kasper13 Posted August 13, 2005 Posted August 13, 2005 The preseason needs to be shortened to two games. The amount of injuries are just ridiculous. The Colts have 22 players on the injury report for tonight's game. Everyone in WNY and Bills fans everywhere will be holding their collective breaths until about halfway through the first half. Almost every team will lose one or more important players for an extended period of time if not the entire season over the course of 4 meaningless games. With all the off-season workouts and almost 6 weeks of training camp, there is no need for 4 preseason games anymore. (Anyone remember when teams played 6 preseason games?) Teams could have a scrimmage against another team, play one home and one away preseason game and then get down to business with an 18 game regular season. Fans wouldn't feel so ripped off paying full price for two preseason games, and there would be two more weeks of "Primetime" Games. I think it would also cut the useless injuries at least in half. I also miss the season not starting Labor Day weekend. We used to have a giant "Kickoff Party" on Saturday Night and then another giant party on Sunday either at someone's house or tailgate at the Opener and then continue the drinki...err....party after the game because nobody had to go to work or school on Monday because of the holiday. Teams have 20 coaches, scouts, more video capabilities than in the old days and they should be able to evaluate a bunch of no-names and a few position battles in "organized team activities", training camp, a scrimmage and two preseason games.
PTS Posted August 13, 2005 Posted August 13, 2005 Even if they shorten the pre-season, players would just get hurt in the first few weeks of the season. Because of the nature of the sport, I doubt there is anything you can do to prevent injuries.
Ghost of BiB Posted August 13, 2005 Posted August 13, 2005 This is an annual argument. I think with the impact of free agency killing true depth, staffs need more actual game views to get the best look at their rosters. As mentioned in a lot of other places, some players look great/poor in practice and can be the opposite at full speed. Sure, people can get injured, but the majority of players make it pretty well through a season without anything major. If a coaching staff is confident of what they have in someone, they can play him sparingly or sit him down if they want.
UConn James Posted August 13, 2005 Posted August 13, 2005 Every year when the injury bugs start to bite (e.g. Grossman) people, be they sportswriters or us mere plebians, start in on shortening the preseason. Then when it's all hashed out for the 15th time in as many years, things don't change much b/c people who actually deal w/ the minutia know that's how it is and know that's how it needs to be to evaluate players and work out the kinks before the games start to matter. If you want to be a fan of a sport where no one ever gets hurt, watch ping-pong. The Chinese teams are amazing!
Ghost of BiB Posted August 13, 2005 Posted August 13, 2005 Every year when the injury bugs start to bite (e.g. Grossman) people, be they sportswriters or us mere plebians, start in on shortening the preseason. Then when it's all hashed out for the 15th time in as many years, things don't change much b/c people who actually deal w/ the minutia know that's how it is and know that's how it needs to be to evaluate players and work out the kinks before the games start to matter. If you want to be a fan of a sport where no one ever gets hurt, watch ping-pong. The Chinese teams are amazing! 406548[/snapback] I've seen some serious carpal tunnel put a few of the Beijing Bombers on IR.
LabattBlue Posted August 13, 2005 Posted August 13, 2005 The owners will not give up the extra home preseason game. It's a built in revenue generator due to the fact they include these games at full price to season ticket holders.
BillsWatch Posted August 14, 2005 Posted August 14, 2005 The owners will not give up the extra home preseason game. It's a built in revenue generator due to the fact they include these games at full price to season ticket holders. 406569[/snapback] Not saying I am agreeing to shortening pre-season but how would it be different if they had 2 preseason games and 18 regular games? While SOME teams have good preseason game turnout, most games have much lower turnout than regular season. I am assuming you saying that the NFLPA would insist on raising all salaries by 1/8 (percentage of new regular games) because NFL would ask for 1/8 increase in TV network payments?
jester43 Posted August 14, 2005 Posted August 14, 2005 i know it's not divisible by 2 and all (i guess that's important), but i think the right number of preseason games is 3. but everytime this topic comes up all i can think of is back when there used to be SIX of these damn games. talk about cruel and unusal punishment for fans and players alike!
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