How Franklin D. Roosevelt Ruined Sports Philosophy in the United States

It all started in the spring of 1933 when Franklin D. Roosevelt incorporated the New Deal in the United States to combat the Great Depression that had swept through the country.

He used communist tactics to raise employment all across the country and rebuild the economy that had virtually collapsed. FDR's schemes were a great successs and his legacy stands today as getting the country out of the Great Depression. However, many short term solutions can have long term consequences as was the case for the New Deal.

Rewind six years to the Mississippi Flood of 1927 when the Mississippi river had overflowed and devastated half of the region leaving thousands of families hopeless. Were the proud people of Mississippi looking to the federal goverment to solve their problems? Absolutely not. Citizens from across the United States got involved in helping these people and they helped themselves. In the end the American Red Cross led the largest relief effort in the history of the United States to help the struggling people who were affected by the flood.

What does this have to do with sports philosophy? Well go to a website of any losing sports team and you will see "fire the coach" messages galore. You will hear how the problems of a team are due to the coach and the organization.

The New Deal was a short term solution but it left in its wake the silent murder of accountability in the United States. Players as well as fans do not take responsibility for their actions and point to the head coach whenever a problem arises. Although this was not a direct reflection on anything FDR did, the evolution of his philosophy has led to a demise of responsibility and taking care of ones self.

One of the greatest sports moments of our time was the Ali-Frazer fight in 1971 in which Ali lost his first proffesional fight. Were the newspapers blaming Ali's trainer for losing the fight? Of course not, because it was one on one and the only logical person to blame was the fighter.

We have lost sight of that in recent years as a bad pass from a quarterback reflects on the offensive coordinator or a missed free throw in a game is a demonstration of bad coaching. When are we going to take responsibility for our own actions? When are athletes and fans going to use the words "execution" when refering to a player's performance instead of blaming it on a coaches scheme?

Now it goes both ways, as Phil Jackson is not as responcsible for winning titles in Chicago as Michael Jordan. At the end of the day, regardless of who the coach is, if the players play and do what they are suppose to the team will win, as all sports are series of one on one battles, a series of Ali-Fraziers, and the team that works the hardest and executes their gameplan will win those battles and win the game.

Next time you are yelling at your GM or athletic director remember that there is a history behind your attitude towards the coach and it starts in the spring of 1933. Just ask Ali how much his coach affected whether he won or lost a game, ask Michael Jordan if they would have won titles without Phil Jackson. Who was the coach of the Edmonton Oilers when Gretzky won his first stanley cup? Exactly.