NFL 2017-18: Watch athletes destroy their brains

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zzeris

King Turd of Shit Hill
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You know, I didn't think this outrage at the NFL was real until this week. We do a weekly betting pool at work. This was the first week since I can remember where we couldn't sell all the squares unless it was because of holidays. And that includes the past year or 2 when times were tough and a lot of people were being laid off and getting hours cut.

I asked one of the guys who always plays why, and he said he's just losing interest lately. He is a Texans fan (has the logo tatooed on his arm), and he specifically mentioned the texans disrespecting the flag to protest their owner. Until now, I thought it was mainly coming from people who would never watch football anyway. I mean sure, I booed when the cowboys took a knee, and i'm glad they got up and keep getting up before the anthem is played. But I don't think they'd lose me if they didn't.

That's not even close to the entire reason but probably the straw that broke the back for many. The game has been poorly managed for a long time. It sounds extremely stupid and hypocritical to remove player celebrations, different shoe choices, etc while letting players disrespect the flag. So, a guy can't wear pink strings but he can kneel? Why? Why so hardcore on minor shit but no shits given about this? No Fun League?

Stupid Goodell attacks on players for hurting the NFL image. Sure, beating women, cheating, and violence is bad and shouldn't be tolerated...except when it is? When they don't allow it, they are so incompetent that any punishment looks like Elliot's. Weak and ineffective. No one knows the rules or punishments because the NFL doesn't even know. Great leadership NFL. Have some real standards.

Talking about not knowing the rules. What is a catch? What is holding, interference, rules for hitting, etc? Tuck Rule? The rules aren't constant or consistently enforced. Some rules are arcane bullshit. The refs are bad but they also have to enforce bad rules.

Lastly, and the really damaging shit was this last CBA. Owners didn't give a shit if players didn't practice enough. If a coach had enough time to teach his team every offseason. Players definitely didn't want to work harder. Less practice means more mistakes. More mistakes leaves some shitty product on the field. There is no NFL Europe where talent can be groomed. The college game produces guys who aren't suited for the NFL immediately. The NFL is giving worse product while still charging outrageous prices.

So worse players, bad refs, high costs, and watching a bunch of whiney fucking babies as entertainment? Give me NCAA which always has something entertaining on.
 
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Tenks

Bronze Knight of the Realm
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You know, I didn't think this outrage at the NFL was real until this week. We do a weekly betting pool at work. This was the first week since I can remember where we couldn't sell all the squares unless it was because of holidays. And that includes the past year or 2 when times were tough and a lot of people were being laid off and getting hours cut.

I asked one of the guys who always plays why, and he said he's just losing interest lately. He is a Texans fan (has the logo tatooed on his arm), and he specifically mentioned the texans disrespecting the flag to protest their owner. Until now, I thought it was mainly coming from people who would never watch football anyway. I mean sure, I booed when the cowboys took a knee, and i'm glad they got up and keep getting up before the anthem is played. But I don't think they'd lose me if they didn't.

My dad and I were discussing this recently. My dad has been a long time season ticket holder. I want to say maybe 10 years now. He's not planning on renewing next year because he just doesn't give a fuck about the NFL this season. I'm even finding my interest fading as well. I tune in to my weekly Bengals game and then pretty much completely tune out of all things NFL until next Sunday to watch my next Bengals game. Normally I catch at least 3 games per week. My dad thinks it is the whole anthem debacle. I doubt it. I don't give a single fuck about the anthem protests. Cincinnati talk radio is heavy right leaning so naturally since he listens to the garbage he is convinced that is the reason. Honestly I find the NFL boring now with all the rule changes, the tempo is broken up with constant flags, the rules seem inconsistent and the refs seem to hold too much power and last, and for me certainly not least, the NFL is next to impossible to consume fully without cable.

I have the Sunday Ticket and I can get most games. But the games I can get are largely the shit games. The ones that have no appeal to the average fan who has no strong leaning in one of the teams. Thursday Night I have to load up Amazon Prime which seems fairly hit-and-miss if they actually have the game or not. Sunday night I have to swap over to my OTA antenna which normally comes in well but sometimes the signal makes that game unwatchable. I simply can't watch Monday since it is on ESPN and I choose not to spend $50/mo on PS Vue/Sling. Even if I was ravenous to watch more NFL (I'm really not) the NFL is so horribly far behind other sports in terms of streaming accessibility they've basically lost me. People my age and younger expect to be able to consume a product without cable and the NFL will not be making new fans. 15-18 year old kids who are starting to form sports allegiances will go to hockey, baseball, basketball, esports or anything else which can be easily consumed on the tablet.
 

Palum

what Suineg set it to
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The anthem protests are just as larger part of the nfl turning into a celebrity circle jerk which has nothing to do with actual performance or the game. It used to be everything was kept in team and it was a big scandal if anyone found anything out or said something counter to the coach on the side. NFL was compartmentalized.

I hate to say blah blah who cares about domestic abuse and all that but really, who cares. It's a problem which should never have existed because the teams should have been so far up the assess of these fuckups they're paying millions for that it wouldn't be tolerated. I'm not saying shit didn't happen, but there was a tight focus on football and any distractions got the hammer quickly.

Now with the protests and the R word being thrown around, everyone in the league freezes like deer in headlights. They can't even manage their players. Who the fuck wants to see a pile of individuals play?
 
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BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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Oh fuck off with this whinefest.

I'm sure there are exceptions, but everyone I have talked to that is not watching the games because of the anthem protests never watched anyway. NFL ratings are down 5% compared to last year, but that's not as much as prime time TV is down. There's just a lot more options for entertainment these days. The NFL still makes more money than any other sport by about $3B and does it with a tiny fraction of the TV time that sports like baseball or the NBA get. I think it's a little premature to say it's circling the drain just yet.
 
