I Hate Football--A Rant

[refin]

Not the sport itself,but the media coverage it gets.
You could add up all the other major team sports (basketball,hockey,baseball,soccer),and the total would pale in comparison to the coverage football gets.
Example:
All the aforementioned team sports have a preseason,regular season,and championship season........after that,an OFFSEASON.Which means that they aren't mentioned on Sportscenter/ESPN (or any other sports show) unless:
(1) There is a blockbuster trade
(2) Someone well known retires,or...
(3) Sadly,someone well known in the sport passes away.

This should be the standard for all sports,but not football.

The announcers seem to be frothing at the mouth to have an excuse to roll some footage of the sport of football---so if someone in the sport........
(A) Gets a traffic ticket
(B) Changes an agent
(C) Is rumored to have badmouthed a teammate/coach
(D) Gets a hangnail (okay,that was a stretch)......

The footage is rolled out,the plays are shown,and we are visually raped by a sport not even in season by non-important factors
Some other facts---
(1) Football is the only sport to clone itself so it can survive all year log (Arena Football---nothing more than a rubber bone to keep it going).
(2) All the other sports have special programming to feature the sport exclusively---only when that sport is IN SEASON (example--"Baseball Tonight" is only shown during baseball season). "NFL Live" is shown ALL YEAR LONG on ESPN. (I turned on ESPN to watch Baseball Tonight,only to see it shortened so they could also show NFL Live---a show about a sport that doesn't start till late summer,and this was April!).

Wanna go ON season? Hahahahahaha!
Baseball has "Baseball Tonight".
NBA has "NBA Fastbreak" (and maybe another,I'm not sure).
I don't know what hockey and soccer have.

Football?
(1) NFL Live
(2) NFL Countdown
(3) NFL Today
(4) NFL Greatest Films
(5) NFL Yearbook
(6) Monday Morning Countdown
(7)NFL's Greatest Moments
(8) Inside The NFL
(9) NFL Matchup
(10) Lost Treasures Of NFL Films

Not to mention,after all these programs about football,it is also on Sportscenter.......and this isn't even counting College (College Game Day,blah,blah,blah......).

Again,I don't hate the sport-----but c'mon.My fav is baseball,but is there a program that covers it all year long?No!!! BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING TO TALK ABOUT IN THE OFFSEASON.
ESPN/Sportscenter,ect......when football season is over,LET IT DIE!!!! LET IT REST!!!!! It will come back,I promise!!!
Rant over......

[shades]

Thank the good Lord for hockey...

[D.K. Buchanon]

You neglected to mention the " NFL Network" , owned and operated by the league. Their tag line : "Football - 24/7".

Being that I hail originally from Ohio ( a football state) I admit I have a serious football addiction. I watch the network at least 1 hour a day. Usually the daily " Total Access Live" segment @ 7p.m. ( check local listings).

I enjoy it. YMMV

Whodey !

[rhh7]

Every morning at 5:00 a.m. I sit down with a cup of coffee, and read all of the new posts here.

I used to read all of the NFL news...I have not read any sports ever since I joined this forum...

[Agarn]

I was gonna write a long reply here, but there's a replay of an Arena Football League game coming on. gotta go.

[StratDal]

I'm a college football guy and even that's getting a little over the top.

For me, the best way to watch and NFL game is play my guitar. Sometimes I'll just hook up my Micro Cube and just jam. Watching the game and playing puts in good zone and it's relaxing. I've done some of my best playing doing this. Then again, I've turned off the tube and just cranked it. That feels good!

[woodman]

i love the game, cuz i played at one time ... but with a lot of pro stars earning more than the GDP of a lot of third-world nations, i've gotten disgusted with the NFL money machine. and the constant breathless, over-the-top "coverage" starts sounding like a bunch of yammering to me.

[reverbbb]

What other $$$$$Billion Dollar$$$$$ industry gets so much FREE advertising????

I was once chastised by a reporter when I asked if I could get a little radio plug for my business. I was donating several hundred dollars worth of toys to 'Toys For Tots'. He said that was a conflict of interest (as he stood in the parking lot of Target where everyone else was buying their toys). Bitter? YOU BET I AM!

[e-merlin]

There must be a reason. Maybe because people want that stuff? They wouldn't have all that programming if nobody was watching. Plus, the NFL is a huge marketing machine.

A similar thing is happening with NASCAR. As the sport grew, more programming was devoted to it. Now, if you want to watch anything on Speed channel you have to make sure there's nothing NASCAR going on. I used to watch Speed a lot, but they dropped WRC and a few other very entertaining motorsports so they could have more room for NASCAR.

As with most other things, the answer to your frustration is, "Follow the money."

[Dennis68]

I suppose there are all of those networks and all of that coverage becuase people actually watch it. Otherwise the poor ratings would push them off the air. I have some friends that breath it 24/7/365. Not for me though, I'm a "final four" type of fan in any sport.

[chet]

So don't watch it or read it.

[emu!]

Originally Posted by e-merlin

There must be a reason.

I think we are a country of curious type who like to see people smash into each other.

