomes of its games. Con\u00adsid\u00ader that the nation\u2019s sec\u00adond largest media mar\u00adket, Los Ange\u00adles, has two major league base\u00adball teams, two NHL<\/span> squads and two NBA<\/span> fran\u00adchis\u00ades, but hasn\u2019t had an NFL<\/span> team since 1995. No oth\u00ader sport would think about snub\u00adbing such a large mar\u00adket. And yet peo\u00adple in Los Ange\u00adles will watch<\/a> the Eagles and the Bears on a Sun\u00adday night (aver\u00adage rat\u00ading of 12.8<\/a>), while few would both\u00ader to tune into a Phillies-Cubs Sun\u00adday night tele\u00adcast (aver\u00adage rat\u00ading of 1.3<\/a>).<\/p>\n MLB<\/span>\u2019s lead\u00aders have been every bit as bad as the NFL<\/span>\u2019s have been good. Base\u00adball devel\u00adoped as a sport of local alle\u00adgiances and its lead\u00aders did noth\u00ading to expand on that. As a result, fans will watch their own teams, but show lit\u00adtle inter\u00adest in those from oth\u00ader cities. That\u2019s a major rea\u00adson why 8 or 9 times as many peo\u00adple watched the Super Bowl<\/a> between the Ravens and the Saints as the World Series<\/a> between the Giants and Tigers. The Series got stel\u00adlar rat\u00adings in San Fran\u00adcis\u00adco and Detroit, but made scarce\u00adly a rip\u00adple in the rest of the coun\u00adtry. The World Series has lim\u00adit\u00aded nation\u00adal appeal.<\/p>\n The NFL<\/span> has labored suc\u00adcess\u00adful\u00adly to win over new gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtions of fans, while base\u00adball pri\u00admar\u00adi\u00adly inter\u00adests peo\u00adple born before 1965. Foot\u00adball is beer com\u00admer\u00adcials; base\u00adball is Via\u00adgra ads. One poll found that only 8 per\u00adcent of peo\u00adple aged 25\u201329<\/a> list base\u00adball as their favorite sport. Anoth\u00ader<\/a> that 39 per\u00adcent of self-described base\u00adball fans are aged 48\u201366 and that 29 per\u00adcent are over 67. When near\u00adly 70 per\u00adcent of your fan base is over 48, you don\u2019t have much of a future.<\/p>\n Baseball\u2019s decline has been long, steady and abet\u00adted by inept lead\u00ader\u00adship. The Har\u00adris poll<\/a>,<\/span> which has been ask\u00ading Amer\u00adi\u00adcans their favorite sport for many years, found a vir\u00adtu\u00adal tie between foot\u00adball and base\u00adball in 1985: 24 per\u00adcent chose foot\u00adball, com\u00adpared with 23 per\u00adcent for base\u00adball. That has changed dra\u00admat\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly in the inter\u00adven\u00ading 28 years. By 1992, the year Bud Selig became com\u00admis\u00adsion\u00ader, foot\u00adball had tak\u00aden a 28\u201321 advan\u00adtage, a larg\u00ader, though hard\u00adly irre\u00adversible, deficit. Today, 21 years into Selig\u2019s dis\u00adas\u00adtrous tenure, more than twice as many fans list foot\u00adball as base\u00adball as their favorite (34\u201316).<\/p>\n And base\u00adball isn\u2019t los\u00ading ground to foot\u00adball alone. Few\u00ader peo\u00adple now watch the World Series than the NBA<\/span> finals<\/a>. Only 15%<\/a> say they are very inter\u00adest\u00aded in major league base\u00adball, com\u00adpared with 26% who describe them\u00adselves as NASCAR<\/span> fans.<\/p>\n Minori\u00adties, like the young, are desert\u00ading base\u00adball. When Jack\u00adie Robin\u00adson broke the col\u00ador bar\u00adri\u00ader in 1947, he pre\u00adcip\u00adi\u00adtat\u00aded a rapid rise in the num\u00adber of African-Amer\u00adi\u00adcans play\u00ading major league base\u00adball. Accord\u00ading to the league\u2019s own fig\u00adures, blacks filled just under 20 per\u00adcent of major league ros\u00adter slots from the 1970s to the 1990s. That per\u00adcent\u00adage plum\u00admet\u00aded dur\u00ading the Selig era. Today it stands at 8.5 per\u00adcent<\/a>. There were more play\u00aders born in the Domini\u00adcan Repub\u00adlic<\/a> on major league ros\u00adters this past open\u00ading day than African-Americans.<\/p>\n Base\u00adball now recruits a sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant amount of tal\u00adent from out\u00adside our bor\u00adders. Over 28 per\u00adcent<\/a> of play\u00aders on those ros\u00adters were born out\u00adside the US<\/span>. Selig\u2019s defend\u00aders will point to that as a sign of the game\u2019s vital\u00adi\u00adty. It\u2019s more like\u00adly an index of the game\u2019s dimin\u00adish\u00ading pop\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adi\u00adty among Amer\u00adi\u00adcans. Base\u00adball no longer attracts the best Amer\u00adi\u00adcan ath\u00adletes. They end up in the NFL<\/span> and NBA<\/span>.