Sobering truth about Jaguars blackouts

The Jacksonville Jaguars have successfully put all 10 home games this season on television. The game this Sunday against the Washington Redskins had the blackout lifted officially yesterday. Some, like Yahoo! Sports Jason Cole, have suggested some "funny numbers" because there were some empty seats a game he was at. Nonetheless, the Jaguars got every game on television this season. It's something many didn't think would happen. One of the biggest critics on the subject, Michael Florio of ProFootballTalk.com even gave the Jaguars credit on the issue.

First and foremost, I will say it's fantastic the Jaguars accomplished the goal. Being in the AFC South title race and playoff hunt certainly was a big assist to the issue, regardless of the circumstances it was done. Most, even myself, didn't think the Jaguars would go the entire season without a blackout. But, we did it and that deserves a high five.

That's all it deserves, however. A lot of Jaguars fans are starved for national respect or praise, especially on the blackout issue. I know I even took issue with some things early in the season, and that stems from so much negative attention based on half-truths and things that are just patently false. It's nice the Jaguars are getting credit from outlets for having no blackouts, but that should really be a non-story. It's only a story because Jaguars fans allowed it to be one.

We, as fans, allowed the blackouts to occur last season. We, as fans, allowed the cloud to be huddled over Jacksonville and fuel the Los Angeles fire. Jaguars fans are resilient however, and we fired back vehemently. We fired back with reasons for blackouts, tarps, lack of attendance, etc. As we all know, that really doesn't matter in the eyes of the masses. They see what they see and that's it. Getting all the games on television this season is certainly going to squelch that, for now. We all know it's going to crop up again at some point.

I've noticed some Jaguars fans are too proud of what should be a simple task for any NFL franchise. While blackouts have become more prevalent in the past few seasons across the league, not having one shouldn't be seen as an accomplishment. It should be the norm. I understand the need to shove it in the media's face this year, due to the false notions nationally about the Jaguars fanbase. However, I've seen some fans expecting it to be some national story that's being ignored.

It's not.

You're not supposed to have blackouts.

It reminds me of a Chris Rock joke: "I ain't never been to jail!" What do you want, a cookie?! You're not supposed to go to jail!"

While the recognition is nice given the false perception that's been out there nationally, I think we should quell the want for more and for it to be a story. Jacksonville is doing what they're supposed to do and what they failed to do last season.

I'm not trying to be a Negative Nancy on the subject, but that's the truth and that's how I feel about it. I'm ecstatic it was accomplished, as I didn't think it would, but it's not something deserving of national praise in the media. Even though the national media unjustly hammers the fans on the subject, that's how it works.

With that said, kudos to Jaguars fans for shutting a lot of people up on the matter. We'll need to continue it in the future however, else it will just crop right back up again. This probably sounds highly hypocritical, given my tendency to slam guys nationally here and on Twitter who are speaking out of pure ignorance, but as Joe Fisher likes to hear, "Oh whatevs."

On to the Redskins.