Beating Dead Horse - Things That Still Baffle Me About NFL

continue to drift away from the hardcore football fan and into the realm of the LCD "fan". This began around '07 and accelerated under Goodell. TV revenues dictated shortening the games in the mid 90's, concussions dictated taking much of the contact (and heart) out of the game, imo.

Personally I don't need T & A with my football but the casual observer does. Sad

but are we the minority?

I don't know.

Plus, calling more penalties isn't going to shorten the game.

it's getting to the point where I really don't watch non Giants games unless it's casually to follow fantasy players. I'm even now starting to DVR the giants game and start it after 30 minutes so I can fast forward.

Meanwhile I'm watching EPL as I type this with zero commercials. NBC is doing a great job with it.

My opinion doesn't matter to the NFL though. As they increase profits they will keep doing whatever they want. It's a shame, I was obsessed with football and now I'm pretty indifferent about it.

on. who the fuck gives a rats ass what Geno Smith has to say

especially regarding the NFL channel
WOW it sucks
Where did they get these clowns
Babineau
Sapp
Davis

They have made it a variety show with personalities that have no personality

Oh and lets talk more about the Jets
and then Johnny Football

Its a disaster!!!!

The NFL is perhaps more popular, and making more money, than ever in terms of raw numbers on both fronts. League and owners will point to those as justification for their decisions. I think the game is still in a transition of what it once was and where it's going.

Non-NYG games lose my interest pretty quickly, I wind up watching CNN more during pre-season. Get off my lawn?

20 minutes of suffering while hoping for some interesting or exciting play to occur not called back by penalty. And the waiting isn't the tension-filled kind of anticipation and excitement you can get in hockey or even soccer, instead it's frustrating, penalty-filled, commercial-ridden, poorly executed activities masquerading as "entertainment".

I've been an NFL fan for nearly 50 years but my viewership will definitely be down this year.

preseason has always been un-watchable....but this year awful.

NFL AM has a pretty new girl.....that about the only thing I can say about it

In comment 11821772 Dave in N.Westchester said:

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Personally I don't need T & A with my football but the casual observer does. Sad

I like T & A also. Just not with my football.

what I'm noticing too...I'm actually not watching non-Giants games as much anymore.

Why?

It's not entertaining.

The Seahawks won last year by grabbing, pushing, shoving and holding with their secondary all year. Their philosophy was that the refs weren't going to bring the game to crawl by calling every single one. It was blatant cheating that worked. Now the NFL is saying - watch us.

On the other side of the ball, the Broncos and Packers did a ton of offensive pass interference last year by blocking before the pass. It's good to see the NFL start to call that more closely as well.

People need to stop complaining about every little change. For the most part, the people in the league office know what they're doing, and their goal is to make the game better.

Worried about concussions? Fine invest money into upgrading the helmets to make them absorb more of the impact. I can't stand how every year they create more and more rules against defenses in order to create more scoring. The scoring has already increased drastically since the early 2000's. Personally I preferred how football was a decade ago. If they continue on this path I think they will eventually start to lose a good portion of their diehard fans.

In comment 11821785 Eric from BBI said:

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what I'm noticing too...I'm actually not watching non-Giants games as much anymore. Why? It's not entertaining.

I will occasionally watch NFCE opponents and that's about it(besides the Giants). I doubt, with the Giants opening Monday night, I watch a game on Sunday. I may check scores but I won't plop in front of the TV and watch a game start to finish.

I haven't watched an entire non-Giants prime time game in years.

In comment 11821785 Eric from BBI said:

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what I'm noticing too...I'm actually not watching non-Giants games as much anymore. Why? It's not entertaining.

Eric, I feel the same. I think part of it is just getting older and we have more going on in our lives. Second the older I get the more I realize its all just a game. Its entertainment nothing more, nothing less. If its not fun why bother?

Everything they do they think will make them more money. And fans are helpless to stop it.

End of story.

In comment 11821786 Superman10 said:

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The Seahawks won last year by grabbing, pushing, shoving and holding with their secondary all year. Their philosophy was that the refs weren't going to bring the game to crawl by calling every single one. It was blatant cheating that worked. Now the NFL is saying - watch us. On the other side of the ball, the Broncos and Packers did a ton of offensive pass interference last year by blocking before the pass. It's good to see the NFL start to call that more closely as well. People need to stop complaining about every little change. For the most part, the people in the league office know what they're doing, and their goal is to make the game better.

I don't agree at all, and I wouldn't call the changes to the games the last 5 or so years, little. The Seahawks figured it out, but how long does that last? How many other teams can do what they do?

Such a small sample size to justify your stance.

.

