A level playing field

Listen to Dave’s Commentary: The NFL: A level playing field

Politicians are always talking about a level playing field, but I wonder if they really mean it.

Last night, on 60 Minutes, Steve Kroft examined America’s most successful level playing field: the NFL.

“Under league rules, the teams are required to share most of their revenues with each other which is always a sticking point with some of the most successful franchises and their politically conservative owners.”

He pointed out to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell that this is in fact Socialism, but Goodell was unrepentant. Because sharing revenue is the only way to give the fans what they want, which happens to be the same thing politicians are always promising.

“One of the things we want every fan to feel in the country is hope when the season starts, that their team can end up holding that Super Bowl trophy.”

The NFL has discovered how to deliver hope! And you do it not just by making sure the lines are evenly spaced, but by starting everyone out with similar amounts of money and talent. It’s the exact opposite of baseball, where every team is just a Yankees farm team, or maybe Red Sox, possibly the Phillies.

And yet politicians, for all their talk about level playing fields, wouldn’t dream of anything close to the NFL. Because that is way too level, especially when we’re talking about competition between nations. When politicians talk about a level playing field, they mean a very special type.

“And if the playing field is level, I promise you, America will always win.” -Obama

A level playing field, where America always wins. And that is why football may get the ratings, but our favorite political metaphor will always be baseball.