Is anyone else less invested in this season than normal?

[T master]

26 minutes ago, Gene1973 said:

 

This is what so many fail to understand, they don't want to hear it and wind up just spewing canned talking points.

 

 I just want it to cover all not just what some would rather it cover and leave out some very important parts of the conversation is all add to that that football is suppose to be a form of  "entertainment" i want to be entertained & not continually bombarded with all the normal stuff you here all week long on the radio & TV .

 

Kind of a "Calgon take me away" time !

 

We all need a break from time to time from the every day that's all i'm saying and football was that for me and many others !

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

3 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

This is exactly right. The worry is it has started, or had pre-Covid, to seep into personnel connections as well. The number of people I have spoken to in the least 2 or 3 years who have been like "well I can't be around my cousin now because he thinks X" or "I went on a date with this guy and it was going fine but then they said they support Y". And the experiences I mention are from people in a range of different political positions. We are becoming more and more insulated in our own bubbles as humans. When did we decide you couldn't be friends with people who disagreed with you? When did we decide that diverse perspectives was a bad thing? It's terrifying for the future of the species.

 

I mentioned in the other week in the Fromm thread.... I am firmly an atheist. One of my best friends on this planet is a pretty devout Catholic. We disagree on some of the most fundamental things about human existence. That doesn't mean we can't share a glass of wine and B word about people at work. Or eat pizza and watch a Netflix boxset together. Or go on holiday and get drunk and sunburnt together. My cousin is a strident right wing free marketer. There isn't a single economic principle we share. Yet the 3 or 4 times a year when I at home we have the best nights in the pub together drinking and debating. That is surely what makes life interesting? This increasing need to surround ourselves only with people who think like ourselves.... it is disturbing.

 

In my life away from here, I have several friends who are GREAT friends with whom I share little in the way of political convictions.

 

We have an agreement, we just don't talk about it. At all.

 

It works.

 

I don't know Coach Tuesday from adam, but I'm damned sure I wouldn't enjoy his company. He seems truly miserable to be around.

 

[GunnerBill]

6 minutes ago, Joe in Winslow said:

 

In my life away from here, I have several friends who are GREAT friends with whom I share little in the way of political convictions.

 

We have an agreement, we just don't talk about it. At all.

 

It works.

 

I don't know Coach Tuesday from adam, but I'm damned sure I wouldn't enjoy his company. He seems truly miserable to be around.

 

 

See I think even not being able to talk about it is sad. If it works for you fair enough, but to have whole categories of issue you can't talk about with someone who takes a different view.... I don't think ultimately that is good for furthering the understanding of humanity. It is fine to disagree. It is healthy to disagree. I don't understand why people can't disagree respectfully anymore.

[HappyDays]

11 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

I don't understand why people can't disagree respectfully anymore

 

This isn't new. It's just that people from totally different backgrounds and communities didn't used to congregate together. The internet has changed everything. Liberals were surprised to see Trump win the presidency because they didn't understand rural American values. Rural America is shocked to see protests that occasionally turn violent because they don't understand what it's like to be a black person in a city. I don't think the country has actually become more polarized, but now the poles are able to talk to each other online.

Edited September 2, 2020 by HappyDays

[GunnerBill]

1 minute ago, HappyDays said:

 

This isn't new. It's just that people from totally different backgrounds and communities didn't used to congregate together. The internet has changed everything. Liberals were surprised to see Trump win the presidency because they didn't understand rural American values. Rural America is shocked to see protests that occasionally turn violent because they don't understand what it's like to be a black person in a city. I don't think the country has actually become more polarized, but now the poles are able to talk to each other online.

 

I don't know the social history of America to know if that fully explains it, but I don't think it explains it in the UK. We are a much smaller country we have been much more used to the cities mixing with the shires over the last 50 years.

[thurst44]

1 hour ago, Gene1973 said:

 

I guess I'd need a time machine to do a proper study. Can't acurately perform the study from within the current civilization framework IMO. I'm sure peasants were angry about the king sometimes, but they didn't have a lot of time on their hands to tweet about it...

 

Social media is a catalyst for anger magnification, and free time is the continuum in which said anger resides.

So are you lobbying to bring back feudalism. I gotta say, that is not on my TBD hot takes bingo card. 

 

[Not at the table Karlos]

9 hours ago, Prickly Pete said:

Done with the NFL until they stop sending money to Black Lives Matter, so that pretty much means I'm done with the NFL, and other major professional sports for a very long time.

 

They can send money to other organizations that help those communities, and I will be fully supportive.

 

Until then, I don't care if the Bills play in the Super Bowl, I won't be following it.

Won’t be following but is on a message board that is pretty much all about an NFL team and the NFL. Interesting. 
 

