"Food"ball for thought

The glitz and the glamor of Super Bowl LXVII gave us a much-needed break from our world of problems, economic, social, you name it. The massive hype did not go to waste, as the 49ers and Ravens battled through a controversial holding call, a power outage, an a last-second victory. Yet far from the stunning "show" that is the Super Bowl, who pays the price?

Think about the footballs. Now think about balls. Maybe the Super Bowl football itself was not a child labor product, but thousands of soccer balls are being stitched in India and Pakistan as we speak. Some of the 2010 World Cup balls were stitched by those very child laborers -- But somehow, that always gets passed by, doesn't it?

There's also the sad and shocking fact that the Super Bowl sparks the largest human sex trafficking event in the country. Thousands of women are trafficked, forced prostitutes, who lose their liberty and dignity in the same moment. 13 of those were saved in New Orleans, but so many more remain. This is a serious blow to our country, a shame as important as slavery itself. It must be stopped.

So when a huge sporting event rolls around, take a moment to think about what was behind it, about the part that we did not see but wish we had seen. For if we think about it, half the battle is won. And if we do something about it, score one!