I despise the NFL ...

Now, why did you have to go bringing up Najeh Davenport?

 

I heard a whisper. Nothing more. :

 

Perhaps this is a byproduct of living outside LA and having my childhood team run into the ground and hijacked to St. Louis by a greedy, rhymes-with-punt owner.

Perhaps it's the fact that the NFL carries itself like Omnipotent Inc., inflicting ridiculous rules on dress on the small front and browbeating cities into spending public money on stadia that could be far, FAR better spent elsewhere -- all the while, doing everything it can to dissuade private ownership from stepping in on the large front.

Perhaps its the fact that all the teams play the same types of offenses and defenses, thus making many of the games indistinguishable from each other.

Perhaps its the constant verbal masturbation ESPN pays the league, reporting every little item like Armageddon. Heck, they treat TO like Us Weekly and People treat Brangelina, Tom Cruise, etc.

And yes, I know why they do it. People tune in. Doesn't mean I have to watch.

But I couldn't agree more with clever.

 

I would much rather watch replays of Cadillac Williams running off-tackle for 4 yards than replays of whether someone threw a ball or strike. And for Budweiser replays, um, which sport doesn't have sponsored this or that by now? I'm pretty sure every big-time sports league has whored itself out to corporate America. There are no exceptions.

I went to one baseball game recently -- the batting order was sponsored by some beer, oh yeah, Budweiser, which just so happens to have the rooftop ad outside Wrigley, too. So don't try and tell me that football is the one sport that's turned its product into corporate money.

 

I love the NFL. I love Sunday Ticket on DirecTV. I really love the Sunday Ticket ShortCuts option that condenses an entire game into a 30-minute package so I can watch every game played in the time it'd take me to watch one full game. I love being able to watch the Steelers every weekend.

That being said ...

I wish Tron still posted so he could weigh in with his hatred for the NFL. That was always an entertaining read, even if I didn't agree with him.

 

Two things that make the NFL great:
1) Fantasy
2) betting on games

 

I think a lot of the malaise around the NFL on this thread is a result of the benign pre-season period we're in right now. Come next Sunday (ok, next Thursday , really), I think engines will be fully revved for America's sport again. See y'all on the Week 1 thread.

 

The collisions are absolutely incredible.

There is so much fearlessness exhibited out there.

And, knowing that these guys will pay for their choice of livelihood with probable death before they sniff 65... because of those collisions, that adds a whole layer to the viewing experience for me, totally apart from the incredible athleticism and tactics.

 

Hey now, I for one don't despise the NFL. (It's the NBA... the one league ESPN shoves down everyone's throats.;D)

I just can't get too excited about it until after baseball season ends. And I drafted a fantasy team last night.

Now, if the Colts choke this season? Then ya, I might be the one posting with this subject.

 

Don't despise the NFL, just don't care for it much. Follow it enough to know who's playing well and who isn't, but just don't get caught in the hype and refuse to stay glued to the couch to watch the ticker

 

I have another question: Who thinks that the NFL, baseball, whatever actually becomes more popular when one team is winning every year?

Do you guys think more people care and become interested when the Patriots keep winning the Super Bowl or the Yankees keep winning the World Series because they're sick of those teams and want to see them lose? The White Sox-Astros Series didn't exactly galvanize the country. Don't more people care when they want to see a particular team fail?

I understand parity gives fans hope in September, but not in January. Just a thought.

 

What do you mean, not in January?