For those not familiar (I was not until yesterday) “Redzone” is an (American) football network that constantly switches between different games, preferably when teams are in the “Redzone”, close to the goal and thus probably about to score.

It’s kind of like flipping between channels if you had all the NFL games available. But you don’t even have to put in the mental energy of clicking “next chanel”. For those too lazy to use the remote?

There is no opportunity watch a sustained drive. There is no opportunity to form an opinion about the play of the teams over the course of the game. There is no opportunity to appreciate the ebb-and-flow of the game. There is just the dopamine hit of the (potential) touchdown.

I appreciated the drama of long at bats (Baseball) where the pitcher and batter played mind games with each other … stepping out, calling off pitches, fouling off 4 pitches to get the one you want, the long stare in, the catcher’s visit to the mound. Now baseball has a pitch clock. Inattention wins again.

Bring back attention spans.

O wait, what was that ding on my smartphone….???