But the obvious offensive holds are rarely called anymore. If a QB is in trouble and I mean serious trouble of getting hit. The officials will allow OL guys to claw at these defenders. Same with offensive pass interference. Although, last night game was interesting because you actually got offensive interference calls and it felt unusual.

about the NFL is what type of fan are they trying to attract? If you are hard-core and getting pissed off, that will do more harm than bringing in mouth-breathers who marvel at 63-40 games and then jump to the next best thing 3 years from now.

I don't get their strategy.

They already own the sports world, why actively try to fuck that up?

is MTV with a little football mixed in. It is so freaking bad.

You FF players are now big business and have aided in the present popularity. Perhaps more than the game itself..

Bastid

summed it up better than I could.

It seems like a risky strategy, but perhaps they are right. As pointed out, revenue keeps going up.

In comment 11821806 FatMan in Charlotte said:

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about the NFL is what type of fan are they trying to attract? If you are hard-core and getting pissed off, that will do more harm than bringing in mouth-breathers who marvel at 63-40 games and then jump to the next best thing 3 years from now. I don't get their strategy. They already own the sports world, why actively try to fuck that up?

Mark Cuban was right.

Quote:

"I'm just telling you: Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. And they're getting hoagy.

The pay for play at the SB half-time show should be all the evidence anyone needs. They want everything. And all of it.

I know why they do it - and it's probably "smart" to protect the biggest assets - but as a purest, I can't stand the fact that you can't hit the QB anymore. (Unless it's Eli for some reason - blue bias there).

necessarily buy the argument that FF players want all scoring and no defense.

I just want to win, regardless of the score. But the game is still more important than the fantasy. I can't imagine it isn't for the hard-core fans. The fringe fans? you don't or shouldn't tailor a business model around them because they have no loyalty.

are being just overly called to make a point in the preseason. If it continues over into season, then I'll have a hard time watching games anymore.

I don't play fantasy. Because I don't care to spend a lot of time learning about non-Giants players. And I damn sure don't want to be in the position of rooting against Giants or for their rivals. So it's always struck me that Fantasy Football player is a little less of a hardcore team guy, anyway. They invest all this time in creating and managing and rooting for their FF team. It becomes number 1 to them. Which is kinda genius. But you always have a rooting interest in yourself.

When it was announced a few years ago that former ESPN execs were being brought in to run it.

I only watch it now for the occasional Giants games.

What a waste of a potentially amazing resource.

on the field with the intention to minimize cannibalization of potential football players by other sports - particularly baseball, lacrosse and soccer. Pop Warner and youth football programs have experienced such a drop in registrations and participants over the last few years because of the safety issues, CTE concerns and the litany of disabled former players that are paraded on TV. Parents don't want their kids playing football. They want them protected and safe. I think the NFL is doing all of this to recreate the perception of the sport.

Unfortunately, what we're seeing is a video game-esque iteration that most of us originally grew up loving because of its physicality, violence, hits, and outstanding competitive rivalries.

And I do agree that the NFL and NCAA have a responsibility to invest in the sport by supporting affordable advances in equipment safety. IM also of the mind to eliminate cut blocks, crab blocking and other techniques that focus on the knees or below the knees as a point of attack. And I would love to see the elimination of playing on artificial surfaces. These are pie in the sky wishes - I know - but these measures would go a long way in promoting better player safety.

many of us Giants fans grew up on the Giants of the 70s and 80s, which meant our football "upbringing" taught us the value of defense and ball control

We're slowly being replaced as fans by the generation that grew up playing fantasy football, so they've been raised to think things like QB stats dictate success and stuff like that.

You can see it in the endless Eli Manning debates here over his career...a lot of posters think he's not that good bc he doesn't put up big "fantasy" stats, without an understanding of the offense he's run to this point or the way Coughlin manages a game

And maybe I'm just waxing about getting older because I turn 40 next month...:)

And I have loved this game since the first time I picked up a ball and threw it.

Special teams win close games

Defense wins championships

Seems like the idea is to replace special teams and defense with offense.

Not the brand of football I enjoy.

If you throw a frog into hot boiling water it would feel the heat and simply jump out. If you put him in cold water and slowly raise the temperature until boiling he never noticed it coming until it was to late. The game has been changing for a long, long time and with each continual change it moves further away from what once made it great.

Personally I'm really beyond caring anymore and except for a rare occasion I watch my Giants and that is it. The NFL has moved away from the game I prefer and really loved years ago.

