Gripe session

[Tolstoy]

I am wondering who agrees with me here:

 

As I get excited for the start of the regular season, I read something that tempered my enthusiasm. Apparently, the NFL is trying to squeeze more water from the stone. This from Zimmerman:

 

"Oh, this one makes me happy. The NFL is encouraging sponsors to pay for vignettes, or 30-second commercial spots, during the live action. This is so horrible I don't even want to think of the butchery that lies ahead. They've already got those miserable crawls that invade the bottom of the screen while the games are going on, and announcements and images that interfere with the action, and heaven knows what else.

 

I am not even mad anymore. I am whipped. I am pleading. Look, haven't you made enough money? Do you have to squeeze out every last penny? For God's sake, leave us alone. Let us enjoy our game, or what is left of it after all the commercials"

 

Zimmerman aside, I am sick and tired of watching a play or two, then five commercials, a play or two, then five commercials. Why can't we have some continuous action? If you have young children, half of the commercials are R rated, requiring turning off the TV every minute or two.

 

Say what you will about soccer, but 45 min of non-stop action for each half is a thing of beauty.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

I am wondering who agrees with me here:

 

As I get excited for the start of the regular season,  I read something that tempered my enthusiasm.  Apparently, the NFL is trying to squeeze more water from the stone.  This from Zimmerman:

 

"Oh, this one makes me happy. The NFL is encouraging sponsors to pay for vignettes, or 30-second commercial spots, during the live action. This is so horrible I don't even want to think of the butchery that lies ahead. They've already got those miserable crawls that invade the bottom of the screen while the games are going on, and announcements and images that interfere with the action, and heaven knows what else.

 

I am not even mad anymore. I am whipped. I am pleading. Look, haven't you made enough money? Do you have to squeeze out every last penny? For God's sake, leave us alone. Let us enjoy our game, or what is left of it after all the commercials"

 

Zimmerman aside, I am sick and tired of watching a play or two, then five commercials, a play or two, then five commercials.  Why can't we have some continuous action?  If you have young children, half of the commercials are R rated, requiring turning off the TV every minute or two. 

 

Say what you will about soccer, but 45 min of non-stop action for each half is a thing of beauty.

744328[/snapback]

 

I was going to say the same about hockey. One of the great things about it is continuous action. I still remember the one Sabres playoff game where they went 11 minutes of GAME TIME without a stoppage of play.

 

Insane.

[Dibs]

I am still amazed that the sidelines are not plastered with billboard advertising like other sports.....ooops.....shhhhh, don't tell the NFL.

[yall]

There is a potential upside though, especially for a small market team. The more of this type of shared revenue that is generated, the more profit for all of the teams.

 

Other than that, it sucks.

[The Senator]

If you listened to the local radio broadcast of the Carolina game (Murphy/Kelso on 97 Rock), it was "Here's your Time Warner Starting Lineup..." and "Your 'Ford Score' is now 7-0..."

 

It's getting pretty ridiculous, IMO.

[Mike formerly from Florida]

If you listened to the local radio broadcast of the Carolina game (Murphy/Kelso on 97 Rock), it was "Here's your Time Warner Starting Lineup..." and "Your 'Ford Score' is now 7-0..."

 

It's getting pretty ridiculous, IMO.

744395[/snapback]

 

...and to think people still don't believe the Superbowl wasn't fixed or at least "favored" to the Steelers. The league has become a shell of what it use to be. There's a game being played between the commercials. The SB halftime event has become bigger than the game itself to casual fans. I no longer watch games other than the Bills. To me, that puts it in the same category as the NBA. It is too painful to watch this game anymore. Baseball, in my mind, is #1 again.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

...and to think people still don't believe the Superbowl wasn't fixed or at least "favored" to the Steelers. The league has become a shell of what it use to be. There's a game being played between the commercials. The SB halftime event has become  bigger than the game itself to casual fans.  I no longer watch games other than the Bills. To me, that puts it in the same category as the NBA. It is too painful to watch this game anymore. Baseball, in my mind, is #1 again.

