"Distractions Are Bullshit" from Deadspin

I fucking hate this. I hate that my favorite sport acts like some buzzcut dad from 1956 who sits over in the corner reading the paper and doesn't say a fucking word to you unless you decide to grow a ponytail one day. Life is a fucking distraction, and football seems determined to keep up the football-only facade despite the fact that life creeps in at every possible opportunity. OH NO! BAD LIFE! SHOO SHOO, GO AWAY! And besides, football is the biggest distraction of all! When people say "I just want to focus on football," they're basically saying, "I just want to focus on this big distraction over here. OOOH SHINY!"
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Worst of all, this is a sport that CHOOSES its distractions. My favorite player, Adrian Peterson, fathered a love child who ended up being murdered earlier this season. But there's not a soul on Earth (save for maybe Phil Mushnick) who was like, "Boy, they better cut that guy! What with his distractions and all!" You can get away with distractions if you happen to be very good, and you can get away with them if they can be warped into some kind of positive narrative. (Look at him play through the grief!) We pick and choose our distractions, which means they aren't really distractions at all. They are strategically placed pockets of horseshit. If we don't like a distraction—Kluwe supporting the gays, for instance—we brand it. We say Kluwe is "outspoken" (OMG HE LIKES TALKIN'!!!!! THAT'S A DANGER TO THE REPUBLIC!) and let people vilify him as they see fit.

Vikings safety Harrison Smith publicly sided with the team in Kluwe's case, but he also said publicly that Kluwe was never a D-word to the Vikings when he was with them. If you ever ask a football player about distractions, he will almost always tell you that he doesn't give a shit. This is because football players are human beings who have, you know, lives. They're quite used to life intruding on their jobs. But the culture surrounding these players is apparently not, and will do anything in its power to make sure the distractions it doesn't care for are snuffed out and dealt with appropriately. And to these people, I would just like to say: Fuck you. There are no distractions. Stick to life, assholes.
http://deadspin.com/distractions-are-bullshit-1495443299

True!