Unaccountable

            A few days ago, the owner of the Philadelphia Eagles (Jeffrey Laurie) held his regularly-scheduled end-of-season press conference.  Though the timing of this ritual suggested nothing out of the ordinary, the dismal season that preceded it might have led the fanatics who follow the Eagles to conclude that Andy Reid, the longest-tenured coach in the NFL, might finally have worn out his welcome.  After fourteen seasons in which winning was considerably more common than losing, six division crowns, five trips to the NFC championship game and one superbowl appearance after having replaced such coaching also-rans as Ray Rhodes and Rich Kotite, and a return to contention from the 3-13 team he inherited, one must conclude that his stay had been, on balance, a net positive. 

            Of course, one juxtaposes these favorable points with the inability to win a superbowl despite nine trips to the playoffs, the 1-4 record in NFC championship games despite being at home for three of them and the favorite in four, countless failures to demonstrate even marginally competent clock management, teams with the infuriating ability to raise hopes before dashing them in a plethora of ever more grotesque disappointments, an inability to address his obdurate insistence on a pass-heavy offense even when it seems ineffective, and a borderline sociopathic refusal to answer even the most innocuous questions from the media.  Finally, following one of the most opulent of many free agent classes to arrive in Philly, the team began 4-8, looking at times discombobulated, at times distracted, and at times, downright disinterested.  A defensive coordinator with no defensive coordinating experience (appointed at the behest of one Andy Reid) looked overmatched from the first game onward.  The Eagles turned the football over 38 times – 31^st of 32 teams in the NFL, ahead only of a team which lost its final 10 contests…some of them quite badly.  When the Eagles won their final four, largely meaningless games against inferior and in one case, indifferent competition, fans regarded the oasis as the mirage it obviously was.  Case in point, after averaging 2.4 turnovers per game in the first 12 games, during their four-game climb to mediocrity, they averaged 2.25 per game…a rousing improvement indeed.* 

            When Mr. Laurie began addressing the media and those following with rapt attention in front of televisions and radios throughout the greater Philadelphia area, he began by acknowledging the frustration of his fans, decrying the season as “unacceptable” along with a variety of other unmistakable words constructed carefully beforehand to portray an image of frustration, anger, and the sense that despite his wealth and power, he too was as irritated and disgusted as the fans who buy tickets.  Of course, he did not fire his coach.

I'm not surprised that Reid was not fired.  However, there is unmistakable disappointment when no one is truly accountable for undesired results.  We live in an era of spin, plausible denials of responsibility, and bulletproof figures of wealth and power, whom are seemingly never truly at fault.

            When a financial system collapses, and the powers that be argue that they made rational decisions despite previous warnings to the contrary, the masses are rightly enraged…then they write the next check to their mutual funds and financial planners.  When politicians unfailingly point fingers across the aisle, despite generally lacking the courage, statesmanship, and savvy to address the work of the nation, we gripe…then re-elect them.  When socialites and celebrities blame everything from the media to their mothers to the pressure on them that the rest of us mere mortals fail to comprehend for their every indiscretion, we criticize…then attend their next movie.

            Recently, an independently wealthy group of owners in two separate sports locked their players out of their jobs for want of a more usurious split of billions during a time in which most Americans struggle to feed, clothe, and house themselves, ignoring the tens of thousands of low-wage employees that their industries support.  We complained, we allowed pundits to decry their greed…then promptly returned to following their sports.

            Why do we continue to expect different behaviors?  This is the world we inhabit - a world in which people are blamed, but never held accountable.  This occurs from elementary school, where failing to master basic concepts might yield red ink from a teacher but still results in promotion, and permeates the culture in countless ways thereafter. 

            The only part of this that angers me is that we are still surprised and outraged.  We get what we pay for.

*It is essentially indisputable that the largest single reason for the Eagles’ failure this season stems from their inability to maintain possession of the football.  After finishing 3^rd in the NFL in total offense and 8^th in total defense (no other team in the NFL placed in the top-10 on both sides of the football), the 31^st place finish in terms of total giveaways (also tied for 30^th in terms of giveaways – takeaways) thoroughly torpedoed an otherwise talented team.  Quarterback Michael Vick, in his end-of-season press conference, discussed his turnovers (19 of the 38 total turnovers could be directly attributed to Vick, though he started only 13 games and completed only 11), yet insisted that the team’s poor showing was not the result of them.  He believes he has erred, but not that his errors wrought any deleterious effect.  This ought to be incredible…yet it is both credible, and predictable.