There's been something kind of odd about the whole response to what happened on Monday night. Hamlin goes down, and while he is down, there's a resounding outcry online and in the media of, "how dare anyone even think about football when a man's life is on the line". Eventually, the coaches look at each other and say "no more football tonight" and everyone agrees with this. We spend the next 12 hours dragging Skip Bayless for saying what everyone is thinking in the back of their minds, "what now?". It's a rare instance of Skip Bayless being wrongly misinterpreted rather than being a complete clown. As a mob, we have decided it's inappropriate to talk about anything until Damar is okay. This makes sense, it feels right.
However, people can feel scared, be in mourning, and be interested in what is going to happen as a result of the game cancellation at the same time. Now, naturally, we are acknowledging the thoughts that have been going through people's minds since one minute after the ambulance left the field with Damar Hamlin in tow. This feels uncomfortable, because pretending we weren't thinking about this was what everyone was saying was "right".
Of course people care about playoff seeding. Of course they care about their fantasy leagues. Many people have probably not stopped thinking about these things since Monday night. Having these kind of thoughts doesn't mean someone doesn't care about Damar Hamlin. It's possible to care about all these things at the same time.
What I see is not so much genuine care for Damar as much as I see a demand for conformity to the symbolic gestures that some have determined are necessary to "demonstrate caring".
Topic: 2022 NFL Thread (Chiefs win Super Bowl 57) (Read 103023 times)
