Running NFL Week XVI thread

Well, BYH, when I was a kid, I couldn't wait to get home from church so I could sit in front of the TV all day and watch the NFL. Had nothing to do with gambling. I'm sure I wasn't alone then, and I'm sure many people, young and old, love spending Sunday watching the NFL, regardless of any monetary interest.

I do agree, however, that fantasy football has brought the NFL obsession to a whole new level.

 

Talk to the people who were negatively affected by the lockout. Not players, writers and management. I'm talking about the guys who sold tickets, merchandise, food and drinks to pay their bills, and then tell me how great the year was. I'm sure the year without hockey wasn't great for them.

 

You like dynasties? Well, we're only a season-plus removed from the Patriots being just the second team to win three Super Bowls in four years. That's pretty dynastic.

 

Have you ever thought the reason you wanted to get home so fast was TO GET OUT OF CHURCH?

I was the same way. But I loved watching the local teams (Giants, Jets, Patriots). Now, the older I get, the harder I find it is to root for a team. So if it wasn't for fantasy football, I'm not sure how much I'd be into football.

 

Fair enough. Sorry.

 

And they were hurt by the forced parity. How many more Super Bowls could they have won if they weren't slowly picked apart by other teams? This year's team is good, but they're not going to win the Super Bowl. They're not going to the AFC Title game.

 

Forced parity? They had $8 million in cap room that could have been spent on better players. Belichek and Paoli decided to sit on that money. Blame them, not "forced parity."

 

Yes, getting out of church quickly was always a priority. I didn't want to miss any of the NFL Today pregame show. Musberger, Cross, George, Jimmy the Greek. Ah, what fond memories.

I love me some fantasy football, but I have no problem rooting for my favorite team week in and week out. Although when I lose in fantasy football and my team also loses in the same week, I'm miserable until about Wednesday.

 

Mmmm. Phyllis George.

Remember when Musberger and the Greek fought and the following week the entire show had a boxing motif? Good times.

And why DID the NFL Today draw so much better than NFL '82 or whatever the NBC show was? No one ever says "Hey man remember those NFL on NBC pre-game shows."

At this rate, I'll get over last week in, oh, 2012.

 

They had eight million this year. They also have future bills to pay. It's like the Bush Administration. They overspent early in Iraq and now we're up to our eyes in debt. That's what the NFL's forced parity has created. Does a team go for broke now in order to win (Bucs, Raiders in 2002-03) or do they spend that money in the future to keep some core players around (the dynastic Pats)?

 

Completely off topic here, but given that Lamar Hunt died last week, does that mean Carl Peterson's job might finally be in some real danger these days?

--Only five teams have made only one playoff appearance during the past nine years -- Detroit, Cincy, Cleveland, Arizona and KC.
--Since Peterson came to KC, each AFC West team at that time -- Denver, Oakland, San Diego and Seattle -- made it to the Super Bowl while the Chiefs struggle just to make the playoffs.

Plain and simple, Peterson needs to go.

 

The one thing all those teams have in common? They played before "true" free agency (i.e. not counting Plan B, which limited star players from leaving teams).

So whether it is good for the league or not, bottom line is players won the right for free agency and the salary cap prevents one team having a competitive salary edge over another. I doubt you'd see those "dynasties" exist with true free agency happening in those eras, salary cap or not.