Boycott the SB

[aria]

How many of you would be boycotting it if was the Cowboys who won that game instead of the Rams? That’s what I thought.

 

[CouchCoach]

I share your views Coach, which is probably scary, LOL! I wish NFL owners would have to at least suffer in some way that would force them back into being an owner closer to Lamar Hunt, Clint Murchison, or Art Rooney. Those guys certainly weren’t perfect, but they respected fans so much more than this current crop of self centered billionaires who would cheat their mothers if it meant an extra dollar in their pocket.

And the integrity of the game? This group of owners? With the addition of Las Vegas and gambling into the good graces of the NFL, I fully expect to see games being thrown for a big betting payday in my lifetime.

The horrendous call in the saints game is one of a multitude of signs the NFL isn’t getting better at officiating their games more effectively. They are just getting paid more to have those games, which is good enough for them.

Bullet, sharing my views ain't so bad, admitting that openly?

I look at the game through each decade and it started getting better in the 70's, even better in the 80's and the 90's and then it began to decline. And it's not the owners per se that piss me off as much as the changes that have been made to increase the scoring. Started with eliminating the bump n run, then another rule to free up the receivers and the allowance of gloves akin to stickum and they still drop too many passes. The guys that set the previous records weren't allowed to wear gloves that aid in catching, only for warmth.

The reasons that the NFL is as big as it is today are two, gambling and fantasy. Gambling has always been a big part of it but Fantasy is what really changed the game. That Fantasy audience is the real growth in the game and it is very large but in order to cultivate it more they have to cater to it more. If the Fantasy part were to go away, the NFL and the TV nets would be doing a lot worse.....a lot.

I attempted to use both to keep my interest level up and was in 2 Pick 6 leagues, 5 squares and used both DFS and failed to keep it up. Even though I won, I could not keep my interest level up. So I gave up Sunday Ticket two years ago and quit the gambling cold turkey and the sad thing is that I didn't miss any of it. I was putting TNF and MNF lineups and was in 2 squares for each and that still didn't do the trick. I could not force myself to have interest even with money involved.

I know the root of my problem, oversaturation. When I was growing up, I was lucky to get 3 good college games on Saturday only and 3 NFL games on Sunday only. Now, it's too much of a good thing with both. I figured it out. Since I lost my wife and didn't have to choose between the two, I have spent an average of 30-35 hours every week watching football. I've watched all or part of 96 NFL games through last Sunday. Add another 100 college games. What the hell is one more game between two teams I could give a tinker's damn about? I am fried on football.

 

[Diehardblues]

How many of you would be boycotting it if was the Cowboys who won that game instead of the Rams? That’s what I thought.

Or how many would be boycotting if we lost like the Saints did?

 

[Diehardblues]

Bullet, sharing my views ain't so bad, admitting that openly?

I look at the game through each decade and it started getting better in the 70's, even better in the 80's and the 90's and then it began to decline. And it's not the owners per se that piss me off as much as the changes that have been made to increase the scoring. Started with eliminating the bump n run, then another rule to free up the receivers and the allowance of gloves akin to stickum and they still drop too many passes. The guys that set the previous records weren't allowed to wear gloves that aid in catching, only for warmth.

The reasons that the NFL is as big as it is today are two, gambling and fantasy. Gambling has always been a big part of it but Fantasy is what really changed the game. That Fantasy audience is the real growth in the game and it is very large but in order to cultivate it more they have to cater to it more. If the Fantasy part were to go away, the NFL and the TV nets would be doing a lot worse.....a lot.

I attempted to use both to keep my interest level up and was in 2 Pick 6 leagues, 5 squares and used both DFS and failed to keep it up. Even though I won, I could not keep my interest level up. So I gave up Sunday Ticket two years ago and quit the gambling cold turkey and the sad thing is that I didn't miss any of it. I was putting TNF and MNF lineups and was in 2 squares for each and that still didn't do the trick. I could not force myself to have interest even with money involved.