As far as the shows, and while I agree they are awful there are plenty of people that watch wrestling and I never understood how they sit through that either. Obviously there is some entertainment value in over the top, loud nonsense and less for low key in depth discussions when it comes to many sports.

is the way it is being called, I don't see how you can play defense anymore. There is a pretty bright line between what the Seahawks did last year and what is being called now. It is an "improvement" without much purpose. Really makes the game feel like it is a game of chance based on what gets called and what doesn't.

I really feel a little cheated as a fan. They have eliminated kickoffs as a part of the game. Now it feels like they are eliminating defense. If they keep calling it like this over the long term, I might actually lose interest in the game.

I miss Paul Tagliabue

but has anyone on this site talked to even ONE person that wants to see even more offense and no defense? I know I haven't. I'd like to know what people he is talking to. If he's going by the popularity of the game, the NFL would be just as popular had he not started tinkering with the defense. Fantasy football and technology have made the popularity explode, not his obsession with more scoring. He is looking at it completely assbackwards, and it's going to affect viewership at some point

They need to let these guys play. A team getting a 1st down on a poorly executed 3rd and 17 due to a ticky tacky defensive holding call is maddening. This sort of thing happens every week and it determines games. It is unbearable. So many penalties called which have no bearing on the outcome of the play. Everytime a good play is made you have to hold your breath for the penalty now. Too many games where the critical plays are penalties.

And the pace of the game is ecoming unwatchable. The worst part is, this is the chosen direction of the league. I never heard one person saying an issue with the league was all the uncalled defensive penalties. Half the league is throwing for 4K yards now and this is not enough.

In comment 11821771 JonC said:

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continue to drift away from the hardcore football fan and into the realm of the LCD "fan". This began around '07 and accelerated under Goodell. TV revenues dictated shortening the games in the mid 90's, concussions dictated taking much of the contact (and heart) out of the game, imo.

Yup...They don't mind the fact that more penalties and stoppages happen, that is just additional ad revenue

It's the old "let the players decide the game" mantra that people often invoke in playoff basketball. Not calling fouls that are violations of the rules is what affects the game. If the rule makes sense, call it. If it doesn't make sense, change the rule.

Once players get used to stricter enforcement, they'll change what they do and the refs won't have to call as much.

that was why I fear for the future of the game being turned into something unwatchable. I believe it was Bennet Jackson covering a guy 1 on 1 on the left side and the guy was running straight down the sideline, Bennet had given him a nudge when he came off the LOS did not impede him, the guy was not in the play and the flag comes out. Automatic 1st down

Over the past few years the NFL and all their tweaking etc.. has really began to make watching a game unbearable. Today I pretty much just watch Giants games and care not to suffer watching other matches. Little by little my sport watching time and passion has been shifting to the NHL and NY Rangers.
I blame it on Goodell and his overall strategy which I just don't care for at all.

They're losing me. Last night, for the first time in my life, I missed a Giants game and I didn't care. The fucking flag-fests of the previous three games and the amount of penalties called and even worse not called have driven me away.

This pandering to the FF crowd and the HDTV crowd (to which I belong) is killing this game. I'll still watch the Giants but if something comes up and I have to miss a game, I won't freak like I use to.

I'm just happy they got those four Lombardis. When I was a kid in the 60s and 70s, I thought it would never happen. Now I can abandon ship without guilt.

guys like Warren Sapp would be unemployed.

However for the past three years I have only watched Giants games whereas 10 years ago, I would watch the Jags vs Cleveland or the Rams vs the fucking goddamned Detroit Lions anytime. Football was that entertaining to me. I think it's the constant delays in the game, the TV timeouts and the excessive penalizing. In the NFL the refs have to confer then announce to the crowd what's going on to the crowd. That's fine but, if this continues as it has during the preseason, I don't know if I could stand to watch at least 16 games.

This is the same thing I feel about watching the NBA. There are constant timeouts and penalties, which lead to excessive free throws, and the game doesn't have an energizing flow. Compare that to watching Hockey, where the game rarely stops, and I've started to become a Hockey fan. Except for that Sindee Crosby crybaby. That is also one of the reasons I had a good time watching the World Cup. The game isn't cut-up for commercials. Commercials come during halftime. The advertising is done in the game in the background on those border things.

If I am with some people watching NFL games, I won't even notice the commercials or the penalties as I at least have someone to complain/explain to what went wrong/what just happened. I watch these games alone, and it's unbearable.

because I know what the result will be..9 yard touchback with no return. NFL has pretty much removed one of the most exciting plays in football.
On the plus side I have more time to take a pee after a scoring play.

this pre season. He spoke with someone in the know that they are grooming 25 plus new refs this season to build a more or less stock to replace bad refs if needed.

He said that explains a lot of the calls this off season and would greatly reduce ounce the season starts. We will see?

Do you just turn away? (grin)

YUP!