NFL: No Super Bowl Soup for You, Color Guard!

[thedrifter]

NFL: No Super Bowl Soup for You, Color Guard!
[Steve Schippert]

This from one of my favorite MilBlogs, The Thunder Run, has me scratching my head wondering what's in the heads of NFL organizers and policy makers. The Color Guard, for the first time, will not be allowed to stay in the stadium to watch the Super Bowl? (Via my buddy John at Argghhh!!!)

Since 9/11/01 it has become quite the event to have military color guards present the colors and be present during the singing of the National Anthem at sporting events of all kinds, and at Super Bowl XLIII this will also take place. So to say I was surprised when I received this email from a distraught Marine Mom would be an understatement:
"My youngest Marine called me this morning. In the course of the conversation he made mention of being part of the Color Guard for the ceremonies at the Super Bowl. He has been part of other Color Guards at other games and has been able to enjoy the entire game after presenting the Colors. HOWEVER, this will not be the case this time. The 12 man/women color guard will be presenting the Colors and then will be escorted out of the stadium and therefore not allowed to see the game. Steven and the 11 others are quite upset about this and have asked that I see if I could contact someone and have that changed."

What? The Super Bowl won’t let the military color guard stay and watch the big game? Yes you read that right. Was I skeptical? At first, but after I contacted the Tampa Bay host Committee through their official website and spoke to Katie Wagner, I was assured that yes in fact her email inbox is full of emails from upset Marine Mom’s all asking for an explanation. To Ms. Wagner’s credit, who by the way was extremely gracious during my questions the Host Committee has no control over game day decisions; that authority rests solely with the NFL.

Now, the military members of the Color Guard are likely to be the last to ask the NFL for the traditional honorary access afforded in the past, not keen on being presumptive and all. But I will. And many have, apparently.

I love the NFL. Almost as much as I love my Pittsburgh Steelers, whom I would faithfully follow and support if they moved to a revived USFL. But I cannot come up with a logical reasoning for the decision.

Certainly not a security issue. It can only be a matter of standing floor space or seating. And if that's the case, it's a sad allocation of priorities, what with so many of the tickets allocated to corporate sponsors of the league. The "official" flat screen television of the NFL, the "official" truck of the NFL, the "official" soft drink(s) of the NFL, and on and on and "officially" on.

Well, the United States Military Services are the "official" liberty preservers and defenders of the NFL. And, while we may not be for sale, barter or exchange, these 12 individuals presenting the Colors of the United States of America and that which we defend might perhaps be afforded some honorary and symbolic accommodation. They don't ask for much in return for their "official" defense, and we all get a lot in return.

Now, I don't know if the commissioner of the NFL had any direct hand in the decision-making process here, but he can assert authority in corrective measures regardless. So pony up, Mr. Goodell, and do the right thing. But you'd better be quick, because it would be quite shameful if your "official" product sponsors ponied up from their shares to do it for you and provided for your "official" defense providers.

Or perhaps, in exchange, our boys should in turn perform the ceremonial flyover in olive drab Briggs & Stratton-powered ultralights arranged in the missing (12) man formation. Perhaps, Mr. Goodell, your truly wonderful league would feel slighted.

Again, I love the NFL. And I also like Mr. Roger Goodell a great deal. As such, I expect this whole crazy snafu will be addressed in rather short order, because it really doesn't make any sense at all. It's probably, in all irony, a simple matter very familiar to the military itself; someone's likely following protocol to the letter without using their head.

But until someone atop the NFL totem pole figures it out, it's "No soup for you!" this year for our Color Guard and those who serve with them. (An Ultralight Super Bowl Flyover, I really like that idea . . . .)

http://thunderrun.blogspot.com/2009/01/are-you-ready-to-get-angry.html

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Friday, January 23, 2009
Clearing Up the Super Bowl Flap
[Steve Schippert]

Thanks to Mike Florio at ProFootballTalk.com for getting to the bottom of the flap over the percieved change in accomodations for the Color Guard at the Super Bowl this year—a flap which yours truly contributed to. Bottom line: Nothing has changed from previous years.

We’ve received nearly 50 e-mails over the past 12 hours regarding a contention that the Color Guard won’t be permitted to stay and watch the Super Bowl after doing their duty during the National Anthem.

The specific allegation is that Super Bowl XLIII will mark a change from past procedures utilized by the NFL.

And plenty of fans are upset about it.

While the members of the Color Guard (and all of the other extras who are involved in the various on-field events) won’t retreat to their seats in the stands like the members of the home team’s band at a college football game, this is standard practice, and it doesn’t represent a change of any kind.

“The members of the Color Guard have always been our guests at a Super Bowl party in a compound on the stadium grounds where they watch the game on big-screen TVs and enjoy food and beverage,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told us via e-mail. “That is how we have done it every year.”

That’s an important point, in our view. Because the outrage is being stoked by the contention that something has changed, presumably due to the economy. Well, nothing has changed. Per the league, this is the way it has always been done.

Well, guess what? It appears that, in light of the reaction to what was a misperception, the NFL has actually decided to change course (which they did not do before, as many of us had incorrectly thought) and allow the Color Guard to remain in the stadium for the game.

A little while ago, we suggested a potential solution to the Color Guard conundrum. Since all players in the league (even those not playing in the game) have the ability to buy two tickets each, we called on enough of them to pony up their seats so that the Color Guard could stick around after playing their very important role during the playing of the National Anthem.

We even offered to pay for one of the tickets.

Thanks to the NFL, we can spend our $800 instead at one of the finer scrip clubs dining establishments in Tampa.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello tells us that, after conferring with the league’s military liaison, the 12-member Color Guard will be permitted to remain in the stadium and watch the game.

That's great to hear. Though I must say, it's a bit bittersweet. I hate it when some group or other squawks so loudly as to create a dust storm over nothing at all, only to find the targeted organization buckle even while it in fact had done nothing wrong. I can't help but feel there's a touch of that here.

And, while seating the Color Guard is something universally accepted as a good thing and a fine gesture to the men and women in the military, it should be acknowledged that the National Football League was doing nothing this year that it had not done any other year. An emotional reaction based on the misperception otherwise caused the NFL to be considered in a slighting light—a characterization it did not deserve.

So, to Commissioner Roger Goodell, Mr. Greg Aiello and the rest of the folks at the NFL, I apologize for any contribution I may have made to the characterization you certainly did not deserve. But more than anything else, thanks for making some special arrangements and seating our Color Guard. I also assure you they will be the best dressed men and women in the stadium.

And, I should repeat here, I love the NFL. Almost as much as I love my Pittsburgh Steelers.

Almost.

Ellie