<\/p>\n His apol\u00ado\u00adgists will also cite big region\u00adal (as opposed to nation\u00adal) TV<\/span> con\u00adtracts, high\u00ader atten\u00addance fig\u00adures and new sta\u00addi\u00adums as evi\u00addence of the sport\u2019s endur\u00ading pop\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adi\u00adty. But all of this was bought with cap\u00adi\u00adtal that the game accrued over gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtions. An aging fan base that pre\u00addom\u00adi\u00adnant\u00adly con\u00adsists of peo\u00adple in their peak earn\u00ading years and retirees has the dis\u00adpos\u00adable income to buy sea\u00adson tick\u00adets and the free time to watch their local team on TV<\/span>. The new sta\u00addi\u00adums, built with large infu\u00adsions of gov\u00adern\u00adment mon\u00adey, tend to seat about 1\/3 few\u00ader peo\u00adple than the ones they replaced and mim\u00adick Baltimore\u2019s Cam\u00adden Yards, a retro struc\u00adture that evokes mem\u00ado\u00adries of ball\u00adparks that were demol\u00adished dur\u00ading the 1960s and 1970s. A game whose newest mon\u00adu\u00adments look to the ghosts of an ear\u00adli\u00ader age is not one that is fac\u00ading the future with confidence.<\/p>\n In ret\u00adro\u00adspect, 1992 was a crit\u00adi\u00adcal year for baseball\u2019s for\u00adtunes. That was the year that own\u00aders sacked Fay Vin\u00adcent, who became com\u00admis\u00adsion\u00ader after his friend Bart Gia\u00admat\u00adti died sud\u00adden\u00adly in Sep\u00adtem\u00adber 1989. Vin\u00adcent, like the man he suc\u00adceed\u00aded, was an intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal whose pri\u00adma\u00adry alle\u00adgiance was to the game, rather than to the team\u2019s own\u00aders. Such inde\u00adpen\u00addence and high-mind\u00aded\u00adness didn\u2019t wear well with own\u00aders, who were gird\u00ading for anoth\u00ader round of labor nego\u00adti\u00ada\u00adtions. So they replaced Vin\u00adcent in 1992 with one of their own: Mil\u00adwau\u00adkee Brew\u00aders own\u00ader Bud Selig.<\/p>\n Selig retained con\u00adtrol of his fran\u00adchise while serv\u00ading as \u201cinter\u00adim com\u00admis\u00adsion\u00ader.\u201d The move was appalling\u00adly short-sight\u00aded. Instead of hav\u00ading a com\u00admis\u00adsion\u00ader who was an arguably neu\u00adtral bro\u00adker in labor nego\u00adti\u00ada\u00adtions, Selig was both a union antag\u00ado\u00adnist and pre\u00adsum\u00adably rep\u00adre\u00adsent\u00ading the game\u2019s inter\u00adests in the talks. The results were pre\u00addictable. The strike that began in August 1994 last\u00aded 232 days and wiped out more than 900 games<\/a>,<\/span> includ\u00ading the World Series, an insti\u00adtu\u00adtion that had endured for 90 years and was played with\u00adout inter\u00adrup\u00adtion through two world wars.<\/p>\n A sport already los\u00ading pop\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adi\u00adty accel\u00ader\u00adat\u00aded its slide. Over the years, the hap\u00adless Selig man\u00adaged ever more stun\u00adning fail\u00adures, shat\u00adter\u00ading the game\u2019s rep\u00adu\u00adta\u00adtion and bleed\u00ading away its fan base. Whether Selig was mere\u00adly obliv\u00adi\u00adous or silent\u00adly com\u00adplic\u00adit<\/a> in the steroid scan\u00addal may nev\u00ader be known. What is cer\u00adtain is that he was an accom\u00adplice in ruin\u00ading the rep\u00adu\u00adta\u00adtions of a gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion of the game\u2019s bright\u00adest stars and tar\u00adnish\u00ading the sport\u2019s most cher\u00adished records.<\/p>\n As base\u00adball lan\u00adguished at the hands of Selig, the NFL<\/span> was flour\u00adish\u00ading under the vision\u00adary lead\u00ader\u00adship of able com\u00admis\u00adsion\u00aders like Paul Tagli\u00adabue and Roger Good\u00adell, who togeth\u00ader built and expand\u00aded on Pete Rozelle\u2019s work of cul\u00adti\u00advat\u00ading broad inter\u00adest in their sport. They have suc\u00adceed\u00aded as remark\u00adably as Selig has failed, giv\u00ading those who think CEOs are over\u00adpaid<\/a> a sol\u00adid talk\u00ading point: Selig col\u00adlects $18.4 mil\u00adlion per year<\/a>,<\/span> near\u00adly twice as much as Goodell.