The NFL’s foolish quest for perfection

[ArtClink]

Here's the problem, the owners are not in any way bent to streamline the game because they've given the TV nets additional inventory with the stop downs and they're not taking that back. There are ongoing negotiations with the Nets and Streamers for the next contract and they're not about to jeopardize what are the Golden Geese and guaranteed profits for the owners.

I do believe they will lose some viewers, as many have mentioned here, but the TV nets would rather have more commercial inventory than a larger audience. The games are still the top rated TV shows of the week and live, which is the real critical factor for a lot of these ad agencies. The target audience is more of a moving target now more than in the past and the DVR has altered ad strategies considerably. Coca Cola was the first to dump any TV that was not live event based and others have followed.

In advertising terms, TV has always been considered the reach medium, awareness, reaches the larger number of individuals but the cost meant the client couldn't achieve frequency, action, the radio medium. If you've paid attention to the breaks, you're seeing the same commercials, sometimes in the same break, which I find annoying but the agencies find appealing.

We see a much different game than the NFL sees and one thing they believe, they are invincible. They've survived the strike, lockout, bad actors, the anthem and a lot of bad press and they always come out on top because they know. Fans gotta have their football.

Excellent post coach!

 

[kskboys]

Aside from his exorbitant salary, I actually feel sorry for Gooddell having to deal w/ this clusterfudge.

 

[CouchCoach]

Aside from his exorbitant salary, I actually feel sorry for Gooddell having to deal w/ this clusterfudge.

He's in a no win situation, he's going to piss some people off. Goodell, bad call fix it. They try to fix it. Goodell, what have you done? Fans don't want to be sick but they don't want to take the medicine either.

I am with Bullet on this but I go one step further, dump instant replay altogether. Posters here that grew up with the forgiveness of a full bladder don't know the real joy of watching a game. Every play mattered and you'd better pay attention because if you miss that play, you miss it. Now, what's the hurry? I'll catch one of the 3 or 4 replays after the play.

They also didn't need that additional talking head in the booth, one guy calling the play by play and knowing when to just let the game speak for itself worked. It was about football, not about production.

At some point, it all changed. It used to be there's this football game and it's being televised but it's really for the fans attending, where just eavesdropping in. Now, it's all about the presentation side of it and they even had to install replay screens for the fans that couldn't pay attention when the play was first executed. Something, at least for this old coot, has been lost along the way. This game that I loved so much became something else. What was once football has become entertainment and the victim in that is my passion. I do not even get excited watching a NFL game any more. And should I get excited, it is up to me to maintain that as the TV nets will do their damnedest to get me to forget how excited I was.

 

[Tass]

How about players just, Oh I dunno...STOP COMMITTING PENALTIES EVERY DOWN???

Dude, they do it on purpose! Grabbing a receiver's arm and impeding it as the ball arrives is NOT an accident. DBs do it a LOT and it just does not get called half the time. It's a good thing I'm not a ref cuz y'all would HATE me. I would throw that flag EVERY time I see a foul...so, every play, I suppose.

It's the only way to get these cheaters to follow the rules.

 

[Diehardblues]

Aside from his exorbitant salary, I actually feel sorry for Gooddell having to deal w/ this clusterfudge.

Despite the criticism from select fans on some of his suspension decisions he’s guided the league thru it’s most litigated and public scrutinized era while continuing to maintain growth in revenue. Quite remarkable !

 

[CouchCoach]

Despite the criticism from select fans on some of his suspension decisions he’s guided the league thru it’s most litigated and public scrutinized era while continuing to maintain growth in revenue. Quite remarkable !

Yep but he's a turd for making those that break the rules pay for that. And he despises the Cowboys because they make his job easier with the ratings they can pull.

Not one person here has any idea what it's like to have that job. His predecessors didn't have some of these cantankerous and entitled owners that he has to keep happy and in line at the same time.

I watch that draft every year bemused at the booing because I am not sure if those people even know why they're booing him. It's just become this thing to do at the draft. Goodell is to the owners what Garrett is to Booger. They're there to take the blame and let the other have the credit.

 

[Diehardblues]

Yep but he's a turd for making those that break the rules pay for that. And he despises the Cowboys because they make his job easier with the ratings they can pull.

Not one person here has any idea what it's like to have that job. His predecessors didn't have some of these cantankerous and entitled owners that he has to keep happy and in line at the same time.

I watch that draft every year bemused at the booing because I am not sure if those people even know why they're booing him. It's just become this thing to do at the draft. Goodell is to the owners what Garrett is to Booger. They're there to take the blame and let the other have the credit.

That’s a harsh judgement for carrying out the Owners trash.

Which if fans are bashing him instead of them is probably why they’re rewarding Roger so handsomely.

