Posted on 12/31/2014 4:31:01 AM PST by C19fan
’m a New York Giants fan. So besides erecting a makeshift shrine to Odell Beckham Jr. and soaking in schadenfreude at the expense of Philadelphia Eagles fans, I haven’t found the last couple of weeks of the NFL regular season super interesting. And yet, many teams that were eliminated from the playoffs appeared to pack stadiums – despite frigid temperatures and the promise of mediocre football. That prompted an argument over this question:
Who goes to the meaningless NFL games at the end of the season and why?
(Excerpt) Read more at fivethirtyeight.com ...
If a chauffeured limousine was provided along with a heated suite and food at the stadium, this football fan would turn it down. Why leave your comfortable home, and a big screen TV, to travel for hours and mingle with a bunch of drunks, to watch dancing freaks in the end zone?
Also MLS, the lacrosse leagues,. Add to that NASCAR, INDYCAR, and Formula 1 too. I love sports, if I or my kids are playing. Otherwise, I have no use for "professional" athletes. They are nothing more than vulgar 'hoodrats with money.
I agree...bread and circus’s, thankfully it’s another opportunity to vote with my pocketbook.
Bread and circuses/beer and football/non-commital sex and pot...we are appeased, life is good. We don’t need to be armed, we don’t need free speech, we don’t need privacy in our papers...
n my opinion, they are all meaningless. Bread and circus for the masses to keep them thinking about politics.
You can’t do more then one thing?
Most people here who have been on the Steelers Season Ticket Waiting List for 15+ years can’t seem to resist the opportunity to go to even a meaningless game.
I go when vendors/suppliers offer up complimentary tickets.
“In my opinion, they are all meaningless. Bread and circus for the masses to keep them thinking about politics.”
I thought I was the only one who sees this!
I am a Browns Season Ticket Holder and have been since Bernie Kosar was QB. We don't go to the games much anymore due to the time and travel expenses (It's a 4 hour one way trip) We would love to go but with a kid in college and winding down a business due to Obamanomics it's hard to justify the expense AND we legally sell our tickets through the NFL ticket site and at least double our money every year. And realize the browns suck usually if they ever start getting into the playoffs we will probably at least triple our money spent on tickets so we plan not to get rid off them until it becomes a losing proposition.
But going to the stadium is an experience that one should try much like going to Las Vegas even if you are not a gambler. Why because it's unique. Unlike Baseball and basketball, Pro football is super intense because the game is broken up into plays. So when your team's defense has a goal line stand (we sit 4th row of the Dawg Pound so when you see players jump into the stands that's us) not only do you see and hear the stadium roar you literally feel it in your chest. Then the elation of the crowd if they stop the offense cold and take over on downs or force a field goal is hard to imagine.
I can remember once when a punt and pinned the opposing team against the Dawg pound endzone and the crowd was so into cheering it felt like you were inside a feral beast. It was overwhelming to be there. It was against the Steelers which is the Browns main rival and they stopped them cold 3 times. The reason was the crowd was so loud the guards could not hear the QB and they were blown off their blocks and the Browns surged into the backfield every time. The crowd knew they had been the anvil and the Defense was the hammer.
The roar of the crowd when the punt was a dude and the Browns got the ball on our 40 was legendary. After the game the entire defense came down to the Dawg pound and thanked the fans. And I think that is the real difference in watching pro Football at the stadium. There is definitely a home field advantage when the crowd can be so loud the opposing team can be put at a disadvantage.
Its racism. The mostly white spectators watching mostly large black men beat each other up in a coliseum with beed and popcorn.
Uh.... Aren't those Saints cheerleaders?
For the kids it’s an experience. I cut my teeth listening to the Jet and Giant games from the bathrooms at Shea and Yankee stadium. It was too F’ing cold to be in the stands and the thermos my father brought wasn’t filled with hot chocolate.
As I got older I enjoyed going to games because that’s what you did with your dad on Sunday during football season. I knew of nothing else. My schedule from the time I was 4 till I was 10 was the same during football season. Early morning it was hockey, a big breakfast at Dubrows so dad can make his bets and off to the stadium.
Today, I love watching football. From the comfort of my living room. If I get tickets to the Cowboys and I am in Dallas that weekend, I’ll stay the extra few hours and go to the game. The only that will ever get me back into a stadium regularly is if San Antonio gets a team.
Ef the NFL.
It ain't gladiatin' without no swords.
Fellow central Virginian here...yes, it's a drag. We've gotten out of town a few times and gone to Charlotte to see the Panthers play, and we had a blast.
Sports (and many other meaningless things) are distractions. These are necessary in societies. However, many overuse these so they never have to think about anything serious. This contributes to society’s deterioration as people are playing, rather than tackling serious matters. This leaves us in our current state of affairs where many are unable to think logically, unable to tackle complexity, unable to discuss serious issues and, generally, unable to function as responsible, adult members of society.
I also went to a WWE match with a friend and his kids, because he needed another adult and his wife refused to go.
I don't dwell on sports but they are a part of life. We took part since we were kids, many of us. It was something we did with dad. Not everyone grew up on a farm or got to go hunting.
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