<\/p>\n One could argue, I sup\u00adpose, that baseball\u2019s decline was inevitable, that it would have lost ground to oth\u00ader sports regard\u00adless of who served as com\u00admis\u00adsion\u00ader. Though it is the best defense one could mount of Selig, it is a weak one. Fail\u00adure, like suc\u00adcess, is sel\u00addom inevitable. Lead\u00ader\u00adship mat\u00adters in sports, in busi\u00adness, in pol\u00adi\u00adtics and gov\u00adern\u00adment. Pre\u00adem\u00adi\u00adnence in any field is hard to achieve and hard\u00ader still to main\u00adtain. The slow hem\u00ador\u00adrhage of bad deci\u00adsions may not be imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly obvi\u00adous, but its effects become irre\u00adversible with time. Baseball\u2019s par\u00adlous con\u00addi\u00adtion result\u00aded from years of bad deci\u00adsions made by bad lead\u00aders, none worse than its cur\u00adrent commissioner.<\/p>\n The extent of the game\u2019s decline came into focus this week when the Fed\u00ader\u00adal Com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adca\u00adtions Com\u00admis\u00adsion pro\u00adposed to repeal the black\u00adout rule<\/a>,<\/span> which allows sports leagues to pro\u00adhib\u00adit the broad\u00adcast of home games unless they are sold out. The rule was first insti\u00adtut\u00aded in 1961 when Con\u00adgress enact\u00aded the Sports Broad\u00adcast\u00ading Act at the behest of the NFL<\/span> own\u00aders. Unlike their base\u00adball coun\u00adter\u00adparts, whose broad\u00adcast\u00ading rights rest\u00aded (and, to a great degree, con\u00adtin\u00adue to rest) on con\u00adtracts between teams and their local media out\u00adlets, foot\u00adball own\u00aders want\u00aded to con\u00adtract with a sin\u00adgle nation\u00adal net\u00adwork to broad\u00adcast all games. Because tele\u00adcasts of home games could dis\u00adcour\u00adage atten\u00addance, they secured an antitrust exemp\u00adtion from Con\u00adgress that enabled them to estab\u00adlish the local black\u00adout rule as a league-wide policy.<\/p>\n Base\u00adball own\u00aders scarce\u00adly noticed. In 1961, they had no real rivals. Roger Maris had just bro\u00adken Babe Ruth\u2019s sin\u00adgle-sea\u00adson home run mark, the game was expand\u00ading into new mar\u00adkets, and a gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion of young stars, includ\u00ading African-Amer\u00adi\u00adcans like Willie Mays and Frank Robin\u00adson, were cap\u00adtur\u00ading the imag\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtions of a young and bur\u00adgeon\u00ading gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion. Base\u00adball reigned supreme.<\/p>\n The NFL<\/span>, mean\u00adwhile, couldn\u2019t estab\u00adlish suprema\u00adcy in its own sport. The upstart AFL<\/span> was com\u00adpet\u00ading for the best col\u00adlege ath\u00adletes. The first Super Bowl wouldn\u2019t be played until 1967. The two leagues wouldn\u2019t merge sched\u00adules until 1970<\/a>. No one could have imag\u00adined in 1961 that foot\u00adball would soon over\u00adtake base\u00adball in popularity.<\/p>\n The seeds of that cul\u00adtur\u00adal shift were sown in that 1961 leg\u00adis\u00adla\u00adtion. The NFL<\/span> Com\u00admis\u00adsion\u00ader under\u00adstood that foot\u00adball was a made-for-TV sport and that it was cru\u00adcial for the league to con\u00adtrol its broad\u00adcast rights. The selec\u00adtion of games and tele\u00adcast times evolved into a sci\u00adence that NFL<\/span> czars used to make it a tru\u00adly nation\u00adal game. It\u2019s among the many good deci\u00adsions that helped estab\u00adlish football\u2019s dominance.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s one rea\u00adson why you\u2019ll tune in to the Eagles-Bears game tonight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Foot\u00adball com\u00adbines the two worst things about Amer\u00adi\u00adca: it is vio\u00adlence punc\u00adtu\u00adat\u00aded by com\u00admit\u00adtee meet\u00adings. \u2013 George Will The NFL<\/span> has decid\u00aded that today\u2019s fea\u00adtured game \u2013 played at night dur\u00ading prime\u00adtime, rather than dur\u00ading the after\u00adnoon \u2013 will be \u2026 Con\u00adtin\u00adue read\u00ading