Posted on 02/01/2015 5:30:54 AM PST by Kaslin
(I know I normally write about politics, and if you want to read about that I suggest you check out my column from Thursday on the climate change hoax. It’s pretty good and has some good jokes in it.)
I have to start out by saying there isn’t anything wrong with it, but the Super Bowl could be better. Yes, it’s been a rough year for the NFL…in every way except the bottom line. The wallets are full, but the reputation is damaged. That will fade over time, but the biggest day in sports is now almost an afterthought this year.
Do you know anyone who isn’t a fan of the Patriots or the Seahawks who cares about today’s game? The actual game, not the event that involves beer drinking, wing consumption, commercials and the halftime show. Deflate-gate has, and forgive the pun, sucked all the oxygen out of the game itself.
Maybe it’s because the Seahawks won last year and the Patriots have won too many times in recent years, but the game has no excitement or drama attached to it. America knows most of these players, so any “human interest” stories about someone who was an undrafted homeless junkie just a few years ago but is now playing in the Super Bowl are already known.
Since most people who don’t have money on it don’t care about the game itself, but the event, why not move it to Saturday? Having the Super Bowl on Sunday only happens because that’s how it’s always been. It doesn’t have to be.
People have to work on Monday, so they have to choose between having a few beers with friends and staying out late or leaving before it’s over. Who stays at a Super Bowl party after the game is over? If the game is on Saturday, a Super Bowl party is an actual party. The game ends at 10, and everyone can watch the game and even hang out after.
It makes sense from the standpoint of advertisers too. People will watch no matter when the game is, so you won’t lose overall audience. But if one team is up by 27 points halfway through the third quarter, a large percentage of the crowd is heading home because they have to work tomorrow. So who wants to pay $4 million for a 30-second ad in the fourth quarter on the off chance you’ll still have a large enough audience to justify it? A Saturday game ends that.
The fans are happy and the advertisers are happy. Plus, with no rush to get to bed, the ads in the post-game show increase in price.
There’s no Monday hangover and production loss/sick days taken after the game. It’s win-win! The NFL needs some good press; a Saturday “Super Bowl L” next year makes that happen.
I know traditionalists are screaming at their computers right now that “it’s TRADITION!” and angry at the thought. Traditions are great, but the Super Bowl is a game and professional sports are a business.
Super Bowls started out as day games. The first one kicked off at 4:15 Eastern, the second was at 3:05. It wasn’t till Super Bowl XII that the game was played in prime time. Yes, 12 is different from 50, but so what?
Think of the boon to businesses. Bars and restaurants would be packed on Super Bowl Saturday. And offices, construction sites and every other business wouldn’t be packed with unproductive zombies on Monday.
I’ve heard it suggested that the game either be moved to the weekend of Martin Luther King Day or President’s Day, but Sundays still have the feeling of a “school night” even with a Monday off. Saturday just makes more sense than any other option.
I’m not someone who says, “traditions were made to be broken” -- at least not very often. But the Super Bowl is a game, a business. It’s a game and a business that draws more people to it than anything else on TV. In years very few people care about the game itself compared to the event, a Saturday game is the smart play.
I grew up in Detroit, so not only do I not have a dog in this fight, I’ve rarely had a puppy in the playoffs. I like to say that Detroit doesn’t have a professional football team, we only have the Lions. But I do watch the playoffs and I make a point to watch the Super Bowl.
It would be so much more enjoyable to do that on a Saturday night with friends and no one looking at the clock, judging how long they will stay based on the game and the fact that they have to be up early the next day. I don’t think I’m alone in that.
“This is the only day of the year when even Democrats root for millionaires.”
I root for individuals becoming millionaires; I don’t root for millionaires sucking on the public tax trough as does the NFL at all levels. I just heard where security for this game will cost Phoenix taxpayers and probably all US taxpayers many millions if not more. Why are not those entities that are profiting (30 seconds=$4mil) subsidizing security for their game.
If you had a retail store and feel that you need security for a big sale, taxpayers do not pay. If the NFL monopoly was paying the costs of their venue including stadium rental etc, they would not be able to pay the owners and players billions. Instead ultimately much goes on our national credit card. The system is corrupt.
Next time you attend such a sporting event ask the ticket promoter for your “taxpayer courtesy discount”. It seems everyone gets a cut of the taxpayer’s largesse but taxpayers.
A lot more Millionaire Democrat politicians than there are Republicans.
“Stop with the friggin’ halftime shows and bring back the Marching Bands.”
I agree...give average Americans and their kids that are funding the event some recognition and exposure instead of the overly compensated Hollywood darlings that give us nothing but declining values.
Super Bowl. That’s that football contest right.
Actual Super Bowl Sunday means 3 weeks till Daytona 500.
It’s usually the only game of the year I watch...sometimes
Might take my wife out to dinner tonight.
I agree. Too many politicians have become millionaires not because of their competent ethical service to “we the people”, but because the system is corrupt and they are owned.
America has become the best crony capitalist system infested with political corruption that money can buy.
I bet that the Super Bowl “magically” goes into overtime tonight...completely unrelated to selling more TV ads.
I could give a good crap less about the super bowl. I have watched every super bowl played. The past couple of years I have watched less and less of the game. Now, I simply don’t give a rats hip pockets about the game. Neither team interests me and I dislike both coaches and many of the punks on both teams. So, I think I will just watch a movie, read a book and go to bed. NBC has a FIVE hour pre game show. What the hell can they talk about in those five hours that ESPN has not beaten to death on four channels by 137 different talking heads all week. By now even the very blades of grass have each been individually interviewed.
The Super Bowl coverage is all about the Haus Frau now. Lots of celebrities and crap,
I actually still don’t mind it and will watch it.
Anybody that thinks today’s game has no drama simply does not know anything about football. This is the most evenly matched SB in decades, probably since GB- Denver maybe even earlier.
The Saturday idea is silly. There’s plenty of parties. He also needs to learn about a little thing called Time Zones, the game might ends at 10 in the East, in mountain it’s done at 8. Plenty of folks hang out for a while after the game. And really given that the news is on at 11 in the East I’m betting people hang out a bit after the game there too.
The NFL is a Sunday sport. Not a Saturday sport. And one of the reasons for that is the Monday water cooler. If the game is on Saturday you’ve got a whole day be get over the game before going back to work to discuss it with your friends. Notice how the college football AND basketball championships are on Monday... water cooler.
And next year’s is Super Bowl 50, the graphic arts department doesn’t like L.
Best of both worlds.
Australian rules football
The game long ago took a back seat to the moronic circus the event has become. Prime example: Check out NBC’s insufferable all day pre-game coverage and witness homo skater Johnny Weir prancing around in his sparkly football outfit, complete with deflated football beret jauntily perched atop his melon and glitter eye black smeared across his mug.
Launch the “tight end-to-wide receiver” jokes.
Yes, exactly right.
Bet you a dollar Michael Sam and his “friend” will make an appearance.
I wouldn’t doubt it. And that malignant dwarf Costas will “interview” them.
They could tape the actual game, played in some Top Secret location with empty stands and show it on TV as a tape delay at 2AM on Wednesday. Then, the people that have zip better to do and CAN'T sleep can kill the hours necessary to actually watch an NFL game without having to pretend they didn't.
They could make it easier by editing out the time between plays. Then the time killed would only be about nine minutes. They could make that worth while show by showing the actual winner of the Super Bowl commercial competition with a few runners up so they could fill an actual hour of TV time.
They could have those clowns that analyze NFL games analyze the Superbowl commercials. They might accidentally say something entertaining to hear if they did.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.