Why You're Not Watching The NFL

The new NFL logo went into use at the 2008 draft. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It has become apparent that fewer of us are spending our Sundays (and Mondays and Thursdays) plopped down in front of our big (and little) screens to watch NFL football.  It still dominates the TV ratings, but not as much as it used to.  Everybody seems to have a theory about why that is, but there's no real consensus for what to do about it that won't hurt the league's bottom line.  We don't either, but we can list some of those theories.

Thursdays  Years ago, football on Thursdays used to be restricted to Thanksgiving Day with games in Detroit and Dallas.  Now they're on every week, mainly to give the league-owned NFL Network an excuse to show live games.  Then NBC and CBS were brought in to increase exposure and prestige.  Nobody likes these games--not the players, coaches and fans--because it means having less time to prepare, and the quality suffers as a result.  But people are watching, so . . .

London Calling  It's no big secret that the NFL wants to someday put a franchise in a country where the other kind of football is king, and that they also want to place their footprint in other parts of the world.  But asking American TV viewers to get up as early as 9:30 a.m. in the East (6:30 in the West) to watch a game live from across the pond between two mediocre teams is a bit much.  There's a reason why people sleep in on Sunday mornings.

Commercials  The networks (NBC, CBS, ESPN and Fox) pay billions of dollars per year for the privilege of showing NFL games, and so do sponsors who want to be the official this-or-that of the league.  So where do you put the commercial spots?  Before and after kickoffs, time outs, quarter breaks, change of possession, replay reviews, punts, injury time outs, two minute warnings for each half . . . It goes on.  So what's the alternative?  Since the NFL is unlikely to part with all that money, we can look forward to ads on jerseys and/or virtual ads on the field of play.  There's no getting away from a word from our sponsors.

Replays and Officiating  Ever seen an exciting run for a touchdown or a great catch nullified by penalties, or a replay showing that the player stepped out of bounds someplace?   Or the disproportionate amount of yellow flags thrown at certain players (usually black) who refuse to "act like they've been there before"?  Yes, it's important to get the call right (and the vast majority of those are usually confirmed by the replay), but they also tend to suck the life out of a close game.

The Election and The Cubs  You would think that, during the most bizarre presidential campaign in memory, people would be using the NFL as an escape from having to watch another Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump attack ad--especially for those living in battleground states.  You would be wrong.  Also, Major League Baseball had its best post-season TV ratings in years due to the presence of the Chicago Cubs, winning the World Series for the first time since before most of us were born.

Rally Round the Flag, Boys and Girls  Some folks who seem to love America more than you do have been boycotting NFL games because Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers and others gained attention for taking a knee during "The Star Spangled Banner", protesting the treatment of African-American men by police.  Which is ridiculous, because TV networks usually go to a commercial while the anthem is played.  Could it also be that the NFL is losing viewers because they don't want to watch propaganda for the military, and for breast cancer research?  They just want to watch football.  Oh, we should mention that Kaepernick didn't vote in the election, which is a statement in itself.

New Tech  As the devices for watching games gets smaller, so do the number of cable subscribers to sports networks like ESPN.  The NFL has responded by streaming some of their games on social media and other platforms, but the numbers are iffy at best.

Concussions  Now that we know more about the health risks of getting your bell rung, it is no longer appropriate to celebrate a colossal hit on another player with their helmets on.  We're getting used to players taken out of the game after they've been hit to go through what's become known as the "concussion protocol".  Unless the NFL is really serious about the safety of its players, the future of the game depends on (to paraphrase a country song) mamas letting their babies grow up to play football. 

Then there's the retirement and/or suspensions of stars like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, players who can't seem to stay out of trouble, and the leadership (or something like it) of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.  Come to think of it, this isn't just a list of why we're not watching the NFL.  We've also created a partial list of what's wrong with the league itself.  It's up to them to make it right to the players and fans, for otherwise it will affect their bottom line and all the TV money in the world won't save them.

