Jersey Exchange.

I was out and about Sunday.  Pro football ceases to exist once the Bears are eliminated from the playoffs. In many years, pro football ceases to exist as Thanksgiving concludes. As I was tooling around town, I was listening to the recap of football playoff games that don't exist. The commentator from the four letter network was analyzing an exchange between Arian Foster (RB, Houston) of the Texans and Ray Lewis (LB, Baltimore) of the Ravens.

source: benchwarmerblues

After the game ended, Lewis and Foster autographed and exchanged their game jerseys. The radio talking head expounded on "sense of history of the game, two warriors, good friends, blah, blah, blah...". I guess it's hard to kill 6 hours on radio when you don't take phone calls.

I have nothing against Ray Lewis (except he doesn't play for the Bears) or Arian Foster (except he doesn't play for the Bears). Both men are well skilled and well compensated. Both men are amongst the best at there position. Their exchange of jerseys is a nice gesture but nothing more. Their jersey exchange is the same as two mid-level managers (as common as pro athletes these days) trading pencil cups at a trade show. If Lewis and Foster exchanged autographed jerseys for a charity auction, now that's something great.

I am an avid fan of pro sports. It's time pro sports be placed in proper perspective, even on networks that cover athletics.
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