Wholesome Fun for the Whole Family!

. . . just not at an NFL game

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Maybe you’ve seen that little slice of derangement caught on video outside Paycor on Sunday. A fan in really bad Bengals Zubaz overalls head-butted another fan for seemingly the hell of it. Mr. Zubaz’ hands were zip-tied at the time. The brazen act of vile stupidity was cheered on, apparently by the guy who made the video. He seemed to be enjoying himself immensely.

If you ever want to see what spoiled, entitled, mindless American depravity looks like in 2023, go to an NFL game. Especially a night game, when fans have had all day to get slobbering drunk.

Just don’t take your children. You wouldn’t want impressionable minds to think this is the way adults behave at what is supposed to be a fun experience.

This is why I will always be a baseball fan ahead of the football variety. You can go to a baseball game without much fear you’ll be assaulted. You can pretty much count on not seeing anyone vomiting on the concourse. F-bombs are here to stay, unfortunately. Civility in the US is gone with the wind. But the profanity is occasional at a Reds game, not universal.

At an NFL game, if you don’t see a fight or a guy who’s third-degree wasted, you’ve missed out on a quintessential football experience.

Football is an angry game. The Bengals best running back, Corey Dillon, was at his best when he ran mean, which was most of the time. Watching a football game can leave you in a three-hour state of tension. It’s excitement, sure, but it’s something else, too.

For whatever reason, we feel the need now in this country to be pissed off at everything, most of the time. Taking the deep-dive at an NFL game or in front of the Idiot Box provides the perfect outlet for Pissed Off Guy to vent. He can temporarily exorcise whatever is bugging him about his life generally by watching a free safety level a wideout on a crossing route.

He can heighten the experience by banging six Buds before noon.

That cuffed cretin in the museum attire very likely wasn’t mad at the guy he head-butted. At least not much. He most likely was mad at the Bengals 2nd-straight L. But I’m thinking what was really eating the dude was his own, miserable life.

Football’s violence provokes a personal recklessness that is disgusting to behold. But no worries. There’s another game next week.

Now, then. . .