5 More Years of Aching Eyeballs

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5 More Years of Aching Eyeballs

Postby RiverDog » Wed Jan 31, 2018 3:46 pm

The NFL just signed a 5 year contract with Fox to televise Thursday Night Football.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/fo ... spartanntp

When they first came up with the idea, I was all for it, giving us 3 days out of the week in which we can watch NFL football. But lately, the matchups have been relatively poor and the gimmicks, in particular the color rush, are getting to be annoying. Additionally, the players and coaches don't like it. As a result, I'm much more ambivalent about TNF than I used to be. I can take it or leave it.

Ironically, the league signed a 5 year TNF agreement, carrying it through 2022, even though the current CBA expires a year earlier.
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Re: 5 More Years of Aching Eyeballs

Postby NorthHawk » Wed Jan 31, 2018 4:06 pm

The deal is for $100 million more per year than the current deal, so will the Cap be extended another $3 million (or thereabouts) per team or will the owners just pocket it?
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Re: 5 More Years of Aching Eyeballs

Postby Aseahawkfan » Wed Jan 31, 2018 9:54 pm

NFL has to make that money.
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Re: 5 More Years of Aching Eyeballs

Postby HumanCockroach » Thu Feb 01, 2018 1:44 am

Wouldn't be difficult to get it to work, add a second bye week, have only the first game on Thursday, then not until after week four and only teams coming off said byes participate, have multiples, play Saturday instead of Thursday... plenty could be done, but ultimately they don't give two squirts about players safety, no matter what they profess, they care about one thing, and one thing only.... same as it's always been.
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Re: 5 More Years of Aching Eyeballs

Postby Zorn76 » Thu Feb 01, 2018 4:40 am

And they'll set a new, all time low for TNF coming up.
America doesn't want more mediocrity, and so much for the league and their concern for 'player safety'.
What a joke.
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Re: 5 More Years of Aching Eyeballs

Postby RiverDog » Thu Feb 01, 2018 8:33 am

HumanCockroach wrote:Wouldn't be difficult to get it to work, add a second bye week, have only the first game on Thursday, then not until after week four and only teams coming off said byes participate, have multiples, play Saturday instead of Thursday... plenty could be done, but ultimately they don't give two squirts about players safety, no matter what they profess, they care about one thing, and one thing only.... same as it's always been.


Adding a second bye week would be problematic at best, impossible at worst. You're either going to have to eliminate the bye before the SB, which I am certain that the players and coaches would object to, or start the season a week earlier or later, which again would have to be negotiated with the players. A third option, eliminating a preseason game, would be opposed by the owners as it would mean cutting out a source of revenue for them, and we can't have that.

Additionally, stretching out the regular season would have it's difficulties as well, particularly if they wanted to start the regular season a week earlier as baseball would object to the NFL horning in on their Labor Day weekend games.

But you're right about one thing: The league doesn't give two squirts about player safety. All it is for them is window dressing. But I'm not at all convinced that playing on Thursdays increases the risk of injury to players. I'd have to see some very convincing medical evidence and/or years of data in order to get me to believe the opposite.
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Re: 5 More Years of Aching Eyeballs

Postby Largent80 » Thu Feb 01, 2018 9:07 am

They already tried adding a second bye week. in 1993

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_regular_season

They need to ditch these games except for Thanksgiving, and for the Thanksgiving games it would be wise if they rotated the home teams. The Dallas and Detroit crap sandwich has gotten very stale.
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Re: 5 More Years of Aching Eyeballs

Postby RiverDog » Thu Feb 01, 2018 10:32 am

Largent80 wrote:They already tried adding a second bye week. in 1993

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_regular_season

They need to ditch these games except for Thanksgiving, and for the Thanksgiving games it would be wise if they rotated the home teams. The Dallas and Detroit crap sandwich has gotten very stale.


