On October 12th, the NFL joined the assault on the English language on Monday Night Football in Miami by featuring segments of the pre-game festivities and even the game itself in Spanish. This, to pay tribute to National Hispanic Heritage Month, which
runs from Sept. 15th to Oct. 15th. The referee made the first penalty call of the game in Spanish; ESPN announcer Mike Tirico introduced the game between "Los Delfines de Miami y Los Jets de Nueva York en el Estadio Land Shark"; and a flashy half-time "Celebration of the Americas" lauded Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Brazilian
culture.You can read all about the redcarpet-worthy festivities (entertainers Marc Anthony and Gloria Estefan are minority owners of the Dolphin franchise), the game, and the interview with Jets' quarterback Mark Sanchez (who says he is proud to be Hispanic) at
NFLatino.com, powered by Univision, the enormously successful Spanish-language network.
Granted, one NFL game does not a revolution make. But it serves as yet another reminder that the struggle to maintain a national identity is being lost
poco a poco.
That's cute: Colt McCoy's Latino fans have a creative nickname for him.Update: I expanded this blog entry (and incorporated Rush Limbaugh's imbroglio attempt to become a minority investor of the St. Louis Rams) into a newspaper column. Go
here.