The Weekday Ramble is a daily dose of sports, music, culture, and more from Rambling On founder Erik Ritland. For more information check us out on Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, or at our website.
Wednesday January 21, 2015
Cheaters, the misguided that defend them, and the misguided that hate disco.
A tarnished legacy
The New England Patriots have always been a team that is easy to hate. Their combination of success and arrogance is enough to turn off any mild-mannered Midwesterner.
It’s stupid to resent people for doing what they do well. Similarly, it’s stupid to defend people if what they’re doing is obviously wrong. When the Belichick was caught cheating many, incredibly, came to his defense (proving that celebrity and pedestalization can cause blindness). Lots of teams do that. You have to do what you have to do to win. It’s not like it’s that big of a deal.
Now that they’ve been caught cheating again – this time deflating footballs to make them easier for Tom Brady to throw – those excuses somehow sound even more shallow. It doesn’t matter that they probably would have won anyway. Or that many of their touchdowns were scored on running plays (how many complete passes helped by cheating led to them?). Cheating is cheating and it shouldn’t be tolerated. If I were the NFL I would take away their AFC Championship victory and send the Colts to the Super Bowl.
After all, Richard Nixon would have won without spying on his Democratic opponents as well, right? Just as he shouldn’t be exonerated of his crimes, neither should Belicheat and his Patriots dynasty.
A tarnished legacy revisited
“Disco sucks” has been a common phrase since the genre was created in the mid ‘70s. It’s the sort of easy, shiny, popular music that is easy to hate. For example, hating disco is one of the few things that brings folk purists and metalheads together.
But they’re both wrong. Disco doesn’t suck. You can’t apply standards to it that it isn’t meant to achieve. Disco isn’t meant to be the Beatles much less Mozart. It’s successful at what it tries to be: fun music meant for dancing and having a good time. Just try not to smile while listening to the Village People, the Bee Gees, or Abba. If you don’t it’s probably a personal problem. That or you don’t have a soul.
Erik Ritland is a writer and musician from St. Paul, Minnesota. His blog and podcast Rambling On features commentary on music, sports, culture, and more. He is also a contributor for Minnesota culture blog Curious North. Support Erik's music via his Patreon account, reach him via email, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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