The football season (or at least as far as I'm inclined to follow it) has ended. In the name of full disclosure I must first admit that I am a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. I was quite disappointed after our defeat at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Naturally, I then threw my support behind the Green Bay Packers (not that I was jumping on a bandwagon - I was really just hoping for an exciting statewide Super Bowl party.)
Unfortunately, that hope was dashed against the rocks after a 47-yard overtime field goal. We all know how bad that feels, but in order to ease the pain I offer you a story that brought me some solace in my dark nights after the Steelers were defeated in AFC title games in 1997, 2001 and 2004.
In this case, the story began last week in Green Bay, and before it ends it will take us across the world to strange foreign lands where the Buffalo Bills are considered the greatest football dynasty of all time.
After the Giants kicked their game-winning field goal (third time's a charm), a business executive clandestinely left the Packer's sideline carrying an inconspicuous eight-fold corrugated box. This closely guarded box was then escorted to a warehouse in Pennsylvania, and from there the contents are now being sent to the ends of the world.
Okay - now I've strung you along far enough. You must be asking yourself, What's in that box?"" I'll tell you. The box is filled with T-shirts, sweatshirts and hats proclaiming the Green Bay Packers as the 2007-'08 NFC champions.
Instead of those shirts becoming an embarrassing reminder of a franchise putting the cart before the horse or some piece of tight fitting ironic kitch in a hipster's closet, the National Football League sends them far, far away to people who are in need.
Cold weather garments are usually sent to colder climates. Many of the Packer's NFC champion sweatshirts will find their way to Romania - where they will no doubt warm up a large new fan demographic - the 5.7 billion people in the world who have no interest in American football. Many of the T-shirts pronouncing the Packers as the NFC champs will also make their way to African nations, where indigenous populations may add them to their collection of the Packer's '97-'98 Super Bowl champion garb. Or maybe even a '95 Steelers world champion shirt - completely unaware of Neil O'Donnell's deplorable numbers in that game.
It's probably worth noting that most of the people who receive these garments probably don't know who the Packers are, and they probably don't care whether they won the NFC. Many, if not most, probably don't understand the English written on their shirts. Most of them are probably just excited to receive a clean, new shirt. And that's fine.
Actually, that's great.
I don't know if there is a moral (or a point) to this column. Perhaps you can take comfort in the fact that some measurable amount of good has come out of the situation. Perhaps we should take it as a reminder that there are indeed more important things in life than football, and that as nice as it would be for you to have a shirt that reads 'Packers: Super Bowl champions,' it is more important to most people in the world to simply have a shirt. Or maybe it is just a slightly absurd set of circumstances that involves America distributing sports-related misinformation around the world.
Matt Jividen is a senior majoring in history. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