In addition to the Turkey Day games, I'd add one more Thursday night game: The season opener with the defending SB champ playing at home.
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Re: 5 More Years of Aching Eyeballs

Postby Hawktawk » Thu Feb 01, 2018 2:16 pm

I never miss it. Its NFL ball. I will say the unis look like some DIII ball clubs and I understand the wear and tear on players but Im just selfish in that regard.
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Re: 5 More Years of Aching Eyeballs

Postby HumanCockroach » Thu Feb 01, 2018 5:00 pm

Why pre tell would they "have to eliminate" the bye week before the SB or a preseason game... it isn't complicated... if they want to keep both, and can't move the SB, start preseason a week earlier, have everyone play the same week as the HOF game... those two could actually reduce wear and tear by only playing 4 games in preseason like everyone else. You're making it far bigger than it is... the SB could be pushed back ( same as it's been numerous times) preseason could be brought forward. Logistically speaking, it's not only doable, but EASILY doable. If I can figure out possibilities, than a multi billion dollar company should be able to figure it out...
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Re: 5 More Years of Aching Eyeballs

Postby Largent80 » Thu Feb 01, 2018 6:20 pm

Why don't you please get a job in the NFL front office.
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Re: 5 More Years of Aching Eyeballs

Postby RiverDog » Thu Feb 01, 2018 6:49 pm

HumanCockroach wrote:Why pre tell would they "have to eliminate" the bye week before the SB or a preseason game... it isn't complicated... if they want to keep both, and can't move the SB, start preseason a week earlier, have everyone play the same week as the HOF game... those two could actually reduce wear and tear by only playing 4 games in preseason like everyone else. You're making it far bigger than it is... the SB could be pushed back ( same as it's been numerous times) preseason could be brought forward. Logistically speaking, it's not only doable, but EASILY doable. If I can figure out possibilities, than a multi billion dollar company should be able to figure it out...


There has to be a limit to the season. Pre Super Bowl, the season was over before New Year's Day. Now you're so casually talking about pushing it out into mid February. Where will it stop?

And if you go earlier, you'll be going up against MLB, which is pretty possessive about Labor Day weekend.

The players would fight it tooth and nail. It's a bad solution to a bad idea (TNF).
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Re: 5 More Years of Aching Eyeballs

Postby HumanCockroach » Fri Feb 02, 2018 2:40 am

They already play the HOF game a week earlier, I'm merely suggesting bringing a full slate of games that week. If baseball has an issue, so what? NFL is America's game, has been for decades. Preseason games historically draw low ratings, it isn't going to bankrupt the league if a few fans choose irrelevant baseball in August over irrelevant football games in August. and if ratings were remotely a concern, the NFL simply wouldn't schedule pre season the way they do... Wednesday's, Saturday's, Thursday at 7pm.... they aren't remotely concerned with preseason draws.

And if you think players would fight tooth and nail over 1 week earlier preseason games that the majority of established players typically don't play in, with an extra bye week, and no 4 day turnarounds for Thursday night, I'm not entirely sure you have a grip on the players pulse here.
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Re: 5 More Years of Aching Eyeballs

Postby NorthHawk » Fri Feb 02, 2018 7:54 am

I agree with HC.
I think the players would welcome a 2nd bye week - 1 in the first 8 games and another in the 2nd would allow them to get healthier for any playoff push (for those teams in the running).
I think it would be better football at the end of the season, too with players who have pulls being able to fully recover in many cases. I'm thinking players like Wagner last year as an example.

Regarding the season being an extra week longer? So what, they are doing their best to make the NFL relevant 12 months/year anyway.
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Re: 5 More Years of Aching Eyeballs

Postby c_hawkbob » Fri Feb 02, 2018 9:58 am

Larger rosters would help too. No reason each team cant carry 70 and dress 54 on game day. Then a second bye, and even Thursday games, become almost moot.

