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.

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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.