I hate the NFL. Who's with me?

I'm a baseball fan above all else, but the NFL and college football definitely jockey for a strong second and third in my book, and I can totally understand why the NFL is king. The gambling played a big part of it rising to the top of the U.S. sports heap and the fantasy thing has played a part in keeping it there. Add to that the fact that teams generally have one game a week, which means it has a buildup and "big-event" feel.

I gave up on baseball vs. football a long time ago. I can love them both. And, except for a small overlap, there on at different times of the year and almost cover that time. (February through mid-march, when the NCAA hoops tourney starts, really sucks for me as a sports fan).

However, I do agree on how stupid it is for people to take exhibition games (I'll call them exhibition if I want, na-na) so seriously. I'll tune it to them for up to a half hour in the summer just to see some football action, but I'll lose interest pretty quick. I remember one time a few years ago, I met a friend in Anaheim to see the Angels game in August, and we went to a nearby sports bar. Sitting at the table next to us was a guy all decked out in a 49ers jersey and hat, and watching the game between the Niners and Broncos. The Niners scored a couple quick touchdowns and this guy was screaming in the middle of the restaurant like it was the Super Bowl. Me and my buddy contemplated walking over and saying "you do know this is an exhibition game, right?"

 

Hey, it's not like I'm out picketing the stadium on Sundays. I really don't expend any "emotional capital" on it other than just throwing out a post here.

And, yes, I realize I'm in the minority. I realize that there are many many more people who think I'm nuts for not caring. That's OK.

As an aside, I also hate Yankees-Red Sox games, because that's the closest baseball comes to the NFL.

As a second aside, I do not sit in an easy chair and watch the NFL on Sunday. In fact, the whole season I won't watch more than an hour combined of NFL games. (I do watch more in playoffs.) I have to sometimes remind my wife how lucky she is that she's married to one of the 48 men in this country who is willing to go to the park with the kids on a Sunday in October, so maybe she can just chill out on the rare occasion when I do want to watch a sporting event on TV.

 

Not me.
It's a game, and a business based on a game, and people like it, and it's got the best business model of any professional sport in the U.S.
Not much to complain about.
Except Favre.
And T.O.
And Chad Johnson.
But that's it.

 

Maybe they should be though.

 

"Mr. Senator, this hearing has been debacled." /Smith

 

I hate, hate, hate, hate the NFL preseason, for the reasons mpc stated above. Preseason games are simply evaluation tools for coaches, nothing more. Anyone who takes these games as any indicator of future success is a moron. The Lions were 4-0 in the preseason last year, for fuck's sake.

Do love me some football Sundays in the fall though. Lots of beer. Lots of wings. Hanging out with friends. Good times.

 

This presumes that there was only one explosion. It's initial explosion was in the 60s and 70s--that was the one that first brought it even with baseball and probably a bit beyond it as America's favorite pro sport. But there definitely has been another recent explosion that has left all other American pro sports miles behind in the dust.

And the fantasy football craze absolutely has something to do with that. I know plenty of people, both men and women, that tune into NFL games specifically to watch their fantasy players. And usually in games they'd never give two shits about without their fantasy league.

 

The fact that the draft draws such big ratings is a great point to counter the frequent contention that gambling is a huge part of the NFL's popularity.
If you want to count fantasy as gambling, I suppose you could try to make that case. But the point about real, point-spread gambling being a huge cause of the NFL's popularity is dramatically overstated.
I'm not saying it's not a factor, but it's not as big as the league's opponents want you to believe it is.
Saying gambling is a huge part of why people watch the NFL is like saying marijuana is a big part of why they listen to rock music.
There's a connection, but it's not essential.

 

The only people who take preseason games seriously are degenerate gamblers. Real fans don't. I watch the first teams play in the preseason when I can because I like watching football, but I don't think even the biggest fans willingly watch an entire preseason game unless they're in attendance (and that's just an excuse to get drunk somewhere different).

 

You'd be shocked at how many people I know that take NFL preseason games seriously, and get uptight about it when the teams aren't winning. These are your bread-and-butter type Sunday fans. You're right, the hardcore ones that know something about the sport won't get caught doing that, but a lot of people do.