I still hate the monochrome unitard look though, it's a blight on the history of the league.
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Re: 5 More Years of Aching Eyeballs

Postby RiverDog » Fri Feb 02, 2018 10:52 am

HumanCockroach wrote: If baseball has an issue, so what? NFL is America's game, has been for decades.


First off, several of the same networks that cover the NFL also cover MLB (Fox, ESPN). From their point of view, moving the season openers into the Labor Day weekend would be like cutting off their nose to spite their face.

Secondly, the NFL does not want to walk around the sporting world acting like a 500 pound gorilla. If they pizz off enough people it won't be too long before they have to start defending themselves against anti trust lawsuits. They don't want to create a bunch of enemies.

And lastly, the NFL may not always be "America's game." In 2017, TV ratings dropped nearly 10% from the previous season following an 8% slide from the previous season....and not all of that can be attributed to a change in viewing platforms: MLB posted a 5% ratings gain in 2017.

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/2196 ... lar-season
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Re: 5 More Years of Aching Eyeballs

Postby Largent80 » Fri Feb 02, 2018 11:59 am

NFL is sliding bigtime. To say that it's Americas game s NOT accurate because people are tuning out in record numbers. I don't even know how a person could say otherwise.

The stupid rules, the limited rosters, there's so many reasons.

Yet they think everything is the same. It's like a spouse that is abusive. She'll stay despite the beatings.
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Re: 5 More Years of Aching Eyeballs

Postby HumanCockroach » Fri Feb 02, 2018 4:49 pm

You're attempting to find flaws were there aren't any, and arguing for argument sake. It isn't rocket science, and you're attempting to make it so. Pretending like he 4 days difference between HOF game and the first regular preseason game is some sort of line in the sand is pretty funny, truth is during August both Baseball and Football is pretty much low rating irrelevant to the vast majority of fans, why it's referred to as the "doldrums of the baseball season" hell, the world fricken series is played DURING the regular season, so save it.

As for pushing the SB back a week, spare me there too, it simply isn't as big of a deal as you're professing, and they've done it as you pointed out NUMEROUS times, pretending like once more is going to be the straw that broke the camel's back seems more like a personal issue with it, no more.

Truth is, players would be 100% in the corner of it, baseball wouldn't give two shakes if there was more football 4 or 5 days earlier, it would eliminate the necessity for DANGEROUS LY ignoring player safety, AND allow the NFL to continue to cram a third timeslot in each week.

I ain't got all the answers, nor do I NEED to have them, I'm not running a multi Billion dollar company, and am not PAID to come up with those answers. However, if the best you can do is baseball won't like pushing up games a handful of days, and they can't move the SB cuz they moved it several times, I'm not sold on you're reasoning for why it just can't be Donne. It CAN be, and SHOULD be, or they SHOULD abolish Thursday night football in its entirety, if they don't adjust soon, they can stuff every rule and change in the sake of "player safety" straight up their lying assess.
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Re: 5 More Years of Aching Eyeballs

Postby RiverDog » Fri Feb 02, 2018 5:09 pm

HumanCockroach wrote:You're attempting to find flaws were there aren't any, and arguing for argument sake. It isn't rocket science, and you're attempting to make it so. Pretending like he 4 days difference between HOF game and the first regular preseason game is some sort of line in the sand is pretty funny, truth is during August both Baseball and Football is pretty much low rating irrelevant to the vast majority of fans, why it's referred to as the "doldrums of the baseball season" hell, the world fricken series is played DURING the regular season, so save it.

As for pushing the SB back a week, spare me there too, it simply isn't as big of a deal as you're professing, and they've done it as you pointed out NUMEROUS times, pretending like once more is going to be the straw that broke the camel's back seems more like a personal issue with it, no more.

Truth is, players would be 100% in the corner of it, baseball wouldn't give two shakes if there was more football 4 or 5 days earlier, it would eliminate the necessity for DANGEROUS LY ignoring player safety, AND allow the NFL to continue to cram a third timeslot in each week.

