No, football is not a welcome distraction. Have you watched the Ducks this season? They are the kind of distraction like a car wreck on I-5 that you shouldn't stare at too long. And this stuff again about blackface, seriously. White people, no matter what age, have to stop pretending they don't understand why it's offensive. I should walk around downtown, Valley River, Gateway Mall and UO campus wearing "white face" and exaggerated white stereotypes to see if that offends white people.

Look, sports is never a welcome distraction. At best, it's a temporary diversion -- but it's not that for the athletes themselves. Fans often hyper focus on the performances and gawk at the talent and skill of the athletes but often fail to consider them as persons. No, fans often treat athletes as "things" for their own amusement and as targets of misplaced resentment for the pedestal fans put them on. Sports is entertainment, that's all. It's not some grand revelation of an essential universal truth.