744742[/snapback]

 

Couldn't agree more. I was just thinking about the fixed SB yesterday. I prefer the college game any nore. Even with time stoppages for first downs, there's much more nonstop action.

[wnyguy]

Live action football is just a blip between commercials now. I can't imagine it getting worse and still being able to sit through a game on TV.

[Marv Levy]

Face it, the NFL is one giant billboard. Its gone to hell. Hockey is my game of choice hands down. You don't get bombarded with commercials after every whistle. Its fast paced and exciting. Football, although a great sport, is ruined and ruled by TV. I like to watch the game with my iPOD on instead of listening to pointless jabber by all these analyts and commercials. Arrrrrggghh!!!!

 

Next time your at a sports bar or public place with the game on, take a look around during the TV ad break, you'll see everybody staring at the commercials like zombies without any brains. Its like everyone is mesmerized. What happend to conversation among fans during the TV timeouts? Jim Morrison was right when he said: "You're all a bunch of !@#$in' slaves!!"

[Fla Bills Fan]

Face it, the NFL is one giant billboard. Its gone to hell. Hockey is my game of choice hands down. You don't get bombarded with commercials after every whistle. Its fast paced and exciting. Football, although a great sport, is ruined and ruled by TV. I like to watch the game with my iPOD on instead of listening to pointless jabber by all these analyts and commercials. Arrrrrggghh!!!!

 

Next time your at a sports bar or public place with the game on, take a look around during the TV ad break, you'll see everybody staring at the commercials like zombies without any brains. Its like everyone is mesmerized. What happend to conversation among fans during the TV timeouts? Jim Morrison was right when he said: "You're all a bunch of !@#$in' slaves!!"

745208[/snapback]

Not me... I'm not staring at commercials I'm either getting a beer or getting rid of one.

[PhilsBills]

Not me... I'm not staring at commercials I'm either getting a beer or getting rid of one.

745213[/snapback]

Exactly. That or I am letting my dogs out..... Go Bills!!!!!

[RuntheDamnBall]

Couldn't agree more. I was just thinking about the fixed SB yesterday. I prefer the college game any nore. Even with time stoppages for first downs, there's much more nonstop action.

744744[/snapback]

It's capitalism in a nutshell. There's money to be made and nobody's going to stop watching the NFL. They've got you by the balls, unless you're really going to stop.

 

A few more Super Bowls like the last might actually do it for me, though.

[H2o]

...and to think people still don't believe the Superbowl wasn't fixed or at least "favored" to the Steelers. The league has become a shell of what it use to be. There's a game being played between the commercials. The SB halftime event has become  bigger than the game itself to casual fans.  I no longer watch games other than the Bills. To me, that puts it in the same category as the NBA. It is too painful to watch this game anymore. Baseball, in my mind, is #1 again.

744742[/snapback]

 

There are 2 Super Bowl's that I've watched and thought they were completely fixed. Funny though, that both involved the Steelers. 1st, the "Niel O'Donnell throw the ball directly to the defender with no WR in sight" game and last year's game with the Steelers "prison rape" of the Seahawks. That game was disgustingly officiated. I've never seen anything like it. Ever. I couldn't believe what I was watching.

[Cugalabanza]

Next time your at a sports bar or public place with the game on, take a look around during the TV ad break, you'll see everybody staring at the commercials like zombies without any brains. Its like everyone is mesmerized. What happend to conversation among fans during the TV timeouts? Jim Morrison was right when he said: "You're all a bunch of !@#$in' slaves!!"

745208[/snapback]

I agree completely! Of course, Jim Morrison also regularly soiled himself in public. But that doesn't take away from how right he is on this point.

 

The first quarter of any NFL games looks like this: Coin toss, trucks, beer, cheeseburgers, kickoff, pepsi, trucks, beer, trucks, incomplete pass, punt, trucks, beer, cheeseburgers, boner pills, first down, offsides, time out, golf update, cheesburgers, public service announcement, beer, trucks, punt, beer, trucks, beer, missed field goal, cheeseburgers, boner pills, taco bell, trucks, false start, punt, beer, trucks, boner pills, taco bell, end of first quarter.

