"Are you not entertained?"
That's the question Maximus yells to the crowd in the Ridley Scott movie, "Gladiator."
Maximus, of course, yells it to the crowd in defiance. I'm yelling it at those who would try to denigrate the game played Monday night in Cincinnati, won by the Steelers, 23-20.
Football is one of the closest things we have to gladiator sports. MMA and, to a lesser extent, boxing, would qualify as well. We watch because we want to see outstanding athletes running, catching and throwing a ball, all under the threat of being tackled by other outstanding athletes. It is called tackle football, after all.
Yet somehow, that game is being called "bad for football," most notably by Jon Gruden, one of the broadcast's announcers on ESPN.
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