 

[Diehardblues]

You can’t complain about not getting the calls right and then complain getting it right is holding up the game. Lol

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

What they should be doing is exactly what the NBA does. Use replay to get the calls correct. Doesn't matter what call it is. No coaches challenges etc. There should be a supervisor in a booth to assist the referees to maybe have them re look at a play or a call that was made to GET IT RIGHT! They don't understand people are ok with the human error just use the technology to correct it.

This would be a good idea or like VAR in European Football.
In football, goals, offsides, red cards, and other critical calls can frequently be reviewed through VAR. This would be good to use in the NFL.

 

[Bobhaze]

Here's the problem, the owners are not in any way bent to streamline the game because they've given the TV nets additional inventory with the stop downs and they're not taking that back. There are ongoing negotiations with the Nets and Streamers for the next contract and they're not about to jeopardize what are the Golden Geese and guaranteed profits for the owners.

I do believe they will lose some viewers, as many have mentioned here, but the TV nets would rather have more commercial inventory than a larger audience. The games are still the top rated TV shows of the week and live, which is the real critical factor for a lot of these ad agencies. The target audience is more of a moving target now more than in the past and the DVR has altered ad strategies considerably. Coca Cola was the first to dump any TV that was not live event based and others have followed.

In advertising terms, TV has always been considered the reach medium, awareness, reaches the larger number of individuals but the cost meant the client couldn't achieve frequency, action, the radio medium. If you've paid attention to the breaks, you're seeing the same commercials, sometimes in the same break, which I find annoying but the agencies find appealing.

We see a much different game than the NFL sees and one thing they believe, they are invincible. They've survived the strike, lockout, bad actors, the anthem and a lot of bad press and they always come out on top because they know. Fans gotta have their football.

As long as the NFL thinks it’s invincible they will be untouchable by fan complaints. Money is THE ONLY language they speak. Until the cash registers ring less, I’m afraid this is the product we are going to get.

This is the NFL of Jerry Jones‘ dreams. Make lots of money so you can insulate yourself from criticism. I swear the obscene money the Jones Cartel pulls down every year is their championship. I’m sure the Jones champagne corks are popped when the Forbes magazine report on sports franchise value comes out every year.

 

[CouchCoach]

As long as the NFL thinks it’s invincible they will be untouchable by fan complaints. Money is THE ONLY language they speak. Until the cash registers ring less, I’m afraid this is the product we are going to get.

This is the NFL of Jerry Jones‘ dreams. Make lots of money so you can insulate yourself from criticism. I swear the obscene money the Jones Cartel pulls down every year is their championship. I’m sure the Jones champagne corks are popped when the Forbes magazine report on sports franchise value comes out every year.

That is how he keeps score.

 

[Whyjerry]

IMO NFL executives continue to foolishly believe that a football game using human referees can somehow be called without human error. This year the NFL game has “evolved” to the point where the guys wearing the stripes and their “bosses” in a TV booth in New York are becoming the centerpiece of the game itself rather than the actual players of the game.

In its quest to see every penalty (or non-penalty), every catch, every fumble or now even every possible pass interference called correctly, we now have a mess each game. Penalties this year are up astronomically and it’s making the game less enjoyable.

I have watched pro football since 1964, when my dad took me at 6 years old to see the Cowboys play in the Cotton Bowl. Here are some truths I believe about football and sports in general that we should all accept:

• There will ALWAYS be blown calls because human beings are involved. With or without instant replay.
• 99.9999% of the time, the refs don’t cause a team to lose. Losers usually find a way to blame losing on something beside the plays they didn’t make.
• The current use of looking at countless plays over and over in slow motion is not making the game officiated better.
• Holding (offense and defense) and pass interference could be called almost every play. If it’s not at the point of attack or not affecting the play at all, I would rather see less penalties than more.
• We as fans need to accept that just as in life, sports are NOT always fair.

Some may disagree but I would rather see a much simpler solution to all this:

• Get rid of the new PI rule. It hasn’t made the game better.
• Stop with the parade of holding penalties. It’s ridiculous!
• Keep the challenge flag rule as it was in the past to limit how many times it can be used.
• The NFL executives need to stop pretending that a perfect game can ever be called.

I would rather watch a game where less penalties are called, even to the point where the refs miss a few calls than this ticky-tacky flag parade we are getting each week.

Taking the human element out of officiating is ruining all sports. Broader social issues as well. They are going to replace umpires calling balls and strikes within 10 years I predict.

Thanks Angel Hernandez!

Kidding aside the NFL is doing a lot to hurt the game. Hubris prevents them from seeing the error if their ways.

 

[kskboys]

That’s a harsh judgement for carrying out the Owners trash.

