Football is great

And it's among America's greatest innovations

The San Francisco 49ers and New York Giants face off in January 2012.
(Image credit: REUTERS/Robert Galbraith)

I like to think of myself as a very casual fan of America. I do not vote or say the Pledge of Allegiance or stand for the National Anthem except when I am afraid of scandalizing companions who wouldn't understand my decision, which is grounded in a certain 1973 Supreme Court decision. Nor am I a huge believer in progress. As far as I am concerned every century since the 10th has been radically worse than the one that came before it.

The exception to all this is sports. Here I am comfortable being absurdly jingoistic and applauding progress.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Matthew Walther

Matthew Walther is a national correspondent at The Week. His work has also appeared in First Things, The Spectator of London, The Catholic Herald, National Review, and other publications. He is currently writing a biography of the Rev. Montague Summers. He is also a Robert Novak Journalism Fellow.