The American Spectator

p> SENATOR SPECTACLE br> Re: Ryan Young’s Rotten Replay : /p> p>Thank you for Ryan Young’s fine article on Senator Arlen Specter’s wrong-headed attempt to inject himself and the Senate Judiciary Committee into the SpyGate scandal. Speaking of contact sports, Mr. Young’s article serves to confirm that one of the most dangerous places to find oneself in Washington, D.C. is between Senator Specter and a television camera. br> — Paul Curley br> Hong Kong /p>

I haven’t followed the issue closely, nevertheless, I’m a tad skeptical of Steelers’ chairman Dan Rooney’s comments to the effect that he considers the tapes a non-issue and that they didn’t affect the outcome of certain games. Perhaps so, and he surely knows more about football than me.

However, I wonder if there isn’t something else at work here. Specifically, a sports league’s worth is underwritten by the assumption that the games are played fairly. (This applies to actual sports, not the likes of wrastlin’, which is theater.) If fans suspect that the games are in any way tainted it degrades the whole assumed integrity of the league. That has the potential to cause them to lose interest thereby eroding all owners’ earnings. So, it is in all the owners’ interests to downplay any such potential improprieties.

Taking inspiration from Jay D. Homnick, the situation reminds me of a joke. A man got a job with a circus that required him to dress up as a gorilla and swing from a trapeze above a lion cage. One day the trapeze broke, dropping him into the lion’s cage. So he yelled for help, whereupon the lion charged him, knocked him down on the ground, and, in a quiet voice, told him to shut up before he got them both fired. It seems to me that Mr. Rooney’s comments could be construed to be in this vein.

p>None of this, of course, belongs in the Senate. Although, if it keeps them preoccupied, it might be a good thing.