In no particular order...
1. Burning in Hell
2. Living in Zimbabwe
3. Having Marcellus Wallace go medieval on me
4. Cutting off three of my fingers
5. Cutting off the rest of them with a rusty pair of scissors
6. Drilling a hole through my chest with maybe a 1/2" drillbit
7. Finding out the Muslims were right all this time
8. Being one of Jack Bauer's victims, specifically that guy whose neck he bit through vampire-style to escape captivity during the first episode of last season
9. Working for Idi Amin
10. Adolph Hitler
This is ridiculous - the NFL, except for the Patriots, is all about egos and individuals glorifying their achievements even though every play is a team effort. ESPN had a 2 hour special today when the NFL schedules for this year were released. The last thing any of us wants to do is listen to Sean Salisbury spout off for another 9 months. Blech.
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7 comments:
I can't wait for the NFL Draft: watching intently for eight hours to see if Mel Kiper's hair moves at all, the anticipation to see which wide-receiver the Lions will pick next, the analysis about a long-time back-up in college having tremendous upside after testing well at the combine, and most importantly the implications all of this will have on my fantasy football season.
Fire Millen!
Besides all that, what useful purpose do they provide our society? Entertainment. They can't feed us, heal us, teach us, or make anything for us. Even politicians do things that have some effect on our lives, in some vague, theoretical attempt to make our lives better. I'd rather watch a Shakespeare play or listen to jazz than watch NFL football. I could even learn something.
Personally, I would rather watch football rather than tennis. Tennis is a great sport and all, but football is much more exciting. But I do agree a two hour special is ridiculous when the season doesn't start for several months.
@ Elizabeth. The NFL is stupid, BUT it does provide jobs to millions in the marketing, construction, front and back office positions, food service. It creates jobs for people at companies that make the jerseys for sale, in the media, in the tech industry. It brings millions of dollars to the local economy benefiting local business. It serves society more than nearly any industry. The money idiots spend on NFL games (and other useless forms of entertainment) goes out of their pockets and into the pockets who will use the money more productively. Politicians on the other hand work to make THEIR lives and their friends' lives better leaving us with barriers to catch up.
Joe, you sound like an economics major or something.
Joe, of all the ignorant things you have written on your post, this is by far the most ignorant.
I won't go into explaining why the NFL by far the most successful professional sports league. It should be apparent. Don’t let the poor example of your local Detroit Lions mislead you into thinking that this league suffers from ineffective management.
On the subject of your post. The NFL is the most watchable sport for several reasons. Obviously, baseball used to be the primary sport in the US. Now football reigns supreme. Why is this? Besides their ability to promote and limit themselves with free agency and parity, their sport naturally complements what television has to offer. First, football perfectly lends itself to the modern telecast. It consists of short bursts 4-10 seconds in length with breaks in between. Here, we have a built in break for commentary and commercials to be included. The mode of an NFL game also lends itself to completely different field position, down and distance situations which require different camera angles in order to portray the story. Compare this to your favorite sport, tennis. Tennis is primarily shown from one point of view. The shot from about 30 ft above and behind the server. Also, tennis is repetitive in that the initial situation of the action always remains the same.
Football, also contains a great number of miniature goals (first downs) along the way to the endzone, keeping viewers interested in the small success, making every play important (as opposed to soccer).
Finally, the cheerleaders, the uniforms, recognizable and likable stars/easily identifiable enemies, the sound of pads impacting against one another, tradition, the great backdrop of grass, and most importantly, the constant promise that the next play is going to be the one that is broken for a long touchdown. These things make the NFL the most watchable professional sports league. Its not that other sports leagues don't have some of these same benefits, but the NFL is the only one that combines them all.
Joe, thank you for the reply,
I did not attempt to explain why the NFL is the best sports league. To do so would require a lengthy explanation of parity, changing powers, game length, scoring system, physical demands, diversity of talent, depth of preparation, strategy, and personnel.
I did none of these things, instead I focused upon the visual and audial factors, the things that combine to create a great television experience. After all, the post you wrote that I responded to was titled, "Ten things better than WATCHING the NFL".
I would agree that the intense coverage of the personal lives of individual players is not good, but for this reason. In the long run this type of overexposure will harm them.
As for your comments in the category of humility and respect for the game. That opinion, is,,,, well,,, it's your opinion. I just think that many are misled about this issue. The people that you are describing,,, respect for the game, these individuals have always been in the minority. Perhaps you could enlighten me about tennis, but I have always thought that people like McEnroe and Agassi dominated that sport for a reason, they were the only ones with personalities large enough to keep an audience captivated in an otherwise boring sport to watch.
Just so you know, I have recently picked up tennis, and play it regularly with my wife. It is fun, I would like to play you in tennis if I ever come back to Michigan.
Keep up the good work
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