[Steve McGinnis]

Originally Posted by reverbbb

What other $$$$$Billion Dollar$$$$$ industry gets so much FREE advertising????

Not to mention all the "stadium deals" paid for by local municipalities.

[Dan German]

I am surprised that no one has mentioned the fact that real football is only played in the country that invented it: Canada. Make your field bigger, your ball fatter, and pay the players less. Then you'll have real football!

[Flat357]

American Football - A game played carrying or throwing , or running with ... a small rugby ball
Occasionally they might kick it lol

[refin]

Originally Posted by Agarn

I was gonna write a long reply here, but there's a replay of an Arena Football League game coming on. gotta go.

That's a good one!


Like I said,I like to watch football,but gee wizz.If baseball got this much coverage it would also be too much,over the top.
I mean,when you see NFL Live,NFL Countdown,NFL Today and Inside The NFL all in a row on ESPN...........how many times can you talk about last week's games or the ones coming this weekend?

[Jakedog]

I don't have cable TV, so I get four channels, and don't really see any of this stuff.

My main beef with football, is that I live in Ohio, so I get to see the Packers play maybe three games a year, and I NEVER get a Longhorns game. The two years in a row they played Ohio State, and the national championship, were the only UT games I've seen in years.

The money machine in all pro sports just pisses me off no end. I paid for the Indians ballpark, and the only way I can see a game is to buy a ticket. taxed out the wazoo for a ballpark, for an orginization that will only allow itself to be broadcast on cable. No local affiliates can broadcast the games. That sucks.

[geddins]

Originally Posted by Dan German

I am surprised that no one has mentioned the fact that real football is only played in the country that invented it: Canada. Make your field bigger, your ball fatter, and pay the players less. Then you'll have real football!

...we'll also have another reason to sleep!! BORING!

[D.K. Buchanon]

Originally Posted by Jakedog

I don't have cable TV, so I get four channels, and don't really see any of this stuff.

My main beef with football, is that I live in Ohio, so I get to see the Packers play maybe three games a year, .
That sucks.

that and you're stuck having to watch the browns...

[greggorypeccary]

Originally Posted by shades

Thank the good Lord for hockey...

Roger that brother! The Pens/Flyers series should be a good one!

[stevieboy]

Originally Posted by reverbbb

What other $$$$$Billion Dollar$$$$$ industry gets so much FREE advertising????

The whole sports league/media outlet relationship is a two way street. True, the leagues benefit greatly from having their business covered on a daily basis. But the media outlets are just meeting a demand from their customers. They would suffer great loss of viewership/readership if they dropped their sports sections, very possibly they wouldn't survive. (Full disclosure--I work in sports media. I'm all for it!)

And as far as football being covered so much, same thing, people watch it. A lot of people, I'd have to presume. Media can help create and maintain interest in things, but ultimately it's the public's demand that rules.

[Blazer]

reminds me of this Peanuts gag in which Peppermint Patty has to name the four seasons.

"Football, basketball, baseball and hockey"

[smitty54017]

The NFL has marketing geniuses, where the others don't

Football is also only 1 game/week. I think if it ran 162 games like baseball, you'd hear less fanfare. With FB, it seems like once you get into the season, it's over.

It seems to have become ingrown into our culture, even our schools. When I was in high school, the FB players were gods. They got special treatment and got away with a lot, because the principal was the head FB coach. The game on Friday was priority #1 and he didn't want his players to miss it. Granted, in small-town Wisconsin, there isn't much to do except football on Friday night.

Kids who show an ability to play football are propped up at an early age, and at times seem to be worshiped all the way to adulthood. Those who are good at other sports are not as well favored.

Dave Winfield wrote a book, "Dropping the Ball", which talks about the lack of black baseball players today as opposed to 30 years ago. He points out that basketball and football just do a better job at P.R. than baseball and other sports.

I saw a discussion on ESPN regarding football and baseball and their views on steroid use. The question was asked why do people get upset at steroid use in baseball but look the other way at its use in football. The answer? We like to watch 350 pound guys tackle someone and we're willing to look the other way. It's like it's expected in football.

Baseball was always the clean-cut, all-American sport. In recent years, it's fallen from grace thanks to strikes, steroids, etc. We seem to hold those players to a higher standard than football.

NASCAR is catching on big-time, but the spirit of the sport has suffered. I hear a lot of the newer fans complaining about Jeff Gordon or how dirty Dale Sr. used to race. They forget the sport was always that way, after all, it was started by moonshine runners.

Basketball had a huge audience a few years ago, but I hear their numbers are declining, largely do their acceptance of the gangsta lifestyle and fashion. This alienated a large segment of the population. They even tried to clean up their image by requiring players to dress in suits when arriving for games, instead of wearing baggy clothes or backwards caps.

Hockey is probably seeing the widest growth, but it's still too regional. (I still can't believe California, Arizona, and Florida have teams. ) I think we have college hockey to thank for its growth. Those games are well attended and expose the sport to those who may not see it otherwise.

And a 6 hour Super Bowl pre-game show?

Maybe there's no scientific explanation for it. Maybe it's as simple as this: they're all just a bunch of high school and college jocks who can't let go of their past and Al Bundy is their leader.