[Beerball]

It's gonna be stuff like "and now for your fed ex big hit delivery of the week" or the old MLB "rolaids relief" winner. Really not a big deal to me, and I don't see it slowing down play, just filling some moments where we would be listening to Joe Theisman instead. In my book Less Joe is more.

[stuckincincy]

I agree completely!  Of course, Jim Morrison also regularly soiled himself in public.  But that doesn't take away from how right he is on this point.

 

The first quarter of any NFL games looks like this:  Coin toss, trucks, beer, cheeseburgers, kickoff, pepsi, trucks, beer, trucks, incomplete pass, punt, trucks, beer, cheeseburgers, boner pills, first down, offsides, time out, golf update, cheesburgers, public service announcement, beer, trucks, punt, beer, trucks, beer, missed field goal, cheeseburgers, boner pills, taco bell, trucks, false start, punt, beer, trucks, boner pills, taco bell, end of first quarter.

745405[/snapback]

 

 

gringo smacks another one outta the park!!

[Beerball]

...and to think people still don't believe the Superbowl wasn't fixed or at least "favored" to the Steelers. The league has become a shell of what it use to be. There's a game being played between the commercials. The SB halftime event has become  bigger than the game itself to casual fans.  I no longer watch games other than the Bills. To me, that puts it in the same category as the NBA. It is too painful to watch this game anymore. Baseball, in my mind, is #1 again.

744742[/snapback]

I'm sorry Mike, but, that's an awful big leap. The NFL fixed the game so a team from a small market with small revenue would win? Damn, I wish the fix was in when we played Dallas, New York and Washington. Fuggers can never get it right.

 

Baseball? So your OK with revolving signs behind homeplate? Commercials every time someone spits? Billboards everywhere? One team outspending others by 4:1?

[RuntheDamnBall]

Actually, to me the hilarious thing is how much communism (revenue sharing, salary cap, measures made to enforce fairness) we accept, dare I say want in our sports (along with all the "to-the-nth-degree" commercialism).

[The Senator]

I agree completely!  Of course, Jim Morrison also regularly soiled himself in public.  But that doesn't take away from how right he is on this point.

 

The first quarter of any NFL games looks like this:  Coin toss, trucks, beer, cheeseburgers, kickoff, pepsi, trucks, beer, trucks, incomplete pass, punt, trucks, beer, cheeseburgers, boner pills, first down, offsides, time out, golf update, cheesburgers, public service announcement, beer, trucks, punt, beer, trucks, beer, missed field goal, cheeseburgers, boner pills, taco bell, trucks, false start, punt, beer, trucks, boner pills, taco bell, end of first quarter.

745405[/snapback]

Now that's pretty damn funny!

 

But really, it's not so much the commercial breaks - they facilitate vital functions like making a sandwich, grabbing a beer, draining the dragon, etc. - it's the blatant over-commercialization that just annoys the heck outa me, like "here's your Time-Warner starting offense" or "let's check to ING ten-minute ticker" etc., etc.

[Rubes]

I will say this. I went to a few NBA games (Jazz) back when they had Stockton and Malone, but I never really liked it that much. The biggest reason: during commercial breaks, all hell would break loose in the stadium. Every TV break would result in some kind of overhyped, loud, obnoxious, sponsored event, which usually involved the shooting of T-shirts into a mindless rabid crowd, or some ridiculously unentertaining "race" between animated food products on the scoreboard. I couldn't stand that stuff.

 

I used to love going to Bills games, but when I went back to a game a couple of years ago, suddenly Rich Stadium had become Ralph Wilson Stadium/NBA arena. The "success" of the NBA commercial breaks had spread like a virus into my mecca. It was depressing.

 

I miss the "Mighty Taco" song.