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Jozu

Bronze Baronet of the Realm
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This whole players kneeling during the anthem thing is so fucking stupid. Yea they are employees, yeah they make millions, I get it, they should just shut their mouths and be happy they have such a great opportunity to be able to make the money they are and its a PRIVILEGE to play for the shield bla bla bla.

First of all, 90% of these guys in the league have endured a lifetime of training, playing, absorbing hits, nursing injuries, making sacrifices, evading career pitfalls, and just plain putting in the hard work it takes to make it to the highest level of the sport. They deserve the millions they are making. Maybe some guys dont, like busts or who guys who sign mammoth contracts and then dont produce (im looking at you Albert Haynesworth). But overall they have earned their spot in the NFL, and they have a right to voice their opinions with the platform that they have made it to.

The media and most uneducated or biased fans are conflating the kneeling with disrespect to our military or our country. Thats not the case. They are doing this to be able stir the pot when it comes to social injustice, and that is IT. Is it the best way to go about it? Probably not, but when owners start coming out and saying guys HAVE to stand during the anthem, or they frown on players speaking up; they are hurting themselves. The players are everything. If this thing gets too far our of control ans guys start sitting out all together, now the NFL is going into a death spiral.

The NBA has avoided this, so has the MLB. Goodell just needs to be a fucking man and stop being a pussy and just come out and say he supports the players and they have the right to free speech, and if they wanna fucking law down like they were planking during the anthem them let them. As long as the product on the field is entertaining, then everything will figure itself out. But acting like the NFL bottomline is being effected because some black dudes are kneeling during the national fucking anthem is ridiculous. The ratings have BEEN declining, before all this shit, and its because of the fall of cable based subscriptions and streaming services. That and poor play and games in prime time slots, thursday night football and ALL THE FUCKING COMMERCIALS. Thats why their product is hurting.
 
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Palum

what Suineg set it to
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This whole players kneeling during the anthem thing is so fucking stupid. Yea they are employees, yeah they make millions, I get it, they should just shut their mouths and be happy they have such a great opportunity to be able to make the money they are and its a PRIVILEGE to play for the shield bla bla bla.

First of all, 90% of these guys in the league have endured a lifetime of training, playing, absorbing hits, nursing injuries, making sacrifices, evading career pitfalls, and just plain putting in the hard work it takes to make it to the highest level of the sport. They deserve the millions they are making. Maybe some guys dont, like busts or who guys who sign mammoth contracts and then dont produce (im looking at you Albert Haynesworth). But overall they have earned their spot in the NFL, and they have a right to voice their opinions with the platform that they have made it to.

The media and most uneducated or biased fans are conflating the kneeling with disrespect to our military or our country. Thats not the case. They are doing this to be able stir the pot when it comes to social injustice, and that is IT. Is it the best way to go about it? Probably not, but when owners start coming out and saying guys HAVE to stand during the anthem, or they frown on players speaking up they are hurting themselves. The players are everything. If this thing gets too far our of control ans guys start sitting out all together, now the NFL is going into a death spiral.

The NBA has avoided this, so has the MLB. Goodell just needs to be a fucking man and stop being a pussy and just come out and say he supports the players and they have the right to free speech, and if they wanna fucking law down like they were planking during the anthem them let them. As long as the product on the field is entertaining, then everything will figure itself out. But acting like the NFL bottomline is being effected because some black dudes are kneeling during the national fucking anthem is ridiculous. The ratings have BEEN declining, before all this shit, and its because of the fall of cable based subscriptions and streaming services. That and poor play and games in prime time slots, thursday night football and ALL THE FUCKING COMMERCIALS. Thats why their product is hurting.

Rofl ok
 

zzeris

King Turd of Shit Hill
<Gold Donor>
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Oh fuck off with this whinefest.

I'm sure there are exceptions, but everyone I have talked to that is not watching the games because of the anthem protests never watched anyway. NFL ratings are down 5% compared to last year, but that's not as much as prime time TV. There's just a lot more options for entertainment these days. The NFL still makes more money than any other sport by about $3B and does it with a tiny fraction of the TV time that sports like baseball or the NBA get. I think it's a little premature to say it's circling the drain just yet.

Last year was down around 15% from 2015. It's a huge problem or the NFL, Papa John, and everyone else would ignore it. Losing almost 20% of your business in two years is massive for anyone. Sure, there are lots of different entertainment options. Guess what... people are choosing other ones. Fantasy football is a bigger draw today than the actual games. You can get stats for that anywhere though. The problem is that the NFL isn't as entertaining and is pushing politics way too much. NBA, NCAA, etc are doing a better job selling an entertaining experience. The NFL thought they were too big to give a shit what their viewers wanted. I love the blowback.
 

Tenks

Bronze Knight of the Realm
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I'm also concerned with the actual on-field product in say 10 years. With the CTE findings many parents aren't as apt to let their kids play football these days. Fewer athletes means fewer star athletes.
 

Palum

what Suineg set it to
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I'm also concerned with the actual on-field product in say 10 years. With the CTE findings many parents aren't as apt to let their kids play football these days. Fewer athletes means fewer star athletes.

It's definitely only got a decade left at most in its current form. You can't fix the CTE problem. Football will be done in our lifetimes as a major sport.
 
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Daezuel

Potato del Grande
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Don't think we've done much blitzing at all so far, gotta get Eli to make mistakes instead of giving him all day to throw.
 

jooka

marco esquandolas
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I dont get the rams letting basically 30 seconds run off with 3 time outs first and goal.



lol, thought it was second quarter for some dumb(drunk) reason
 
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Ameraves

New title pending...
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Man I really wish the 49ers didn't have so many damn injuries. With Palmer and Johnson out I thought they had a good chance of actually getting a win this week. But now, I doubt it