Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Thursday, November 21, 2024 76° Today's Paper


Dave Reardon: Conspiracy theorists having field day with Super Bowl

Blame pro wrestling.

Blame so-called reality TV.

Blame the internet.

Or, you can go back 35 years and “Blame It On The Rain.”

I think often of Milli Vanilli when figuring out what to believe. They fooled enough people long enough to hit No. 1 with three songs and win a Grammy — all without singing a note. Milli Vanilli lip-synced to fame and fortune — and infamy when they were caught.

In the ’60s, young people were told to never trust anyone over 30. That made sense then, since it was mostly politicians over 30 forcing guys under 30 to fight in Vietnam.

Half a century later, the narrative is slightly different. The generation that burned draft cards went on to burn up the planet, at least according to those set to inherit it.

And many of us have rotted our brains with technology that was supposed to make us all smarter.

Welcome to the Golden Age of Conspiracy Theory.

Pop culture, sports and politics used to collide in a fun, usually harmless way, like bumper cars. Now, on the misinformation superhighway, we’re talking high-speed, chain-reaction pileups.

That brings us to a prime example, this idea of the NFL somehow being scripted and rigged — and that Taylor Swift infiltrated our man-cave big screens because she is some sort of political operative.

I’ve always liked pro wrestling … even after I realized it was more theater than competition (around the same time I figured out that my parents ate those cookies we left for Santa Claus).

But wrestling being scripted never made me think the same might be true with real sports.

Sure, scandals involving players not giving it their all and officials on the take dot the sports history timeline. But when caught, they’re punished — pretty severely.

And what happens when people get caught? They snitch, sometimes leading to the demise of a criminal enterprise. If sports are rigged, wouldn’t there have been a Sammy “The Bull” Gravano by now, singing for all to hear?

Conspiracy theorists can cherry-pick plenty of who, what, when and where to try to make their case — in their world, officials don’t make bad calls. They make the calls they are supposed to make so that the right team wins, like the crucial defensive holding penalty against the Eagles in last year’s Super Bowl.

It doesn’t matter how much ammunition you have to counter with. Conspiracy theorists love their confirmation bias.

But they rarely have answers to how and why.

How could the NFL be rigged?

There are way too many moving parts — including the lips of thousands of players, coaches and staff, past and present. If it was ever scripted or rigged, it would be like pro wrestling and exposed a very long time ago. And whatever you might think about mainstream media, some credible sports journalists do exist who would have gathered the goods and reported the biggest story in sports history.

Why would the NFL be rigged?

It would go against that concept of “Protecting the Shield,” which really means when you’ve got all the chips, don’t do anything stupid to risk losing them all.

But let’s say the NFL was greedy enough to make a really bad reward-to-risk decision to try to make as much money as possible: Why would it script Kansas City as home of the dynasty? Only five NFL teams play in smaller TV markets than the Chiefs.

Someone asked NFL commissioner Roger Goodell if he orchestrated the Travis Kelce-Taylor Swift relationship. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen him laugh.

If he somehow did, it’s the greatest manufactured romance since Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark in “The Hunger Games.”

The conspiracy theorists say it’s all a setup to get Swift to endorse a presidential candidate during Super Bowl airtime.

Wouldn’t it have been easier to accomplish that with a deep fake?

By participating in online discussions you acknowledge that you have agreed to the Terms of Service. An insightful discussion of ideas and viewpoints is encouraged, but comments must be civil and in good taste, with no personal attacks. If your comments are inappropriate, you may be banned from posting. Report comments if you believe they do not follow our guidelines. Having trouble with comments? Learn more here.