Vikings '16: The Ship Is Sinking

Minnesota Vikings logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At the start of this NFL season, the Minnesota Vikings reeled off five consecutive victories to take a commanding lead in the NFC North division.  This despite devastating injuries to quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, running back Adrian Peterson and a host of others.  Coach Mike Zimmer was being hailed as a genius.  Football pundits seriously considered the Vikings to be Super Bowl contenders.  Life was good in Purple Land, unless you happened to be one of those skeptics who believed that all those injuries would eventually catch up to the team, and their lead would evaporate just like Hillary Clinton's did on Election Day.

Fast-forward to now.  The Vikings have lost four straight games (Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions and Washington, in that order), and are now tied with the Lions at 5-4 for the division lead.  For what it's worth, the Green Bay Packers aren't having such a great season either, yet they're still in the hunt.  And the football pundits are looking elsewhere for the next bandwagon to jump on.

Due to the lack of an offensive line (or, for that matter, an offense), quarterback Sam Bradford keeps getting sacked and the backs and receivers they do have are rendered ineffective.  Injuries have decimated the defense, leading to come-from-behind wins for the other team.  And Blair Walsh can no longer make an extra point if his life depended on it.

There is also dissension in the coaching ranks.  Offensive coordinator Norv Turner suddenly quit without giving a reason midway during the skid.  His replacement is Pat Shurmur, who has mentored Bradford at his other NFL stops with the Eagles and St. Louis Rams.

Unless the Vikings can get their act together in the remaining weeks of the regular season, they are in serious danger of not making the playoffs.  If that happens, Zimmer's job status will be a major question mark.  So will the offense, if Bradford continues to be treated like a tackling dummy by the other teams and his backup QBs can't do the job.

A successful season?  That ship may have already sailed.

Cubs Win! Holy Cow.

English: Chicago Cubs logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Chicago Cubs, who for more than a century have been the symbol of failure, ineptitude and bad luck to go along with the occasional flashes of brilliance . . . whose best-known personality was a TV broadcaster who once root, root, rooted for the St. Louis Cardinals and the crosstown White Sox . . . whose iconic ballpark, Wrigley Field, didn't get lights until 1988 . . . who, in spite of having players like Ernie Banks, Ron Santo and Ryne Sandberg, have always found a way to disappoint their fans every season . . . have finally won a World Series in a seven-game nail biter over the Cleveland Indians.

In game 7 at Progressive Field in Cleveland, following a 17-minute rain delay with the score tied at 6-6 in the 10th inning, Ben Zobrist gave the Cubs the lead on an RBI double.  Then they held on to beat Cleveland 8-7, becoming the first team since the 1985 Kansas City Royals to come back from a three-games-to-one deficit to win the Series.

Pitching, as it usually does, made a difference during the Series.  Two of Cleveland's wins came through shutouts, which hasn't happened since the Baltimore Orioles did it in 1966.  And Cubs manager Joe Maddon used reliever Aroldis Chapman so often during the final three games, and for long stretches, that Chapman was in real danger of burning out.

Since the Cubs last won a World Series in 1908, we've had 19 U.S. presidents (Theodore Roosevelt was in office then), two world wars, a Great Depression and a Great Recession.  There was no radio or TV yet, so newspapers were how you'd follow the Fall Classic.  And people got around by trains, ships, horses, and that newfangled thing called the automobile.

As one streak ends, another continues.  The last Cleveland baseball team to win a World Series was in 1948, defeating the Boston (later Milwaukee, now Atlanta) Braves in six games..  That's 68 years and counting.  Maybe by the time they do win, they'll have gotten rid of Chief Wahoo and that "Indians" nickname.

Chicago Cub fans, you have suffered long enough.  You deserve this.  Your team won 103 games this season, won the National League Central division crown, and beat the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers in the playoffs.  So do us all a favor and quit whining about your team for the next century, or until asteroids hit Earth, whichever comes first.

Oh, and one more thing:  No more billy goats.