Poem Response

This poem really speaks to me and I agree to it. If you read it and do not understand it right away you may not be that “all into football.” But what the poem is saying is that professional football is no longer just a game but it’s the focus has been about 30% football and 70% business. This poem may have been written a decade ago or recently, but regardless, the business part of the NFL and any professional football league has been obvious to whoever wrote this poem. And in my opinion, I have to agree with him/ her. Throughout my years of watching the NFL and college football there is one huge difference, and that has been money. When you hear about college football you think of players who love the sport, for not the money, but for the opportunity to play. I think through the NFL you don’t see the heart or love for the game as much. Money and the NFL “business” is part to blame. As a sports fan, I hear a lot of professional athletes, not just football players, complain about their salary. Some players that I can see have a “true love” for the game are guys like: Ray Lewis, Andre Johnson, Brian Urlacher and Peyton Manning. Those players are the definition of competitors and you hardly, if ever, hear them complain about their contract and money. I realize that being in the NFL, and being a professional is a job but some players take it too far. Some players or even rookies that have had one good year or have not even played a down yet in the NFL after they are drafted, right away expect a huge signing bonus or a raise on their pay. Not only do I think it takes a couple of years to prove yourself in the NFL, but I also think that players need to start playing for the game and not their salary.




The State Of Play
The pitch war rages; It’s kick off time
The cloth cap Kings begin to sing
Weather worn faces chant in line
Cursing and urging the team to win
But behind closed doors
There’s so much more
Than there was before
A Brand
A Label
Transfer cash on the table
Agents and players
On maximum wages
It’s the state of play in the English game
‘The Beautiful Game’ of the proletariat
The Prawn Sandwich Brigade support the overpaid
While we’re being used to feed the fattest of cats
Billionaire ‘benefactors’
Outpaying all detractors
Gangster wheeler dealers
Totaletarian ex-leaders
Sweat shop merchandisers
Buying clubs then capitalising
The punters cough up the coffers
Ticket prices always rising? Not surprising
Cheap ‘this and that’ tat that up’s the profit
Multi millions in sponsors and advertising
Grand ground improvement schemes
Who’ll build the next Theatre of Dreams?
At the cost of those who have the least
The ones who turn up every other week
We pay for those in the directors box
Who throw money around like it’s out of date
A continual profit at the supporters cost
Those cloth cap Kings outside the gates
Until…
The pitch war rages; It’s kick off time
The cloth cap Kings begin to sing
Weather worn faces chant in line
Cursing and urging the team to win
-Anonymous