What product could you have that would be worse than it used to be but continue to buy it?

[coult44]

A national talkshow host asked a question this morning. His question pertained to the entire NFL. What product could you have that would be completely worse than it used to be but you continue to buy it more and more. Now, he was talking about things last like last nights game, and about the overall quality of the NFL this year. But, let's personalize this. I bleed blue and silver. Everything about me, and my family, and half of our year is consumed with the Dallas Cowboys. And the other half, we are just waiting for it to begin again. With that being said, there are no other products that I have purchased and would continue to purchase that's The quality has continually went down for 20 years. So I ask this question to all of you, is the Dallas Cowboys the only product that you will continue to purchase regardless of the quality of the product? I have my reasons why I will continue to buy it, but I want to hear years.

Note; this is not meant to be a doom and gloom thread. Just a very intriguing topic that I am listening to on the radio right now, and wanted to get fellow Cowboys fans perspectives on it

 

[perrykemp]

I think the quality of the NFL product has been in slow declined since it's apex in the mid to late 90s.

I still love it -- I still think the product is 'good', however, I think it's diminished.

 

[LucaBrasi]

quality of play is the worst I've seen it in 30+ years of watching. I think it has a lot to do with the last labor agreement and limited number of padded practices.

 

[LandryFan]

A national talkshow host asked a question this morning. His question pertained to the entire NFL. What product could you have that would be completely worse than it used to be but you continue to buy it more and more. Now, he was talking about things last like last nights game, and about the overall quality of the NFL this year. But, let's personalize this. I bleed blue and silver. Everything about me, and my family, and half of our year is consumed with the Dallas Cowboys. And the other half, we are just waiting for it to begin again. With that being said, there are no other products that I have purchased and would continue to purchase that's The quality has continually went down for 20 years. So I ask this question to all of you, is the Dallas Cowboys the only product that you will continue to purchase regardless of the quality of the product? I have my reasons why I will continue to buy it, but I want to hear years.

Note; this is not meant to be a doom and gloom thread. Just a very intriguing topic that I am listening to on the radio right now, and wanted to get fellow Cowboys fans perspectives on it

You would continue to buy it if there were no competing products (I don't consider NCAA football to be an NFL competitor). The NFL has no competition, so it is a situation of "buy my inferior product, or do without altogether".

 

[Proximo]

They've got a ways to go before I start to lose interest to the point of not following the Cowboys as closely as I currently do. I will say that so far this year I haven't watched as much non-Cowboys NFL as I normally do. Many of the games in general just haven't been that good to watch.

Similar situation occurred with boxing. I am, and always will be a fan. But there was a time (throughout the 80's, and into the 90's and even early 2000's) when there were QUALITY, championship bouts happening on a regular basis. Many of those fights were cause for a Saturday night Super Bowl-esque party. Those days are long gone.

 

[Swanny]

The product the NFL has produced is embarrassing. The NFL is a league full of athletes that are pumped full of HGH. Athletic ability has taken over for technique. Watching these guys tackle makes me cringe because kids watch these guys tackle leading with their shoulder which creates the head to dip and that is what can cause SERIOUS injury. Then the announcer praises the player for making a great tackle when they lead with the shoulder!!! The technique of this game had disappeared and it is sad to see. With how bad head injuries are getting in this game and the knowledge of what these hits do to your head will cause a decline in the quality of players that football produces as more talented young athletes will play other sports that don't damage the brain as badly as football does. I hate the sport of soccer but I fully expect more young athletes to play it more than football now. If you are a special athlete in high school and you can look at players making millions in MLB and they have a longer happier life with out serious head injuries why wouldn't you pick that sport??

Also maybe Mark Cuban may be right about the NFL. This quote by Cuban I think is right on and its scary because I love the sport of football

Mark Cuban.
"I'm just telling you, pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered," he said. "And they're getting hoggy. Just watch. Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. When you try to take it too far, people turn the other way... When you've got a good thing and you get greedy, it always, always, always, always, always turns on you. That's rule No. 1 of business."

 

[Fletch]

I think the quality of the NFL product has been in slow declined since it's apex in the mid to late 90s.

I still love it -- I still think the product is 'good', however, I think it's diminished.

The past will aways be looked at as better than the present or foreseeable future. That's just the way it's always been.

It's that little old man at Wal-Mart saying, "They just don't make things like they used to."
A decline to us will be the start of a passionate love affair for some young kid that will eventually have him or her questioning the very value of said product as we do today.

 

[DandyDon1722]

I also heard the show and to me it's more of a radio click-bait commentary than anything.

The product has changed and evolved but it's still the game.

Are there some elements that are worse? Sure, stuff like limitations on the defense, Thursday night games, the influx of commercials and of course officiating - like what's a catch. But even officiating really hasn't changed - just the microscopic spotlight on it. Just like the spotlight on player's off field antics have changed. But you can be sure there were some awful missed calls during our Super Bowl runs in years past that nobody saw and speaking of that - can you imagine the media covering the Dallas White House of the 90's today?

