7 posts tagged “nfl”

So Specter isn't letting this go...

"[Goodell] issued the discipline as quickly as he could to send a strong message to teams that this wouldn't be tolerated and there'd be a severe penalty if you violated the rules," Aiello said. "The discipline included they had to turn over everything they had related to that taping procedure."

Specter heard that explanation from Goodell on Wednesday. On Thursday, Specter said, "The words absurd and ridiculous keep coming to my mind because he [Goodell] says it with a straight face."  (From ESPN.com)

Dude, are you kidding me?  How can Specter say that with a straight face?

Look, the Eagles had a bad season.  I'm a Bears fan, we had a bad season too.

Get.  Over.  It.

Deal with it like all the other fans out there.  Make up some stupid storyline about how "long-suffering" you are.  How you are cursed.  How your quarterback is going to defect, blah blah blah...  But stop spending millions of our hard earned tax dollars on your petty grievances over how bad your team is.

I am dumbfounded by the sports news lately.  I expect to see names like Roger Clemens, Tom Brady...  even Michael Jordan (retired), Walter Payton (long retired and passed away), in the sports news.  So why am I seeing names of US Senators and members of Congress in the sports news?

I wish there was a simple answer, like "because our government likes to meddle in all aspects of our lives."  Hmmm, actually, that might be so simple that it's true.  But seriously, why does the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform need to investigate Roger Clemens?  It seems like a pretty simple drug case to me.  I mean, we don't see Congress investigating every teenage steroid user or every loser meth addict.  Shouldn't the Roger Clemens case be handled by the system of criminal investigation and justice that is already in place?  In other words, the law enforcement branch of the jurisdiction where the offense(s) allegedly occurred?  From a judicial perspective (and I'm no  lawyer so one of you should correct me if I'm wrong) should this investigation not be handled by a grand jury?  Or some other judicial investigative agency?

Instead, the legislative branch of our federal government is directly involved.  Last time I checked the Constitution, the legislative branch has the exclusive responsibility to make laws.  Not to interpret or enforce laws.  I believe (and you Constitutional scholars out there feel free to chime in) that it is the judicial branch which is tasked with those responsibilities.

As if the Roger Clemens case (or Barry Bonds or whoever you want to name in Major League Baseball) isn't enough, Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) has taken it upon himself and upon United States Senate to investigate the fairness of competition in a professional sports league.  Specifically, he is meeting with the Commissioner of the National Football League to discuss whether the New England Patriots cheated by videotaping opponents against the rules of the NFL.

Why is the highest legislative body in the land looking into whether a sports team cheated?  And not only that, but after the league itself already conducted an investigation.  Look, I know football consumes the lives of millions of men and women for a good half year, but let's get real here.  Even if the Patriots had gone and done something actually illegal...  say, transporting drugs or steroids on their private jet, I don't think the Senate should be the investigating body.  And they didn't even do anything illegal.  Just against the (arbitrary) rules of their own league.

What is the Senate going to do next?  Tell the NFL how to define pass interference?  Is every bad call by a ref going to be reviewed by the highest echelons of our government?

This is meddling to the extreme.  It's a ridiculous waste of my (and your) money.  It's a farce.  If these Senators and Representatives have nothing better to do with their time, they should get out of government.  And as their constituents, let me remind you that you have the power to force them out of our government.  There are far more pressing issues in the country.  At the very least, give us our money back.

Okay.  This is pretty difficult for a Bears fan to say, but:

If it takes the Packers to take down the AFC, so be it.

Well, in the least surprising coaching move this Winter, Bill Cowher has resigned as the Steelers head coach.

This is actually an ingenious move, on his part.  I mean, seriously...  he lucked into the Super Bowl last year, and now his team is on a rebuild path after what other teams might call a "mild" season, but what fair-weather fans would call a disaster, an 8-8 season.  Big Ben showed he's not invincible, and from a coaching perspective, the whole team just seems like a pain in the ass.  Sure, if he stayed around he might be able to squeeze out the potential in the whole situation get back to the playoffs.

But why?  I mean, why not sit back a few years, be there for your kids as they grow up, and then come back as the "savior" when the patsy that replaces you fails miserably.  Then you can really gloat and think to yourself, "great move, man, that patsy coulda been me!"

But it wasn't you.  Your legend is intact, and now it's 2010, and you're back, refreshed, recharged.  And all you have to do is make a few adjustments and get a few guys to jell (guys that, of course, your patsy put in place for you) and bam!  voila!  You're right back in the hunt.

Ingenious, really.

Just watch it happen.  I mean, this one's so obvious even I'm calling it.

The feeling you get when you watch Fox is that they are condescendingly taunting you.  Fox thinks you're dumb, and everything about their broadcast, from the commentary to the graphics, to the commercials bathes you in this insult.  If you don't feel insulted watching Fox, maybe you got problems, yo.

The quality of Fox broadcasts is terrible.  The only show worth watching on Fox is The Simpsons.  And, unfortunately, due to their monopolistic contract, NFL games.  But the overwhelming impression I get when watching that wretched network is not that I am watching a television program or a football game, but that I am watching an Advertising and Marketing Event, with a Simpsons or NFL theme.

Those whores.

Speaking of whores.  Fox's commentators are the worst panderers in the business.  Look, I understand that for a national broadcast it can be a real challenge to maintain a neutral broadcast.  Personally, I think it's okay when a broadcast team kind of goes with the flow of the game and starts talking up the team that is playing better.  But just a little.  When a game is close, these commentators should make a point of describing the game in neutral terms.  The Fox broadcasters clearly choose sides and allow the game to be called that way.  The only broadcast I've ever seen that is worse than the average Fox broadcast week in and week out is ABC's deplorable coverage of Super Bowl XL.  Those whores.

All I can say is, back to the stinking gutter for you, Rams.  You are the most overrated, conniving bunch of wanna-bes in the league.

Also, fuck you, Fox.

You know what the NFL should do?

They should allow more than one broadcast company to broadcast the same game.  That way, the fans (and advertisers) can choose which one they want to support.

I can't tell you how agonizing it is to watch a Fox NFL broadcast.  The incompetence.  The unpreparedness.  I mean, seriously.  I mean, the only thing I can think of is that Fox management tells them to purposely make all those mistakes so that their target audience feels smarter.  And if it's not clear to you that Fox thinks their audience is full of morons, maybe you're part of that target audience.  Either that, or Fox has so many directives to their broadcasters to sneak in advertisements for their own horrid shows that it takes away from the concentration their broadcasters need to actually call the game.

You know you're bad when CBS' broadcast seems like a well-oiled machine compared to yours.

This could all be solved from the NFL's perspective if they just gave the rights to competing broadcast teams.  Fox would either have to shape up or just fade away.