FUMBLE

A decade later, sports once again has the opportunity to ease the pain of millions with a few hours of joy. With the recent news of Osama Bin Laden's death adding to the emotions of those events and all that were affected, the NFL has the opportunity to really do right by the American public. This year the league shares their opening day with the ten year anniversary of 9/11, which puts the league in a now precarious position. Comissioner Roger Goodell and the owners have already made an impression on the fans as the bad guys, especially now that all that stands in the way of a 2011 season is their insistent refusal to drop the lockout with ongoing appeals to court rulings. If they continue to argue their side to the point that it infringes on those opening weekend games, I think its something that the American public may never forgive them for. In the decade since, football has blossomed into the top dog as far as the four major sports go. They say that with power comes great responsibility though, and part of that is effortlessly trying to do right by your fans. After all they are a big reason these individuals are in the positions they are. On September 11, 2001, the American way of living changed forever. On September 21, 2011, it was sports and more specifically the New York Mets that really began the healing process of returning things to normal. Then football resumed play which presented us the iconic image in the Jet/ Patriots game of the Pats DE running out of the tunnel with an American Flag in each hand. The icing on the cake though came during game three of the World Series. Love him, hate him, laugh at him, whatever, George Bush stepped out on to the mound at Yankee Stadium and delivered. With the weight of the U.S. population leaning on his right arm, Bush threw a perfect strike. At a time when the U.S. needed him most, he provided what I would argue to be one of the pinnacle moments of his eight year tenure in the White House. In regards to popularity both domestic and abroad, fans, presentation, income, etc., football now is much, much bigger than baseball was then. Just the potential thought that football would drop the ball (no pun intended) on something as big as this is a shame. I thought it was somewhat cowardly for Roger Goodell to use a moment of silence for last weeks tornado victims as a way of dodging boos at the draft, but he'll need something a lot bigger, and less transparent than silence, to hind behind if he fumbles this one (pun intended).