Welcome to American Jurisprudence, 2.0 where rule of law and decades if not centuries of precedent need not apply. Ideological and emotional elements are now the rule and heavily weighed by whoever happens to be presiding over a case irrespective of on-point case law. Activist judges are no longer the anomaly but rather the usual.
Law was intended to be the mechanism by which civil society resolves disputes in a peaceful and orderly fashion based on historical adjudication of similar cases and lessons learned with a healthy dose of Natural Law (plain, old fashioned common sense). This is the very cornerstone of our democracy and our Jurisprudence system and it is under assault.
Perhaps your passion for football and now your curiosity and concern as to what legal maneuvers are being employed might compel you to pay closer attention to recent rulings that actually do affect your everyday rights as a US citizen.
I need not nor do I wish to preach to you but now that I have your attention perhaps you might take a little time to reference cases such as Citizens United v Federal Election Commission, 130 S.Ct. 876 (2010) or AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion (April 27/2011). These 2 cases are easily researched simply by googling. And I urge you to do that. Just as your football is under assault the more important issues that actually affect your everyday life may be in greater jeopardy.