NFL is doomed

[togor]

And this has nothing to do with politics during the national anthem.

The NFL is doomed because games now turn on the arbitrary decisions of officials. Check out the video below, which the NFL puts out every week to help people understand how rules are enforced. The overall impression? They're making it up as they go.

https://twitter.com/NFLOfficiating/status/1048320630326616064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1048320630326616064&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fslate.com%2Fculture%2F2018%2F10%2Fbrowns-raiders-mistake-nfl-admits-it-messed-up-fumble-call.html

If there is one thing that fans hate it is games decided by refs. The head/neck thing, which is real, now means that football isn't football anymore.

Not that anyone here cares about the NFL, but some watch college FB with similar rules now. Picture this....championship game, 4th and goal, guy catches a pass in the flat at the 5 yard line and has two defenders waiting for him at the goal line. He gets low, leans forward and knifes his way between the defenders for the winning score. Touchdown! The home crowd goes wild! Wait...what? The official throws a flag for unnecessary roughness on the ball carrier for lowering his helmet prior to initiating contact. Doomed I say....doomed.

[clintonhater]

Hope to God you're right, but as long as big advertisers like Nike & Coke are willing to pour out millions to TV broadcasters, actual ticket sales don't much matter. But if this does happen, many beautiful blonde bimbos will be forced back on the street.

[Vern Humphrey]

Yes, they are supported by advertisers who don't care about the flag or national anthem. And that's why I don't buy their products.

[Mark in Ottawa]

I know that this will offend a lot of sports fans but the bigger question is "Why do we bother to watch professional sports at all?". At one time sports teams represented your school or perhaps your town and were mostly or totally made up of people from your school or town and you could have some emotional attachment to the team. That has not been the case for many many decades. The players are all professionals and in some odd way, we are expected to love the players who are on our home team and then hate them if they get traded. The logic of the emotional attachment to a player is therefore missing completely. In any case, given that I am a retiree on a modest pension why should I have an emotional attachment to a millionaire athlete who is employed by a billionaire owner who is part of a monopoly owned by a lot of billionaires? At best, we are talking about "athletic entertainment" and not "sports". Sports are played by amateurs for fun. The NFL, the NHL and the NBA are all just big entertainment businesses and I have never been able to care about any of them.

[clintonhater]

Sports are played by amateurs for fun.

Like the Olympics once were, 50-60 yrs ago.

[Roadkingtrax]

Like the Olympics once were, 50-60 yrs ago.

You know this is still true, the few athletes with fistfuls of medals and clothing sponsors are an extreme exception.

The US Olympic Committee is no different than any other bureaucracy. Serving itself.

[S.A. Boggs]

I know that this will offend a lot of sports fans but the bigger question is "Why do we bother to watch professional sports at all?". At one time sports teams represented your school or perhaps your town and were mostly or totally made up of people from your school or town and you could have some emotional attachment to the team. That has not been the case for many many decades. The players are all professionals and in some odd way, we are expected to love the players who are on our home team and then hate them if they get traded. The logic of the emotional attachment to a player is therefore missing completely. In any case, given that I am a retiree on a modest pension why should I have an emotional attachment to a millionaire athlete who is employed by a billionaire owner who is part of a monopoly owned by a lot of billionaires? At best, we are talking about "athletic entertainment" and not "sports". Sports are played by amateurs for fun. The NFL, the NHL and the NBA are all just big entertainment businesses and I have never been able to care about any of them.

Does the term "gladiator" strike a cord?
Sam

[Allen]

"Why do we bother to watch professional sports at all?"

This is what I have always said. Using college football as an example. I enjoy watching it and yes I have my favorites. For the most part there are no politics. There is school rivalry, school spirit and the desire to win. The big prize is to be better than everyone else and get that multi million dollar NFL position.

Pro ball is just a job. There is none of the above. Some players try to stay good enough to be considered for trading but if they are kicked off the team then "big deal", they're probably got millions to sit on by then and never have to work again.

No one had any desire to watch us while we worked our previous jobs, I don't see pro-ball games being much if any different.

Auto and horse racing has some distinction in that there may be more desire to win but as a typical job the non-winners get paid too no matter what so these events too are "just a job".

[togor]

NCAA? As bad as any of them.

[Sunray]

Gun Talk?
The NFL and all the rest of the so called professional "athletes" are arrested adolescents who play children's games for millions of dollars. Costs over $100 to see a game. That's what will doom the NFL. Nobody will pay to go to the games.

[Sandpebble]

Pro Sports ... millionaires helping billionaires make more money ... and let's not forget the common stockholders who enjoy the fruits of their investments .

Well that's as American as baseball and apple pie .

Personally I have never watched a pro sports game of any kind since the millionaire baseball players went on strike demanding medical benefits .....

[dave]

I know that this will offend a lot of sports fans but the bigger question is "Why do we bother to watch professional sports at all?". At one time sports teams represented your school or perhaps your town and were mostly or totally made up of people from your school or town and you could have some emotional attachment to the team. That has not been the case for many many decades. The players are all professionals and in some odd way, we are expected to love the players who are on our home team and then hate them if they get traded. The logic of the emotional attachment to a player is therefore missing completely. In any case, given that I am a retiree on a modest pension why should I have an emotional attachment to a millionaire athlete who is employed by a billionaire owner who is part of a monopoly owned by a lot of billionaires? At best, we are talking about "athletic entertainment" and not "sports". Sports are played by amateurs for fun. The NFL, the NHL and the NBA are all just big entertainment businesses and I have never been able to care about any of them.

Like when someone asks me 'who won the game last nite', I give my stock answer, "Who gives a sh*t?".

[leftyo]

havent watched too much in the last year or two, but play calling affecting the outcome of a game has been going on since before i was born. it is nothing new in the nfl.

[Roadkingtrax]

Togor, your GB Packers didnt rise up to my Lions today.

[togor]

Togor, your GB Packers didnt rise up to my Lions today.

It's true. GB is such a fish bowl that they form over-inflated opinions of their own players. Then the regular season brings a healthy dose of reality. Self-admitted Lion's fan? I applaud your courage, sir.

Last season I flew to Europe for work on SB Sunday. The plane was only about 2/3 full so it was like flying international in the old days when you could spread out a little. I guess I missed an entertaining game but it was worth it for the flight.