Swift Realization

By Ron Signore

Parents tend to cherish moments with their kids. Despite many of the challenges with parenting, those bondable moments are likely never to be forgotten. There are also those times where you metaphorically want to be separated from your kids…you know those times, the ones where you hear nothing but squabbling between siblings, or after constant efforts of asking for them to complete a chore that seems to never get done. Then there are those times where you want to be there for your child, but they need their space. Then there are times where everything seems to overlap into one grey area of a venn diagram. This is one of those topics.

For years now, football fans have heard the masses, or lack thereof when it comes to actual percentages, boycott the NFL for one politicized reason or another. The first one I remember was Colin Kaepernick kneeling for the anthem and the message he was trying to convey through protest able action. Generally speaking, it was the anti-liberal people screaming this sentiment. Unfortunately for Colin, his path essentially led to him being blackballed by the NFL.

As mentioned, many threw in their intent to boycott the NFL. Over the years, I have had several people tell me this at one point or another, and then lone and behold, they are vocally supporting their favorite teams. In fact, as a whole, despite the more vocally audible cries to boycott, the NFL has continued to increase revenues, viewers, and despite some of the garbage games where the action of watching is painful for the lack of talent, they’ve put a more intriguing product out.

In 2023 and continuing into 2024, the NFL via the viewing networks and social media, has found itself in another profitable position. There has become a near immaculate spotlight of association to Taylor Swift. Swift, who’s music really isn’t for me has put me in an awkward position: take an interest or continue to ignore her existence.

Since Swift started dating Kansas City Chiefs Tight End, Travis Kelce, there has been significant focus on Swift and everything she does while watching the Chiefs play from the skybox she sits in at the games. You can almost hear the collective sigh and muttering of many when she is shown on camera during games, “oh my goodness, who cares.” I didn’t, and honestly, I still really don’t.

The temptation for me is enjoying the tears of the right with all their conspiracy theories around the couple. It has escalated well beyond the fans who have zero interest in the singer or her love life to the waves of far-right social media. Taylor Swift is close to Public Enemy #1 for her vocal disdain for Cheeto Boy and her successful drive to get people to register to vote. One could argue she singlehandedly has the most influence on the vote count for this upcoming general election. Many of us just have to hope those newly registered voters carry the same disdain for the right as she does.

All that just to get to the purpose: my daughter. Thanks to Taylor Swift, my daughter now egregiously cares about Chief’s games. Constant questions about if the Chiefs are playing or if Swift is at the game continue until she gets an answer she is satisfied with. This leads to those moments as a father where that sigh becomes real but internalized out of respect for her feelings. Watching the game, any game, has become a time where constant questions about what just happened, and how the game is played come at me at a million miles per hour. This is where the choice I find myself making every day comes into play: do I be a jerk or not.

With my daughter, even these moments I can reflect and be thankful I have them. It really makes one think about the luck and blessings that are part of life. So, for the immediate future, I will sit there, answer my daughter’s questions, and use the time to help her achieve clarity both in football and politics. The biggest joy of our Daddy-Daughter time watching games is the conversations that make me realize how she has grown, and a pride for the women she is becoming. A very close second, however, is the ongoing faucet of those MAGA tears and hate for someone who may be able to prevent some of the brainwashing these idiots have gone through.

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