 

[Coach Tuesday]

15 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

This isn't new. It's just that people from totally different backgrounds and communities didn't used to congregate together. The internet has changed everything. Liberals were surprised to see Trump win the presidency because they didn't understand rural American values. Rural America is shocked to see protests that occasionally turn violent because they don't understand what it's like to be a black person in a city. I don't think the country has actually become more polarized, but now the poles are able to talk to each other online.

 

The problem is that they DON'T talk to each other online.  They talk AT each other online, and TO like-minded sub-communities.

[Jauronimo]

7 hours ago, Prickly Pete said:

 

 

Okay, let's say "Until I hear them disavow Black Lives Matter the organization, I won't watch".

 

Many (most?) of the players certainly donate and openly support BLM. 

 

***** em.

 

 

 

 

 

You need every organization with no affiliation with BLM to disavow the organization before you leave the house again?  Good luck!

[thurst44]

57 minutes ago, JoshAllenHasBigHands said:

Well, at least @Coach Tuesday and the Left aren’t pretending anymore that they dont hate our country. 

Or some people love the country enough to try to make sure it lives up to its ideals instead of blindly following. Um, can we get back to talking about football?

[JoshAllenHasBigHands]

2 minutes ago, thurst44 said:

Or some people love the country enough to try to make sure it lives up to its ideals instead of blindly following. Um, can we get back to talking about football?

He literally said “this country is trash.” 
 

But you’re right, this should be about football. 

[HappyDays]

9 minutes ago, Coach Tuesday said:

 

The problem is that they DON'T talk to each other online.  They talk AT each other online, and TO like-minded sub-communities.

 

Yes but the fringes of society never talked to each other at all before. If they had, it would have been just as polarized then. I tend to think most Americans are moderate and that social media makes things appear worse than they really are.

[thurst44]

Its funny how many of the people who are arguing about there being too much politics in football and how they want an oasis are bringing politics to this football conversation board.

 

Anyway, between the Bills looking like SB contenders for the first time in two decades and the yearning for a distraction from everything that is 2020 and cabin fever, I'm about as into this season as I've ever been. I'll admit there's a bit of an odd detached feeling with the lack of pre-season and info -- and I don't get the last part as while it is a sport and I understand trying to get every advantage you can, it is ultimately there for entertainment and hiding an already action-light pre-season activity from the public seems silly, but I'm excited for Saturday to see who makes it, who gets to PS and if players I've liked but don't really deserve to make the team (Duke, Robert Foster) are still in the Bills family or get their shots elsewhere. And you know I'll be excited a week from Sunday and rooting as hard as ever.

 

As for the lack of fans, it won't hurt the Bills -- they were 6-2 on the road, and we all saw how this team fed on the opposing teams' fans. We're "Renegades"!

[DrDawkinstein]

I'm less invested than I'd normally be at this time of year. I'd usually have a camp trip, and be following roster moves more closely.

 

But once the season starts in 10 days, I'll be all-in again. For as long as it lasts at least.

[oldmanfan]

I will be in my basement screaming on opening day as always, but there are parts that have me saddened for the upcoming season.  One is that I am in an elevated risk group for Covid, so I won't be going down to Orlando to Kitty O'Shea's to watch a few games with my daughter and the the other crazies down there.  I also wanted to do a trip to the Rich because my daughter has never seen a game live, and I wanted her to experience that.  As for the other stuff, the league and owners say it's OK for players to express their concerns about what's going on in our country, and I'm fine with that.  Some may kneel, some may not.  It's America; you get to do that.  And the two minutes or so they do so during the anthem does not affect the game itself.  

[thurst44]

1 minute ago, DrDawkinstein said:

I'm less invested than I'd normally be at this time of year. I'd usually have a camp trip, and be following roster moves more closely.

 

But once the season starts in 10 days, I'll be all-in again. For as long as it lasts at least.

I really miss the extensive camp write-ups (was it GunnerBill or Astro or...) which would go through every element of every play of 11-on-11, 7-on-7, etc. Whoever did those -- while I'm sorry I forget who it was -- thanks and know they are missed. 

[Rico]

1 hour ago, Coach Tuesday said:

And there’s our resident fascist, on cue!  Don’t worry Joe, I may indeed be moving abroad.

I called it!  

[Just Jack]

I am. I think it's because there's not the usual build up to the start of the season. Going to Training Camp, seeing some pre-season games. Just the other day, I couldn't remember who the Bills were going to play in the Opener. 

 

[eball]

50 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

This isn't new. It's just that people from totally different backgrounds and communities didn't used to congregate together. The internet has changed everything. Liberals were surprised to see Trump win the presidency because they didn't understand rural American values. Rural America is shocked to see protests that occasionally turn violent because they don't understand what it's like to be a black person in a city. I don't think the country has actually become more polarized, but now the poles are able to talk to each other online.

 

I really don't see what Poland has to do with this discussion.

[DrDawkinstein]

This is the only politics we need here.