I am officially dun with the NFL..that’s not to say I won’t watch another game…some days there isn’t anything else to do and nothing else on. I just won’t care about the games anymore. I won’t follow the bears like some rabid fanatic, but I will get in the 19 club at the stadium and bet on the games. I don’t think that’s being a fan, that’s just trying to win a few bucks.
There have been a plethora of things that have been turning me off on professional sports, and to some extent college as well. One of the most aggravating is the bombardment of advertising. There are so many commercial breaks, in game sponsors, 1/2 time sponsors, league sponsors etc that it’s getting a little sickening to watch. I would gladly pay some money (not sure how much per league) to watch the game with no commercials, to not see a billboard right in line with the T.V. camera that changes sponsors at a given interval. One might think you can go see a game live and not have these issues, but it’s more comfortable to watch my big ol’ T.V. than it is to squeeze my tush into a seat at a stadium…plus the view from the T.V. is usually better. The bombardment of advertising is something that has turned me off from most all sporting events outside of teams I directly follow.
The lockout and labor strife is turning me off of the game. If they do get a deal done, I don’t think it’s going to be until guys have missed a few checks. The players will need to feel the financial pinch before they cave. The owners will need to feel a financial pinch before they cave. For that to happen this needs to be a long labor dispute. What is the quality of the games going to be like if they do come back this year? Even if they only miss all of the off season programs and some of training camp, the first hand full of games are going to really suck. They usually don’t start clicking till week 3 or so on a normal year. Beyond that, I feel that both sides should have been able to amicably come to an agreement on how to split revenue before this point. I’m not going to say (like I’ve heard from a lot of people) “OMG 9 billion? billionaires against millionaires!” It doesn’t matter what your income is or how much money is to be split up between owners and labor, there is still going to be a bit of give and take. For the most part, people expand their lifestyle to fit their income. It’s pretty ignorant to think that because someone makes a “large” amount of money they should be just fine not making that money for awhile. They have set up their lifestyle to expect that money to keep rolling in. The wisdom of this can be questioned to hell and back, but that’s a different discussion. The fact is both the players and the owners depend on that level of income. I’ve read quite a bit about the problems between labor and management, and I do think management wanted to put the squeeze on labor and never had intended to give them a deal. I expect they intended to make labor feel the financial sting so they would be more pliable. I don’t like that at all. I also think that if owners want more money they should have to justify why they need more money. Although I’m not sure the players should have unfettered access to the owners books. It should be up to the league to be auditing the expenses of each team and cutting out the “crap” expenses. Flights charged to the team that are not for team business…ect. I also don’t like how each side is saying they are “thinking of the fans!” Stop talking to fans like they are children. We get what it’s about, both sides need to give.
And the final straw…the thing that pushed me over the edge…the new “proposed” definitions of defenseless players:
Rules defining a defenseless player will be expanded and now will include eight categories:
• A quarterback in the act of throwing;
• A receiver trying to catch a pass;
• A runner already in the grasp of tacklers and having his forward progress stopped;
• A player fielding a punt or a kickoff;
• A kicker or punter during the kick;
• A quarterback at any time after change of possession;
• A receiver who receives a blind-side block;
• A player already on the ground.
A qb in the act of throwing? What kind of sense does that make? It seems like the competition committee expect 300+ lb linemen to be able to stop instantly. If a lineman is falling towards the qb or about to hit him all it takes is for a smart qb to hurry up and start throwing…boom 15 yards. This rule could be abused pretty hardcore by the qb’s in the league. I would expect the next step to be “can’t hit him from behind!” I’m surprised that didn’t come first actually.
A receiver trying to catch a pass…at what point is someone trying to catch a pass? and have actually caught the pass so you can hit them? The idea of rocking the receiver is to knock the pass away from him, suddenly we have to all take a time out so he can catch it then we can play again?
A runner with forward progress stopped…why hasn’t the whistle blown? We see this all the time actually, and I’ve been complaining about it for years. A runner is stopped and just beginning to move backwards. The whistle should be blown and the play stopped, instead the ref’s let it go for just a little longer than it should, just enough to give the runner a chance to break free. I agree that he’s in a defenseless situation..but the solution to it is not to expect the players to judge when forward progress has stopped, it’s for the officials to blow that whistle so the players know the play is over.
A player fielding a punk or kickoff…this is already a penalty, why does it need to be eligible for a suspension?
A kicker or punter during a kick…they aren’t wearing pads? You can’t go all out to block a kick? Again this is already a penalty, why does it need a suspension. I’d like the see the stats on these kinds of penalties during the year, and a review of how many were actually deemed malicious.
A qb after change of possession…alright, we can see the purpose of this rule. After a fumble or a pick it’s standard practice to try and lay out the qb with a “block” certainly that shouldn’t be allowed, but if you can’t hit them at all…I assume they also cannot tackle the ball carrier.
A receiver getting blocked blind sided and a player on the ground…yeah, I’d be alright with either of those…lets expand that to anyone that receives a blind sided block though.
Unnecessary roughness already takes care of all these and any future situations quite nicely. It’s a penalty that’s been on the books for…50 years now? Start using it and fine/suspend guys according to that. These rules are designed to help the offense and boost the scoring in games. If they were really concerned about player safety they would mandate the more padded helmets (whatever aaron rodgers wore after concussion 2 or 3 this year) and they would outlaw cut blocking.
Proposing these rules doesn’t necessarily mean they will take hold, but there is a pretty good chance over the next few years they (or something like them) will. I watch the NFL for big hits and defensive plays (either a product of me being a bears fan or why I’m a bears fan), rules like the ones above are targeted squarely at the defense. What about the 1/2 back plowing through the line with his head down…what about chop blocks? Nothing to protect defensive players. Why not every block in the back…why just receivers?
I might catch a bears game when nothing else is on…but the packers/vikings? nope…not that I’ll walk out of the room if it’s on, I just don’t really care. I won’t -have- to make it home to see the bears, I won’t tivo the games…I’ll just see it if I see it. I doubt I’m going to jump in fantasy leagues this year either. DUN.
Prep sports is where it’s at. No ads, no fights over money…just people playing cause they want to play. I’m down with that.