I ain't got all the answers, nor do I NEED to have them, I'm not running a multi Billion dollar company, and am not PAID to come up with those answers. However, if the best you can do is baseball won't like pushing up games a handful of days, and they can't move the SB cuz they moved it several times, I'm not sold on you're reasoning for why it just can't be Donne. It CAN be, and SHOULD be, or they SHOULD abolish Thursday night football in its entirety, if they don't adjust soon, they can stuff every rule and change in the sake of "player safety" straight up their lying assess.


I agree with the first part of the underlined sentence. I'm for abolishing it, for two reasons: Players and coaches don't like it and fans haven't been particularly attracted to it. They are trying every gimmick they can think of to boost ratings, with this year's Sky Cam innovation resulting in watching most of the game from what amounts to the cheap seats.

As far as player safety goes, I am not at all convinced that there is an issue playing on 4 days rest. Teams have full contact practices on 4 days rest. Unless and until some medical authority does a study and concludes that playing on 4 days rest is unsafe, then I'm not buying it and nor should the league. Putting in a 2nd bye into the schedule is fixing something that's not broken in the name of salvaging a failed experiment.
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Re: 5 More Years of Aching Eyeballs

Postby HumanCockroach » Sat Feb 03, 2018 5:05 am

Not coincidence that injuries increase, and every player asked about it says there isn't enough time to recover. Plenty of articles on it if you feel inclined to look them up, but feel free to feel however about it, it's not my body going through cat wreck after car wreck and then being asked to do it again four days later. I suppose I tend to believe the people subjected to the environment, than people that have never experienced it. To each their own I guess.

In conclusion, I'll ask just one question.... after being battered, bruised and injured, is it better for the human body to have more time to recuperate, and get medical rehabilitation, or less? Ultimately, that's the only question that needs to be answered really. Anyone saying the second has either lived in a bubble and never been, or doesn't have the foggiest how the human body works.
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Re: 5 More Years of Aching Eyeballs

Postby RiverDog » Sat Feb 03, 2018 6:25 am

HumanCockroach wrote:Not coincidence that injuries increase, and every player asked about it says there isn't enough time to recover. Plenty of articles on it if you feel inclined to look them up, but feel free to feel however about it, it's not my body going through cat wreck after car wreck and then being asked to do it again four days later. I suppose I tend to believe the people subjected to the environment, than people that have never experienced it. To each their own I guess.

In conclusion, I'll ask just one question.... after being battered, bruised and injured, is it better for the human body to have more time to recuperate, and get medical rehabilitation, or less? Ultimately, that's the only question that needs to be answered really. Anyone saying the second has either lived in a bubble and never been, or doesn't have the foggiest how the human body works.


I guess it depends on the injury, but of course, more time to recuperate is better than less.

But let me ask you a question: If players are getting so battered and bruised as you say they are and that playing on 4 days rest subjects players to such an obviously increased risk of injury, why on Earth would teams conduct full contact practices on 3 days rest? Why not just take the entire week off and only experience full contact during the games?

I like Cbob's solution better: Expand the rosters so that if a team does have a player that could use a few extra days rest during a short week, it would be a little easier to replace them.
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Re: 5 More Years of Aching Eyeballs

Postby NorthHawk » Sat Feb 03, 2018 10:32 am

But let me ask you a question: If players are getting so battered and bruised as you say they are and that playing on 4 days rest subjects players to such an obviously increased risk of injury, why on Earth would teams conduct full contact practices on 3 days rest? Why not just take the entire week off and only experience full contact during the games?