I know the root of my problem, oversaturation. When I was growing up, I was lucky to get 3 good college games on Saturday only and 3 NFL games on Sunday only. Now, it's too much of a good thing with both. I figured it out. Since I lost my wife and didn't have to choose between the two, I have spent an average of 30-35 hours every week watching football. I've watched all or part of 96 NFL games through last Sunday. Add another 100 college games. What the hell is one more game between two teams I could give a tinker's damn about? I am fried on football.

In the beginning we had only 1 game on Saturday afternoon and 2 on Sunday. And why MNF was so huge. We were starved for more football.

Amazingly despite the over saturation and watered down product the popularity continues to rise and revenue increase. Jerry pimping the ride with the Cowboys is a great example.

And College Football with a gazillion games televised has never been more popular. Football is truly King in America.

 

[CouchCoach]

Or how many would be boycotting if we lost like the Saints did?

Can you imagine this place if that had happened to Dallas? They went crazy on the Dez catch/no catch and the ref and one watching from NY did the strict interpretation of the rule as it was written at that time. And if that had been a catch and he'd scored, the Cowboys hadn't stopped Rodgers and didn't stop them form running out the clock when the Cowboys knew they were going to run it. I think we'd have lost that game anyway. The defense couldn't stop 11 l'il old ladies in a walker race.

I've seen blown calls, plenty of them, but the magnitude of that one with the Saints running it down was out there. And the foul was so apparent. He rammed the receiver with the crown of his helmet, a defenseless receiver. And other than watching the ball in Brees hand, he never even tried to locate the ball in flight. That was textbook PI and a PF for targeting. And at this time, I've seen nothing from the league office except the same ole BS.

 

[CouchCoach]

In the beginning we had only 1 game on Saturday afternoon and 2 on Sunday. And why MNF was so huge. We were starved for more football.

Amazingly despite the over saturation and watered down product the popularity continues to rise and revenue increase.

Remove gambling and Fantasy from that and that growth would not be there.

 

[gjkoeppen]

I wonder how the NFL would react to a full out boycott effort by fans over their allowing the wrong team to participate through their own incompetent officiating? Do fans really care that much?

I really do wonder because the NFL can pull anything and the sheep still keep showing up for the shearing. Oh, we're sorry, we'll do better.

I do not have a horse in the race and was actually rooting for LA more than NO but this is a tainted SB. This is blatantly wrong, it is an injustice.

So, I will not watch this SB. Not only that but am contacting the sponsors of the NFL and SB to let them know I am not a prospect of theirs now or in the future for their support of this injustice.

It is not enough just to say this is wrong, they must feel it or they could care less. OK, I am not Don Quixote but I am doing the only thing I can by not supporting something that is wrong and I will feel better than watching a team that should not be there. A game that should not actually be taking place.

I am sick of the NFL and them not fixing something until it's broken. A team was more blatantly robbed yesterday than in the history of the NFL and while that is not the fault of the team that is representing the NFC, I will not be a witness to their misrepresentation.

It is not enough to just complain when we actually could affect them, if there were enough of us. So, won't you be my neighbor?

Yes that was a terrible missed call but here are blown calls in every game and have been since the game started. So NO I will not stop watching the Super Bowl just because of a blown call. If that was the reason nobody should have ever started watching the NFL or college ball in the first place because there have ALWAYS been blown calls. Lastly, of the tens of millions of people that watch the Super Bowl world wide a very tiny tiny tiny minuscule percentage of those millions that contact whoever aren't going to make a bit of difference to the league or the sponsors. When I see things like this the first thing I think of is grade school kids who want to start a boycott the school until they agree to give them longer and more recesses.
.

 

[Etchyboy]

Saints did not loose the game because of a blown call. They blew it by letting them get into FG range after that. They also blew it in OT on that INT. That loss is on them and REFs missing a call or calling something that was not there is part of the game.

Point is play better football and get off the conspiracy theory blame the NFL bandwagon. The better team won.

 

[CouchCoach]

In the beginning we had only 1 game on Saturday afternoon and 2 on Sunday. And why MNF was so huge. We were starved for more football.

