:02:01
Historic moments,
forged by the love of the game,
:02:04
celebrated the human potential
:02:07
to achieve excellence. But as time passed
and the country neared the millennium,
:02:12
something went awry.
:02:14
Manning rolls right. He's got Plough
at the ten... Touchdown,
:02:19
Dallas.
:02:21
The ideal of sportsmanship
:02:23
began to take a back seat
to excessive celebration.
:02:35
The athletes caring less about playing
than planning the vulgar grandstanding
:02:39
that inevitably followed even the most
pedestrian of accomplishments.
:02:45
The games became
subordinate to the quest for money.
:02:51
Stadiums and arenas became no more
:02:54
than giant billboards
:02:56
to promote commercial products.
:03:00
Players sold their services
to the highest bidder,
:03:03
much like the hired guns
of the Old West.
:03:06
After playing for New England, San Diego,
Houston, St. Louis,
:03:11
a year for the Toronto Argonauts,
plus one season at the Desert Inn,
:03:15
I'm happy to finally play here
in the fine city of Miami.
:03:20
Minnesota.
:03:23
Whatever. Shit.
:03:25
Soon it was commonplace for entire teams
to change in search of greater profits.
:03:30
The Minneapolis Lakers moved to
Los Angeles, where there are no lakes.
:03:33
The Oilers moved to Tennessee,
where there's no oil.
:03:36
The Jazz moved to Salt Lake City
where they don't allow music.
:03:39
The Oakland Raiders moved to L.A.
And then back to Oakland.
:03:43
No one in L.A. Seemed to notice.
:03:45
The search for greener pastures went on.
Continued expansion diluted
:03:51
the talent pool, forcing owners
:03:53
to recruit heavily from prisons,
mental institutions and Texas.
:03:57
Fistfighting and brawling