Which if fans are bashing him instead of them is probably why they’re rewarding Roger so handsomely.

Of course. Blatantly obvious w/ the slightest analysis.

 

[Bobhaze]

He's in a no win situation, he's going to piss some people off. Goodell, bad call fix it. They try to fix it. Goodell, what have you done? Fans don't want to be sick but they don't want to take the medicine either.

I am with Bullet on this but I go one step further, dump instant replay altogether. Posters here that grew up with the forgiveness of a full bladder don't know the real joy of watching a game. Every play mattered and you'd better pay attention because if you miss that play, you miss it. Now, what's the hurry? I'll catch one of the 3 or 4 replays after the play.

They also didn't need that additional talking head in the booth, one guy calling the play by play and knowing when to just let the game speak for itself worked. It was about football, not about production.

At some point, it all changed. It used to be there's this football game and it's being televised but it's really for the fans attending, where just eavesdropping in. Now, it's all about the presentation side of it and they even had to install replay screens for the fans that couldn't pay attention when the play was first executed. Something, at least for this old coot, has been lost along the way. This game that I loved so much became something else. What was once football has become entertainment and the victim in that is my passion. I do not even get excited watching a NFL game any more. And should I get excited, it is up to me to maintain that as the TV nets will do their damnedest to get me to forget how excited I was.

At some point the NFL stopped being just about football and became more about entertainment in general. They should change the name of the league from “The National Football League” to “National Three Ring Circus League”. The NTRCL. Lol.

 

[Diehardblues]

As long as the NFL thinks it’s invincible they will be untouchable by fan complaints. Money is THE ONLY language they speak. Until the cash registers ring less, I’m afraid this is the product we are going to get.

This is the NFL of Jerry Jones‘ dreams. Make lots of money so you can insulate yourself from criticism. I swear the obscene money the Jones Cartel pulls down every year is their championship. I’m sure the Jones champagne corks are popped when the Forbes magazine report on sports franchise value comes out every year.

Problem is the NFL hasn’t insulated themselves from criticism but fans too addicted to the NFL product to take action like we would with other products or entertainment entities we are unhappy with.

It’s very hypocritical to continue feeding the beast even if it’s indirectly just turning on the TV.

But it’s why the NFL has invested so highly in attempting to protect the shield and their image. They are concerned fans will be turned off. It’s why they reacted with this new review of interference calls cause of the uproar from fans. It’s why they’ve taken such a tough approach on DV.

I’d argue they’ve done a great job protecting their interest and revenue. Ultimately it’s up to the fans and their loyalty or addiction to the game.

 

[Diehardblues]

At some point the NFL stopped being just about football and became more about entertainment in general. They should change the name of the league from “The National Football League” to “National Three Ring Circus League”. The NTRCL. Lol.

Yea but this isn’t Breaking News. I’ve been exposing this aspect for a couple decades. Jerry induction was for his contributions to this entertainment sports entity. But really if you go back it was Rozelle and Schramm who first begin pimping the league .

Television has evolved the NFL. If you want to revert back then take it off the air.

 

[Carter]

Maybe the NFL should stop have the Ref Core look like an retirement home.

 

[Captain43Crash]

A lot of games are fixed. Good teams are setup at the begining of the season, over hyped and picked as favorites, and then over penalized, obvious calls are missed, and arbitrary penalties are called to save points.

The officials are being paid off by Vegas. It's still Mob rule, they are just able to keep it quiet. Vegas is right there each and every NFL week giving you their combined points for each game. They're spot on and it's not because of a crystal ball either. You can't hide the inevitable.

Why watch if you think it is fixed?

 

[Techsass]

I have some friends who have been high school football and basketball refs. Most people would not believe what those guys have to put up with from parents and other fans in the stands who somehow can never accept that their vantage point from the stands is not as good as the guy who is 5 feet away.

The NFL referee pool used to be made up of guys who had regular jobs during the week but “moonlighted” on the weekends as refs. We finally have full time refs, but it almost seems that these guys aren’t as effective as the part timers were years ago. I think the over-reliance on instant replay and slo mo has made the refs less confident in making calls.

A guy I work with does HS girl's baseball games. Parents can be a trip, which brings up the larger "kids are going downhill" argument. Of course my grand parents said it about my parents, who said it about me, I say it about my kid's generation. My grand kids are in for a world of hurt, if all of us are right.

 

[Techsass]

I agree it's becoming less enjoyable with so many penalties called. But I'll play devil's advocate. You are damned if you do and damned if you don't. You will have peopy screaming about non calls and others screaming about too many calls. Who do you please?

That's why they pay him $45.000.000 a year. Figure it out big boy...and leave Zeke alone.