7 Reasons to Get Excited about the NFL Draft

by Ray Keating

The Keating Files – April 22, 2020

Count me among the severely sports starved during the current period of self-isolation. And therefore, I’m excited – probably too excited – about the NFL Draft. 

Let’s take a moment to consider reasons why this Minnesota Vikings fan has been donning purple and gold each day in the home office this week, including Vikes jerseys, hats, sweatshirts, and tees. It’s largely about what I’ve been missing, but also what I can look forward to as a fan.

First, I know it sounds like typical baseball Spring Training optimism, but this Cincinnati Reds fan really was getting excited about the moves made over the offseason. This was supposed to be a big year for the Reds – and hopefully, it still will – but hope has been put on hold since spring baseball came to a halt on March 12.

Second, I’m one of those people who not only enjoys playing golf, but also watching it on television. Yes, I’ve been known to shout at the TV when a putt is sunk or missed. But the last PGA Tour stop was the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which finished up on March 8. And The Masters not being played in April was simply depressing.

Third, the last NBA game was played on March 11. Well, okay, I’m not a fan of the NBA, so I don’t really care. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I watched the NBA. But I’m sure that there are lots of people out there that miss the NBA, and they’re probably sad. So, there’s that.

Fourth, I do enjoy hockey, however, and the last time the puck was dropped in an NHL game also was on March 11. Though my own San Jose Sharks were destined this year for a rare postseason miss, playoff hockey always rocks, but we have no idea when or if that will now happen for the 2019-20 season.

Fifth, the NFL Draft always gains a degree of attention from this fan, varying year to year. But this draft could be major for my Vikings. The team has lost an assortment of players on the defensive side of the ball, including starting cornerbacks, who largely played lousy football last season anyway. In addition, trading Stefon Diggs to the Bills leaves a big vacancy at wide receiver. But the good news is that Vikes have 12 – count ‘em 12 – picks in this draft, including two first round picks. This jacks up the interest in the 2020 draft. 

Sixth, focusing on the draft means getting me focused on reasons to rant as a fan. When the hell are the Vikings going to win a Super Bowl? I know this is unpopular, but I’m not exactly enthralled with Coach Mike Zimmer. Everybody calls him a defensive guru, but I’m not seeing it. Zimmer has a great attitude as a coach, but quite frankly, he appears rather conventional and unable to adjust in terms of the Vikings defense. And as head coach, he ranks as a negative in terms of the offense. Zimmer has come up short in terms of fully utilizing the talent on the team, so what’s going to happen with an influx of draftees?

In contrast, unlike many, I like Kirk Cousins as our quarterback. He has the tools to get the job done, if he had consistency in terms of offensive coaches and schemes. 

That’s right, I’m pro-Cousins and skeptical on Zimmer. Come at me!

Seventh, the truly big deal with the NFL Draft 2020, of course, is that this is something that finally matters in the world of sports. There’s only so much streaming of non-sports viewing a sports fan can do. I look at my phone for scores, and there are none. But at least for this week, I’ve caught some draft analysis, and on Thursday night, Friday night, and much of the day on Saturday, I can take in the NFL Draft, and assess what my team and key opponents might look like in the 2020 season. Like I said, I’m excited.

What about after Sunday? Well, I’ll be back to waiting for sports, and perhaps turning to streaming. Maybe it’s finally time to catch up on years of television shows that I meant to watch but never got around to seeing. That’s a pretty long list – including Mad Men, Star Trek: Discovery, Lost, and all of those Marvel shows on Netflix (Daredevil (I did see season 1 and it was excellent), Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Punisher, Iron Fist, and Defenders). Actually, I love great storytelling via television and movie, but also via sports – and I miss the thrills, surprises, heartbreaks, drama, action, and joys of catching my teams in action.

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Ray Keating is a columnist, economist, podcaster and entrepreneur.  You can order his new book Behind Enemy Lines: Conservative Communiques from Left-Wing New York  from Amazon or signed books at RayKeatingOnline.com. His other recent nonfiction book is Free Trade Rocks! 10 Points on International Trade Everyone Should Know. Keating also is a novelist. His latest novels are  The Traitor: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel, which is the 12^th book in the series, and the second edition of Root of All Evil? A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel with a new Author Introduction. The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right?

Also, tune in to Ray Keating’s podcasts – the PRESS CLUB C Podcast and the Free Enterprise in Three Minutes Podcast  

The Super Bowl and the NFL’s History Problem

by Ray Keating

The Keating Files – January 31, 2020

The Super Bowl kicks off on Sunday night at 6:30 PM EST. And much of the United States will be watching the Kansas City Chiefs take on the San Francisco 49ers.

No doubt, the Super Bowl ranks as America’s biggest sporting event, with an estimated 112.7 million viewers having tuned in to last year’s game. This year’s contest will be the 54^th Super Bowl. 

54^th? Wait, I thought the NFL was celebrating its 100^th anniversary throughout this season?

The NFL’s festivities marking 100 years of the league were occasionally interesting, but the NFL rarely does well with its own history. And that is made clear when the Super Bowl rolls around each year. 

The NFL, as well as most fans and the media, always talk about who won (and lost) Super Bowls, but little, if anything, is said about previous NFL champions and those championship games (except for the occasional mention of the 1958 NFL Championship game won by the Baltimore Colts in overtime). Yes, there were NFL champions before Super Bowl I was played at the conclusion of the 1966 season.

