Super Bowl Lessons for America: Strong Defense or Strong Offense?

Cartoons about the Super Bowl are a little late today, except that if I was drawing one today, it would have a completely different flavor. What a performance! 

I guess the game put the argument to bed about whether a strong defense or a strong offense is better. A strong defense is important, because if you can stop the other side from scoring, you cannot lose. But will a strong defense help you win? 

Manning has a great arm, but it didn’t do him any good last night. His receivers were almost completely covered. They probably looked invisible to him. His problem was not a bad arm. His problem was that his receivers were shut down. With a lame running game (and poor pass protection) he was very limited. His great arm was rendered ineffective. Particularly, when the other side was scoring all night long with their defense. Too bad. Which teaches that a strong offense, which has a particular weakness, is vulnerable to a smart defense who can figure it out. Sure, corner back Sherman was obnoxious and maybe racist, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew his trade. So did the rest of the Legion Of Boom (or Doom). That is why a “great offense” failed.

So how did a great defense win? By simply stopping Manning’s great passing game. and, then, scoring on “targets of opportunity” when they presented themselves, usually as a result of the powerful defense. 

Sports are a part of life and so they can teach lessons about life. And only a congenital dufus couldn’t learn from last night’s game.

Alexander was obviously a proponent of a strong offense. But his home, Greece,  was thousands of miles away from his battlefields. If he lost a battle it only meant he would have to fight again another day. He didn’t have to worry about defense, excepting his flanks.

Our goal should be the same today as it was in 1775. Present a great defense at home and our outposts, ie; Hawaii in 1941, where we began learning about the disadvantages of being poorly defended and unprepared on December 7. Then, after preparing a strong defense (none of that Maginot Line stuff…leave that to the frogs), look for the weaknesses of the enemy and strike where it will hurt him most. This requires we know our enemies. It also helps to be able to identify them. It also helps to not arm them or send them “foreign aid.” It also helps to be able to call them “terrorists” if that’s what they are.

The current clownish administration can do none of these things. They are incompetent babes in the woods, at best, if not intentional traitors. 

At worst, if you have a great offense, you won’t lose many battles. Staying with the status quo, which means keeping your freedom, will be the result of a strong defense, whether your offense is any good, or not. You can always clobber the enemy when he presents targets of opportunity. But a strong offense will get you hurt, if it is all you have…and it fails.

I suppose that was the thinking of our ancestors who favored isolationism. Of course, modernly, we have serious interests abroad, which require our defensive protection. Protecting our access to middle eastern oil is vital unless we want our modern conveniences cut off. Naturally, if previous administrations (starting with Sweater-Clad Carter and continuing most egregiously through The Community Organizer and Leave ‘Em Behind Hillary) had been paying attention, we’d be snubbing our noses at the Saudis and Company, while relying on our own oil reserves, which are only now beginning to be developed. 

Government cannot produce anything. It cannot produce jobs (except bureaucrats), it cannot reduce reliance on foreign oil, it cannot educate our kids (except at the state level… and only barely there), it cannot protect the “environment” except at the cost of economic prosperity (the two aren’t mutually exclusive). Government can, however, coerce our enemies into peace. Soldiers, sailors and Marines are trained for it and they, like corner back Sherman know their trade (without the bluster). Keep them strong with the weapons they need. Protect our shores. Target our real enemies. And when necessary, strike the enemy where it hurts. 

(Please stop crying about the “$400 toilet seats” and the “$200 hammers” the Pentagon purchased proving the Pentagon’s budget should be cut. The reason those hammers were so expensive was because of stupid regulations requiring they meet “certain standards.” How rigorous must the standards be for a crapper? Did you ever utilize an “outhouse” or hear your grandparents talk about them while telling you about the good old days and the Depression? This may be a “news flash” for you Gen “Xers” …but outhouses didn’t even have toilet seats. (The only outhouse I ever saw with toilet seats was when I was hunting in Montana one winter.  Toilet seats were provided so they could be carried from a warm cabin, to the outhouse. This cozy convenience  was to prevent your backside coming into contact with the wooden hole and receiving such a shock from the  cold and frost that your elimination anatomy might forget why you had wandered out into the cold in the first place.)

A strong defense is important, because if you can stop the other side from scoring, you won’t lose. But will a strong offense assure you will win?  Last Sunday night shed a strong light on the argument as to which is better. But remember, a strong defense, as we saw that night, always carries along important skills, which can also serve the offensive effort. And, as we also saw that night, both sides can bring a good quarterback to the game.