There are elements of the game that have improved too. Safety is the number one thing and although people may say that it hurts the game, I'd rather hurt the game than hurt the player. The passing game is exciting and games just seem to be never truly over because anything could happen. You can now sit on your couch and watch every game from afternoon until night where before you had to wait for a score to come across your screen - let that sink in if you're a millennial.

So again - there's give and take in everything. The good old days are more of a perceived perception than actual truth, but it's still football and labeling it a bad product or worse product is disingenuous. Beside, if that's true, why are we all here everyday like heroin addicts.

BTW - I absolutely have an answer to what is worse now than before - cable TV service.

 

[JoeBoBBY]

I do think the quality of play has gone down too.....Its just different now.

Having said that, I watch more NFL then I have ever watched before. The game is evolving, along with the rest of the world. I think things like color rush are awesome.....but whats really got me, is Fanatsy football. I watch that JAGS Titans game now....when before I probably wouldve done something else.

The NFL dwarfs everything else. It is my entertainment dollar.....

I will continue to buy Cowboys gear. As much as I complain and rant and rave about 20 freeakign years without a SB!!! I am hoping to at least see another SB before a I DIE!!! But that may be asking to much;

I wont go see the games though, unless they are doing well. The time and money that go towards seeing a game is too much unless the product on the field is good.....I can just as easily watch them losing on TV. for free.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

Look..... At times the Cowboys are downright friggin "embarrassing". I hate it!

But... In the last 20 years we have had quite a few "competitive seasons".


So.... IMO.... The Cowboys "product" is good one. Not "great" by these standards, but "to me the Dallas Cowboys are great... Royalty... Regal...."

I will always buy the product. It will always be good to great to me regardless of success. Just, like I said. They are embarrassing more than I care to admit.

By the way... The mid 80s to jimmy era(pre fix).... THAT was a bad product.

 

[gimmesix]

A national talkshow host asked a question this morning. His question pertained to the entire NFL. What product could you have that would be completely worse than it used to be but you continue to buy it more and more. Now, he was talking about things last like last nights game, and about the overall quality of the NFL this year. But, let's personalize this. I bleed blue and silver. Everything about me, and my family, and half of our year is consumed with the Dallas Cowboys. And the other half, we are just waiting for it to begin again. With that being said, there are no other products that I have purchased and would continue to purchase that's The quality has continually went down for 20 years. So I ask this question to all of you, is the Dallas Cowboys the only product that you will continue to purchase regardless of the quality of the product? I have my reasons why I will continue to buy it, but I want to hear years.

Note; this is not meant to be a doom and gloom thread. Just a very intriguing topic that I am listening to on the radio right now, and wanted to get fellow Cowboys fans perspectives on it

I don't think quality is a consideration for most Cowboys fans in following the team. I mean, we yearn for the team to be competitive year after year and add to its trophy case, but this isn't like buying a burger. You get a bad burger, you move on to the next place for a better burger.

Bleeding blue and silver, as you put it, means you are loyal to this team and stick with it no matter the ups and downs, and you continually hope the downs will change. Quality shoppers in the NFL are bandwagon jumpers, willing to support whoever is doing well at the time. Maybe they can be classified as NFL fans in general, but that's not the kind of fandom I have or want. I'm a Dallas Cowboys fanatic through thick and thin. I don't care about any other team and what they accomplish or don't accomplish. I don't care about any player who leaves Dallas to play for another team (they're dead to me).

This is my team and even with all the pain of losing, I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[VACowboy]

I love Survivor. I'll watch that show, no matter how good it really is.

I think the decline in the quality of NFL football can be attributed to a lot of things, including expansion, rule changes and the attitude of the modern professional athlete.

 

[InDakWeTrust]

This happened to baseball, and basketball post Jordan. Luckily basketball has their stuff together by marketing to everyone and installing salary floors/taxes and Max contracts for players to not give teams abilities to be Yankee type franchises, but they've also not drastically changed the rules and actually force the kids to go to college. Football has a ways to go but they are evolving too fast for the current range of customers..

 

[Daillest88]

The product the NFL has produced is embarrassing. The NFL is a league full of athletes that are pumped full of HGH. Athletic ability has taken over for technique. Watching these guys tackle makes me cringe because kids watch these guys tackle leading with their shoulder which creates the head to dip and that is what can cause SERIOUS injury. Then the announcer praises the player for making a great tackle when they lead with the shoulder!!! The technique of this game had disappeared and it is sad to see. With how bad head injuries are getting in this game and the knowledge of what these hits do to your head will cause a decline in the quality of players that football produces as more talented young athletes will play other sports that don't damage the brain as badly as football does. I hate the sport of soccer but I fully expect more young athletes to play it more than football now. If you are a special athlete in high school and you can look at players making millions in MLB and they have a longer happier life with out serious head injuries why wouldn't you pick that sport??

