The Results are In

Earl the Squirrel's Rule #50

   From Government Funding - Part I:  "Dutch Warehouses":  "We understand that government funding might be good for poets but has it been good for poetry?"


    Suppose, decades ago, you wanted to support what was, at that time, one of the two top sports in the world:  football.  There were two viable conferences, one of which was dedicated to promoting the game, the other composed of burned out veterans hoping for jobs as coaches.  For reasons known only to you, you threw your money behind the latter.

     (Seriously, why?  Why not the other?  Why not both?)

    Today you return to find:

1.  The unsupported teams beat their counterparts in every category;

2.  The supported teams care even less about success than they did earlier;

3.  There is no one watching the games other than the backup players;

4.  No one can remember a single play from any game in the last half century;

5.  Few, including coaches and referees, can remember the rules of the game;

6.  Football disappears from newspapers and magazines;

7.  Football's popularity sinks below that of Celebrity Croquet;

8.  Football becomes so obscure that people argue about what it is;

9.  Only by their dress can "critical analysts" be distinguished from cheerleaders; 

10. The expression "football fan" becomes an oxymoron.


    Looking back now, would you think yours was a wise investment?

    More to the point, would you think it helped or hurt the endeavor itself?

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Links:

1. Government Funding - Part I:  "Dutch Warehouses"



2. Government Funding - Part II: "The Politics of Altruism"



3. Government Funding - Part III: "The Results are In"

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Signed,

Earl Gray, Esquirrel

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