Am I the only person that watched our 2020 presidential election process, and noticed a lot of similarities to what we experience in football?

I admit that I am a bit of a football fanatic, and maybe just see things a little differently that most people, so let me explain …

In football game, each side is only allowed to have 11 players on the field at any one time.
In an election, each party can only have 1 candidate running for each office.

To choose those 11 players, a football team goes through the draft, trades, training camp and a pre-season to select their team members.
To select their candidates, each party goes through a process of qualification, debates, campaigning and a primary election.

In a football game, there is a rule book, and a team of referees to enforce those rules.
In an election, there are laws regarding voter registration, absentee ballots and deadlines, early voting, and when the votes are counted. Election poll workers and Tellers who count the votes enforce those laws.

In a football game, one team could have the lead the entire game, but lose when the other team scores as time is running out.
In an election, one candidate can have the lead on election day, but fall behind overnight as more returns are processed, and in the days after as absentee and provisional ballots are counted.

In a football game, there is a winner and loser.
In an election, there is a winner and a loser.

In a football game, sometimes the reigning champion wins, and sometimes they lose.
In an election, sometimes the incumbent wins, and sometimes the challenger wins.

In a football game, the fans of the losing team can be bitter, refusing to accept the loss because they think that the other team cheated, the refs made bad calls, or the rules are stupid.
In an election, sometimes the supporters of the losing side can’t accept defeat, claiming that the other side cheated, and or that the rules are stupid.

In a football game, once the final whistles blows, the losing team shakes hands and congratulates the winning team.
In an election, once the outcome is clear, the loser concedes, wishes the winner success and helps with a smooth transition.

There really are a lot of similarities, aren’t there?

But there is one really big difference between the two. At the end of the day, football is just a game, but an election determines the direction of our country for the next 4 years. And that, my friends, is a VERY big deal, and why every vote should be counted and why we need to be patient and allow our democratic processes to work.

That was true when I first wrote this post in late 2020, and will be true in all future elections.

Until next week,

Carrie

P.S. I could write all day about how divided our country is right now, how our electoral college process works (or doesn’t), why elections can’t be “called” until enough votes are counted to know that remaining ballots couldn’t mathematically change the results, and more, but I think you’d rather I stick to sports 😉.