Amazingly despite the over saturation and watered down product the popularity continues to rise and revenue increase. Jerry pimping the ride with the Cowboys is a great example.

We had more than one on Sat, ABC and CBS always had a game. Then NBC did their deal with Notre Dame. And I thought we had 2 early NFL games and 1 late one which would usually be the Niners or Rams as the Cowboys played a lot of early games.

MNF was the first example to the league and ABC that the NFL could be more about entertainment than football. When that first came on, we arranged everything around MNF including the food for the team we were rooting for that night.

 

[Afigueroa22]

I don't remember this many people complaining when Dallas got screwed

That's because half of the idiots here thought it wasn't a catch.

 

[CouchCoach]

Yes that was a terrible missed call but here are blown calls in every game and have been since the game started. So NO I will not stop watching the Super Bowl just because of a blown call. If that was the reason nobody should have ever started watching the NFL or college ball in the first place because there have ALWAYS been blown calls. Lastly, of the tens of millions of people that watch the Super Bowl world wide a very tiny tiny tiny minuscule percentage of those millions that contact whoever aren't going to make a bit of difference to the league or the sponsors. When I see things like this the first thing I think of is grade school kids who want to start a boycott the school until they agree to give them longer and more recesses.
.

What's wrong with that?

It's not about making any difference to the league or sponsors. If I am the only one that does not watch the game, I am good with that. I am not watching to punish them but to reward myself. A protest of one is still a protest.

But the fact is I would not be watching it if there hadn't been the blown call, this is just a convenient excuse and makes me feel like I actually could beat that windmill.

Plus, Greg hasn't had a Boycott thread in a while and I felt it was overdue. This is in his honor, the original windmill fighter.

 

[Blackspider214]

Come on.

These teams and games are so close that every little bit matters.

It's not as simple as just play better. Both teams went to OT.

Refs missed a blatant missed facemask on Goff the drive before where it caused them to settle for 3 instead of being able to punch it in and run more clock for a 4pt lead. Which would have forced the Saints to score a TD on that drive instead of only needing 3.

Saints had a 3pt lead with not much time left and defense wet the bed and caused them to drive for a game tying FG. Got the ball first in OT and threw a pick.

People need to get over this. It's ridiculous.

 

[CouchCoach]

That's because half of the idiots here thought it wasn't a catch.

What did the other half think? They changed the rule since then to better define a catch but by the strict interpretation of the rule then, that wasn't a catch. But that is irrelevant, the D couldn't stop Rodgers so they would have just scored again, most likely.

But the real idiot that day was Dez for not securing the ball and trying to go for glory.

 

[CouchCoach]

Refs missed a blatant missed facemask on Goff the drive before where it caused them to settle for 3 instead of being able to punch it in and run more clock for a 4pt lead. Which would have forced the Saints to score a TD on that drive instead of only needing 3.

Saints had a 3pt lead with not much time left and defense wet the bed and caused them to drive for a game tying FG. Got the ball first in OT and threw a pick.

People need to get over this. It's ridiculous.

No, we don't. Need some stuff to be pissed about and this is really convenient. I can't discuss the real **** I am pissed about here so this will have to suffice for now.

 

[Shake_Tiller]

It was inevitable. NFL officiating has been so bad, recently, there was bound to be a decisive play, in a big game, smeared by an obvious error. I didn't see this as a bang-bang play. The DB hit the receiver long before the ball arrived. I don't think two officials could have missed that -- no way. The only explanation -- they swallowed their whistles because of the enormity of the circumstance. I keep seeing some say that play didn't determine the winner. It did, assuming a chip shot field goal wasn't missed.

A Saints player says the official told him he thought the ball had been tipped. This is outrageous, if true. That is easily determined. The official asks the rest of the crew whether the ball was tipped. They say it wasn't. He drops a flag. If such a statement was made, the official should be fired.

I didn't have a dog in the fight. I rooted for the Saints until the missed interference call. Because the NFL needed this public shaming, I rooted for the Rams afterward. I wanted the play to matter.

