History repeats itself

[RunAmok]

This article is from 5 years ago but except for a few details it is almost exactly the same as to what is happening now.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...pygate-punishing-success-and-promoting-parity

Excellence isn’t against NFL rules—at least not yet.
But, the league punishes success anyway.
They punish success to achieve parity among the teams. In theory, when more teams have a chance to win it all, the ratings are higher. That means more advertising dollars for the networks and bigger TV contracts for the league.
Twelve games into the season and your team has four wins and eight losses?
Keep watching.
They still have a chance, just like the 2008 Chargers.
Current rules allow scenarios where nine win teams make the playoffs and go to Super Bowls, while 11 win teams miss the playoffs.
Parity.
It’s what the league wants.
They don’t want dominant teams. They want mediocrity. They don’t want dynasties.

They want to spread the wealth.
So, the league punishes successful teams, hoping to weaken them, and rewards bad teams, hoping to strengthen them.

 

[JJC]

And this is what pisses me off. The politicization of football, which to me always meant the raw American values of grit, struggle, teamwork, and meritocracy. It's being polluted by the equality of outcomes thinking replacing the equality of opportunity thinking. I get enough of that in the rest of my life in business and politics. Football was a refuge from that and it's being dismantled.