It's part of why the CBA restricts practicing in pads and limits the number of full contact practices during the year.
If I remember correctly teams are only permitted 14 full contact practices once the season starts. Less than 1 per week is pretty small so you have to ask why the players fought so hard for that?
The only conclusion is for a better recovery from previous games.
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Re: 5 More Years of Aching Eyeballs

Postby HumanCockroach » Sat Feb 03, 2018 11:05 pm

RD they don't practice players dinged up in full contact practice, they either practice partially ( meaning no contact) or are held out, unlike a game, which only had 16, and every single one of them matters ( ask Sherman if you question it, do you honestly believe he's full go in a full contact practice on Thursday with an Achilles injury?). You know that as well as I, and if you played even HS ball, you know a "full contact" practice isn't remotely similar to a game.
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Re: 5 More Years of Aching Eyeballs

Postby obiken » Sun Feb 04, 2018 2:08 am

RiverDog wrote:The NFL just signed a 5 year contract with Fox to televise Thursday Night Football.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/fo ... spartanntp

When they first came up with the idea, I was all for it, giving us 3 days out of the week in which we can watch NFL football. But lately, the matchups have been relatively poor and the gimmicks, in particular the color rush, are getting to be annoying. Additionally, the players and coaches don't like it. As a result, I'm much more ambivalent about TNF than I used to be. I can take it or leave it.

Ironically, the league signed a 5 year TNF agreement, carrying it through 2022, even though the current CBA expires a year earlier.


River, I have been drug kicking and screaming to the fact that the NFL doesn't give a crap about us or the players. IT's all about dough, ray, me!!!
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Re: 5 More Years of Aching Eyeballs

Postby Futureite » Sun Feb 04, 2018 8:29 am

Largent80 wrote:NFL is sliding bigtime. To say that it's Americas game s NOT accurate because people are tuning out in record numbers. I don't even know how a person could say otherwise.

The stupid rules, the limited rosters, there's so many reasons.

Yet they think everything is the same. It's like a spouse that is abusive. She'll stay despite the beatings.


I honestly don't believe any of these factors are ratably moving the needle in a negative direction. I am less interested than before and none of the potential factors you listed bother me, at all. Here is my theory, which I am guessing is in the minority because no one ever brings it up:

To start, the NFL is a QB driven league. It always has been. Montana, Marino, Elway, etc. drove the league in the past and that continued with Brady, Manning Rodgers and others up until recently. Right now, the NFL has a very, very limited number of great NFL QBs. And the ones that "are" playing seemed to have been playing forever. Who would you really put up as must see TV right now? Brady? Maybe. But we've seen him for damn near 20 years now. Rodgers, Brees? Realistically the top 5 QBs are probably Rodgers, Brady, Brees, Wentz, maybe Wilson? No one is tuning in to watch Matt Ryan or Philip Rivers - or even Brees. The NFL has a lack of star talent in this crucial position now and the primary drivers of that ship are the same ones who have been doing it forever.

Second, the NFL is lacking great competition now. The ballooning salaries and FA have contributed to that more than anything. Teams can no longer afford to keep quality talent, as even mediocre QBs like Alex Smith are getting paid $90+ mil. Average corners are getting paid. This drives down the overall quality of teams. The Pats are the best of the bunch now, but can you really say they are "great"? They beat two teams with a combined record of 19-13 in the playoffs and struggled to do it at that. The Seahawks were good for the league, as they appeared to be a dynasty full of brash personalities. They were great for a couple of years and had the potential to be a truly all-time great franchise. Most outside of Seattle tuned in to watch them lose. Who is that team now? The NFL really doesn't have one. It has the Patriots, and the entire rest of the group may turnover next year. It's hard to get too excited when you can't get to truly know the teams year in and year out.

Last, a good number of people are cutting the chord. I went without cable TV for almost 4 years simply because I did not have time to watch it and did not want the hassle of haggling over billing issues. Hence the reason I use to post so much on the net. I think many people feel the same way. People want to simplify their lives in this day and age, whether that means a new career, less social media or just tuning out altogether.

I think these are the reasons. The other things are blown out of proportion. If the product was better, no one would truly care that much about rule changes or TNF.
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