So, we often hear about the New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers winning the most Super Bowls – each with six. Impressive? Of course. But in reality, there are three NFL teams with more NFL titles.

The Green Bay Packers actually are the NFL’s team with the most championships at 13. Next come the Chicago Bears with nine, and then the New York Giants at eight. 

The highly vaunted Patriots have a considerable journey ahead to even become number three, never mind more than doubling their current Super Bowl wins to match the Packers’ achievement.

Also, consider that the much-maligned Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions – each without a Super Bowl appearance – both have four NFL championships. The Arizona Cardinals have no Super Bowl wins, but were NFL champs twice when the team played in Chicago.

The Philadelphia Eagles won their first Super Bowl two years ago, but that actually was the team’s fourth NFL championship.

Why aren’t the pre-1966 NFL champions fully celebrated and recognized by the league, fans and the media? It’s rather bewildering and exceedingly ridiculous.

And what about the losers? This is a sore point for this writer being a lifelong fan of the Minnesota Vikings, who have lost four Super Bowls without a victory. That abysmal record is matched by the Buffalo Bills (who did it four years in a row).

But perhaps Bills and Vikes fans can take some solace in noting that several teams have lost more NFL championship games. The Denver Broncos dropped five, as did the Bears, Browns and Patriots. The Rams and Redskins each lost six. But there’s more – the Giants lost 12.

Major League Baseball and the NHL truly embrace their histories. Fans, the media and each league embrace and fully recognize the champions from the start of their respective leagues. But even during this season of celebrating 100 years of the NFL, the league continued to show that it really cares little about its own championship teams prior to the “Super Bowl era.” 

The NFL has fumbled its chance to raise to equal prominence all of those teams that won championships before 1966. Perhaps the NFL will get around to doing a high-profile, determined salute to those teams one day.

As for which team will make history during the Super Bowl LIV, the Chiefs are seeking their second NFL title, having won Super Bowl IV at the end of the 1969 season. The Chiefs lost Super Bowl I. Meanwhile, the 49ers are an impressive 5-1 in NFL championship games (all Super Bowls), with its last win in 1994 (and losing in 2012).

A 49ers’ victory would put the team in elite company, tying the Patriots and Steelers with six Super Bowl wins ... and yet, far behind the Packers’ incredible – indeed, historic – 13 championships.

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Ray Keating is a columnist, a novelist (his latest novel is The Traitor: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel, which is the 12^thbook in the series), an economist, a nonfiction author (among his recent works is Free Trade Rocks! 10 Points on International Trade Everyone Should Know), a podcaster, and an entrepreneur. The views expressed here are his own.

Sports Beats Politics Every Time

by Ray Keating

The Keating Files – January 10, 2020

Sports always beats politics. I had another experience proving just that when stopping in for a caffeine hit at a Starbucks this week.

I entered the coffee house wearing a “Defend the North” hat and a Kirk Cousins jersey. Yes, I’m a long-suffering fan of the Minnesota Vikings. And despite the fact that this Starbucks was on Long Island and I happen to be a lifelong New Yorker, Fran Tarkenton made me a Vikes fan many years ago when I was a kid. And this is playoff time, so I’m donning the Vikings gear. Also, by the way, don’t be hating on Cousins – Captain Kirk got the job done against the Saints this past Sunday.

Anyway, as I walked toward the counter, a woman waiting for her drink spotted my attire, and proceeded to engage in the SKOL clap made famous by Vikings fans at each home game. This brightened my day. We did a high five, and she mentioned that she had worn her Vikings socks earlier in the day. We spoke about how pleased we were that the Vikings had beaten the Saints, albeit in heart-skipping, nail-biting fashion.

As this lady went to leave, we exchanged a “SKOL!” and another high five, and expressed mutual hope that our team would somehow beat the 49ers this coming Saturday.

That’s what it’s like being a sports fan. Heck, I’ve even had positive engagements with Green Bay Packer fans over the years.

Now, compare that to politics, especially in recent years. Republicans and Democrats largely detest each other. Conservatives and liberals view victories by their opponents in apocalyptic terms. It all can be so exhausting, and I’ve been doing political commentary and policy work for thirty years.

My meeting with a fellow Vikings fan in Starbucks was blissfully ignorant of party registration or our respective positions on the hot button issues of the day. We were just two Vikings fans hoping that our team would win the next game.

I’ve always been a big sports fan, but I appreciate sports fandom now more than ever before given the growing incivility in our nation. And I don’t like when politics soils the game. I’d prefer that the likes of Colin Kaepernick and Donald Trump, for example, simply shut up, along with the dupes who fall in behind each and the ESPN talking heads who find it necessary to weigh in, when it comes to politicizing football, or any other sport.

Sports beats politics, and I support a policy of strict separation of sports and politics.

Oh, yeah, and SKOL! Go Vikes!

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Ray Keating is a columnist, a novelist (his latest novel is The Traitor: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel, which is the 12^th book in the series), an economist, a nonfiction author (among his recent works is Free Trade Rocks! 10 Points on International Trade Everyone Should Know), a podcaster, and an entrepreneur. The views expressed here are his own.