Posted on 11/26/2018 11:00:11 AM PST by blam
With only five more weeks of regular season play, the NFL is still the object of scorn on social media as fans wonder why stadiums from coast to coast have loads of empty seats.
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(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Raiders fans were like that when they were in LA (1982-1995).
(Off Topic ... I “tune out” NASCAR when they start that “finals BS.”)
Football.
Who cares.
People not fully invested in the win at all costs mentality which became uniformly pervasive were nauseated by the NFL fan base when Oakland and Pittsburgh both fielded teams designed to win by intentionally injuring players on opposing teams. Not only did the NFL drag its feet on addressing the issue...the revolting fans they retained didn't even demand it.
The fan base at that time had become so inured to unsportsmanlike behavior that they didn't even realize that what they were allowing to go on in their sport caused people who didn't watch or who were casual watchers to view them with disdain.
The NFL didn't just gradually fall into a league of felons. It had a sudden jumping of point, and that was it.
Where they are now was both predictable and inevitable.
The playoffs in college football hurt the product, but increased revenue on the short term. The regular season is the playoff system where every game means something. By starting a playoff system, the NCAA made it where after six weeks into the season games became meaningless. Do away with the playoffs. The endless debate in college football is what kept people interested. Do away with the debate about what team is better under what circumstances and you have done away with most of the interest.
Despite the success this year of the Rams and Chargers, I believe the Raiders are still the most popular team in LA. And when they move to Vegas they will have many LA residents make the trip for their home games.
I agree. Division I college football was unique among sports. Dump the playoffs, eliminate a third of the bowls and go back to the original system.
I would agree with you, especially in certain areas of LA.
It got worse in the late ‘80’s, as the mentality of the University of Miami attitude gained a foothold in NFL.
The ‘70’s Raiders and Steelers may have been brutal, but they would not have put up with the sideline antics of their teammates like teams do now.
Yet thousands upon thousands of mind-numbed robots still do.....
Student seats aren’t free at Bama. Freshman have to pick which half of the home games they want to attend and don’t get to go to all home games.
“Stadiums… have loads of empty seats.” Very sad. NFL had a mystique that every manufacturer wants: love, loyalty and flash. Now, NFL has disrespectful criminals who show off tattoos and flip off fans. Wow. So sad.
Every July there is a Tour de France race in France and every year the owners beg for American leaders. They say, Please come over and manage our race. Why? Because the Tour lacks American genius found even at the high school levels: league commissioners, team histories and fan rituals. The Tour is just a group of 20 millionaires making temporary teams of 20 riders with temporary uniforms who each go their separate ways in August. No commissioner, no team histories and no fan bases after 100 years.
But with that lack of overriding team loyalties has come a willingness to root out corrupt competitors whenever they occur because the fans don’t have a loyalty which overrides their sense of sportsmanship.
The NFL lost that drive to have competition be fair and upright five decades ago.
Both the NFL and college football have become boring and predictable. No interesting or creative formations or plays. Third and nine, guess what is coming?
The retirement of most of the long-supported drivers that would compete every week for a win (Jeff Gordon, Rusty Wallace, Bill Elliott, Terry Labonte, Dale Jarrett, Dale Earnhardt (death), Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, Bobby LaBonte, Jeff Burton etc.) and the loss of likable drivers even though they rarely won like Jimmy Spencer, Kyle Petty, Ward Burton, and yes, Dick Trickle!
Now, 2/3 of the field has no chance to win a race. Those same 2/3 are unknowns that will never compete for a title and therefore, the vast majority of "fans" will never latch onto them. Out of the other third, only a few have a chance for a title, and most have the personality of a corporate janitor.
That’s true.
Go Sooners!
NFL?
I’m a vet too, have washed my hands of Sunday football and do not miss it at all.
You forgot to tell us how you feel about the whole thing...
Sounds like they’ve killed the golden goose. I don’t follow it, but if I look at a list of results, you’re right it is nobody who’s a household name anymore.
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