Also maybe Mark Cuban may be right about the NFL. This quote by Cuban I think is right on and its scary because I love the sport of football

Mark Cuban.
"I'm just telling you, pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered," he said. "And they're getting hoggy. Just watch. Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. When you try to take it too far, people turn the other way... When you've got a good thing and you get greedy, it always, always, always, always, always turns on you. That's rule No. 1 of business."

you know that's how i look at it. the quality has def gone down hill, this has been the worse year i have watched probably ever, the refs suck and all the blame doesnt fall on them. Mark Cuban is right, when he first said this I thought he was just running his mouth. but looks like it happening.

 

[Doc50]

They've got a ways to go before I start to lose interest to the point of not following the Cowboys as closely as I currently do. I will say that so far this year I haven't watched as much non-Cowboys NFL as I normally do. Many of the games in general just haven't been that good to watch.

Similar situation occurred with boxing. I am, and always will be a fan. But there was a time (throughout the 80's, and into the 90's and even early 2000's) when there were QUALITY, championship bouts happening on a regular basis. Many of those fights were cause for a Saturday night Super Bowl-esque party. Those days are long gone.

The same decline viewership issues have been in effect for tennis and women's golf, but only because of the decline of their US competitors.
While I remain a fan of both, I probably share the attitude of many Americans of wanting to watch our own stars.

It's just human nature to get fired up when your favorites are winning, then generally watching more of the sport.
If they're not competitive, then general interest in the sport fades.

High tech replay has created some challenges, in that missed calls can truly turn a game, making the whole sport seem farcical and therefore losing viewers. Both baseball and football have been effected. The strike zone and spot of the point-of-gain are maddening at times, as well as what constitutes holding, PI, a catch, etc.

 

[coult44]

I do think the quality of play has gone down too.....Its just different now.

Having said that, I watch more NFL then I have ever watched before. The game is evolving, along with the rest of the world. I think things like color rush are awesome.....but whats really got me, is Fanatsy football. I watch that JAGS Titans game now....when before I probably wouldve done something else.

The NFL dwarfs everything else. It is my entertainment dollar.....

I will continue to buy Cowboys gear. As much as I complain and rant and rave about 20 freeakign years without a SB!!! I am hoping to at least see another SB before a I DIE!!! But that may be asking to much;

I wont go see the games though, unless they are doing well. The time and money that go towards seeing a game is too much unless the product on the field is good.....I can just as easily watch them losing on TV. for free.

I think Fantasy sports, both free and now the with the popularity of DFS, is what drives the numbers in the NFL. It's the modern day sports book. It combines the numbers geeks and the pro sports fans into one mixed group... Add those guys to the degenerate, and even gambling for entertainment guy, and you have a huge amount of people watching and interested because the want to WIN!!!

 

[JoeBoBBY]

I think Fantasy sports, both free and now the with the popularity of DFS, is what drives the numbers in the NFL. It's the modern day sports book. It combines the numbers geeks and the pro sports fans into one mixed group... Add those guys to the degenerate, and even gambling for entertainment guy, and you have a huge amount of people watching and interested because the want to WIN!!!

The NFL is a business......they give the people what they want.

Ive seen it compared to the old gladiotor days in Roman times. And I see it. I dont think were too far off from that.

I cant remember which movie it was, some sci-fi movie, but it was based in the future, and the QB or RB was running the ball into the endzone, and a guy came to tackle him, and he pulled out a gun and shot the would be tackler.......I also think we arent too far from that either!!

 

[31smackdown]

Have you heard about the iPhone? yeah.. mediocre for the last 5 years compared to other phones... doesn't matter .. they don't call people fans for no reason, it's half blind obsession
People can argue Ford and Chevy forever - brand loyalty is not always based on performance

 

[Nightman]

I think the NFL is way down from it's highs.

The best of times to me ended with the Dallas dynasty of the 90's.

Parity and the salary cap have watered down the product. I liked having super-Teams that dominated and had to face each other like the Cowboys, Niners and Commanders.

Replay and HDTVs have hurt the games. Too many penalties and reviews. A big play happens and we look for ways to negate it. I call it lawyer ball.

Fantasy football and gambling are the only things saving my interest in the game. It is getting real close to professional wrestling.

 

[Rogah]

The past will aways be looked at as better than the present or foreseeable future. That's just the way it's always been.

This times 100.

When people talk about "the good ole' days" of the 90's when football was so much better, they think about the Cowboys and 49ers and Packers. Nobody is remembering all the meaningless Seahawks-Raiders games.

There is also going to be a natural bias inherent in a forum of a team that won 3 Super Bowls during that time period. Of course we view the days of Troy, Emmitt and Michael a little more wistfully than the present day.