Boycott? The NFL product has been significantly degraded under Roger Goodell's watch. The games are less enjoyable, in part because officiating plays a large role and is truly awful. But there are many more reasons.

I heard an interesting radio interview of Dick Vermeil before Sunday's games. He conceded today's game is exciting -- largely because of great catches and plays made by receivers who no longer fear being "cut in two," as he put it, by a defender. When asked whether the game was better, he hesitated and said, to paraphrase -- "We have to be careful the game doesn't become entertainment rather than football." And I think that is a real danger.

I don't find it difficult to miss football games, these days. I used to watch every minute of every game I could. But the game has moved a long way from the one I played, coached and watched. It's exciting entertainment. It's much different. And I'm a codger. I understand that. Part of my distaste is a result of age.

I won't boycott the Super Bowl, but I might not watch the game. It won't be a priority. Watching televised preseason games used to be a priority.

This was a terrible moment for the NFL. The call (non-call) was so outrageous, the timing so horrendous. Yes there were a lot of missed calls, which had an impact on both teams (if that's the NFL's defense, good luck). But this one directly stole a victory from the Saints. I don't care if Brees had thrown 5 interceptions. The Saints were positioned to win and didn't win because of a ridiculous decision made by the officials. Absurd.

 

[DallasEast]

I heard an interesting radio interview of Dick Vermeil before Sunday's games. He conceded today's game is exciting -- largely because of great catches and plays made by receivers who no longer fear being "cut in two," as he put it, by a defender. When asked whether the game was better, he hesitated and said, to paraphrase -- "We have to be careful the game doesn't become entertainment rather than football." And I think that is a real danger.

Bold> Too late but the evolution from pure competition to pure entertainment cannot solely be blamed on rule changes alone. There are other variables to consider. One variable is the players themselves increasingly desiring to express themselves in non self-restraining ways each passing season. The sport has moved closer towards becoming pure entertainment moreso during the past quarter century than the +75 years that preceded the current era. My greatest regret will be seeing the NFL eventually becoming the sport of football's version of 'professional' wrestling--solid hype with practically zero meaningful substance.

 

[Diehardblues]

We had more than one on Sat, ABC and CBS always had a game. Then NBC did their deal with Notre Dame. And I thought we had 2 early NFL games and 1 late one which would usually be the Niners or Rams as the Cowboys played a lot of early games.

MNF was the first example to the league and ABC that the NFL could be more about entertainment than football. When that first came on, we arranged everything around MNF including the food for the team we were rooting for that night.

Going back to the 60’s and even early 70’s ABC had the only College game on. That Notre Dame deal was well after that. Some bowl games were on the other networks.

CBS and NBC had the exclusive NFL rights which we only had 2 time slots at Noon and 3 CST. Yes there would have been 2 games on early in some cases but not always. It wasn’t until the merger in 1970 that CBS and NBC begin working together on scheduling double headers.

 

[khiladi]

Play better so the outcome isn't dictated by 1 play.

This is a league of professionals, where margins of error are slim. Saying play better is absurd in this scenario.

 

[Diehardblues]

Bold> Too late but the evolution from pure competition to pure entertainment cannot solely be blamed on rule changes alone. There are other variables to consider. One variable is the players themselves increasingly desiring to express themselves in non self-restraining ways each passing season. The sport has moved closer towards becoming pure entertainment moreso during the past quarter century than the +75 years that preceded the current era. My greatest regret will be seeing the NFL eventually becoming the sport of football's version of 'professional' wrestling--solid hype with practically zero meaningful substance.

It has become more of a Sports Entertainment entity. The football purist will always despise this movement. And the rest of us football junkies are left consuming whatever they feed us.

 

[Afigueroa22]

What did the other half think? They changed the rule since then to better define a catch but by the strict interpretation of the rule then, that wasn't a catch. But that is irrelevant, the D couldn't stop Rodgers so they would have just scored again, most likely.

But the real idiot that day was Dez for not securing the ball and trying to go for glory.

No they agreed it was a catch at that time and re-phrased the rule so it wouldn't be as ambiguous as it was before. Dez did everything correct and disagree with you 100%.