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NFL
Mar 21, 2020 16:05:00 GMT
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Mar 21, 2020 16:05:00 GMT
I think this is big. Emmanuel Sanders left the 49ers to sign with New Orleans for 2 years at $16 million. Jimmy Garappolo and the 49ers will miss him.
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NFL
Mar 28, 2020 16:00:06 GMT
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Mar 28, 2020 16:00:06 GMT
An interesting article on Eli Manning's retirement:
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NFL
Mar 28, 2020 22:10:37 GMT
Post by Kapitan on Mar 28, 2020 22:10:37 GMT
Maybe this is a peripheral concern, but I've wondered it not only for the NFL, but college football, the NBA, and maybe even college basketball.
The whole pandemic seems likely to dramatically, negatively impact the productivity of freshmen and/or rookies. With limited opportunities for early camps, practices, and general contact, it seems many first-year guys are likely to be thrust into the big show (in whichever sport and level). I'm guessing veteran journeymen benefit.
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NFL
Mar 28, 2020 22:18:45 GMT
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Mar 28, 2020 22:18:45 GMT
It will be interesting to see how things play out in each respective sport. I think some wild, unpredictable things could occur. Who knows who or what "group" of athletes will suffer - or excel - the most. And then it will be analyzed and discussed for decades. It might even lead to several changes in the way things are done, especially preparation and length of seasons.
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NFL
Mar 31, 2020 19:48:04 GMT
Post by Kapitan on Mar 31, 2020 19:48:04 GMT
The NFL is expanding the number of playoff teams. I don't want to be the old guy complaining how everything was better in the old days. But in the NFL, everything was better in the old days.* *My "old days," roughly mid-80s to 2000.
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NFL
Mar 31, 2020 19:51:37 GMT
Post by kds on Mar 31, 2020 19:51:37 GMT
The NFL is expanding the number of playoff teams. I don't want to be the old guy complaining how everything was better in the old days. But in the NFL, everything was better in the old days.* *My "old days," roughly mid-80s to 2000.
For me, the "old days" now refers to 2002-2019, where the NFL had the perfect system. The four division conferences allowed for perfect schedule making for a 16 game regular season. Also, the six team per conference format, with the four division winners hosting in their first round and the two top teams getting byes in the WC round, was about an good a playoff format that exists in sports. Also, the NFL season under that format was short when compared to the other major sports. Roughly, a four month season, capped by a month of playoffs. It's nice. You don't get a chance to get tired of it.
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NFL
Mar 31, 2020 20:43:51 GMT
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Mar 31, 2020 20:43:51 GMT
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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NFL
Mar 31, 2020 22:44:28 GMT
via mobile
Post by kds on Mar 31, 2020 22:44:28 GMT
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ No doubt. Its one of the reasons I don't find myself quite as passionate about pro sports. I hope the NFL likes their stars retiring before 30. With all the research on CTE, and extending the season, I think we'll see a lot more Andrew Lucks than Tom Bradys.
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NFL
Mar 31, 2020 23:44:37 GMT
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Mar 31, 2020 23:44:37 GMT
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ No doubt. Its one of the reasons I don't find myself quite as passionate about pro sports. I hope the NFL likes their stars retiring before 30. With all the research on CTE, and extending the season, I think we'll see a lot more Andrew Lucks than Tom Bradys. Yes, head trauma/CTE fear and serious wear and tear on the body are influencing more NFL players to retire at earlier ages. But so is the money. You and Kapitan mentioned your "old days" above. Well, my "old days" go all the way back to the 1960s. I watched Super Bowl I on TV. And, in those days, most NFL players had to find jobs in the off-season to support their families. Now, in 2020, by the time a player reaches the age of 29, he is on his second or third contract, and has made several million dollars. That certainly makes it easier to walk away.
Just a quick story...Maybe the greatest Philadelphia Eagle of all-time, and one of the greatest players in the history of the NFL was Chuck Bednarik. Chuck was a middle linebacker AND center - and he played both ways for over a decade! Can you imagine, first, going both ways, and second, doing it at those two positions. Chuck Bednarik had one of the great nicknames - Concrete Charlie. Now, most fans thought Chuck Bednarik earned that nickname by his style of play, his durability, and his gregarious personality. But the truth was, in the off-season, Chuck worked as a salesman for a concrete company, thus being given the nickname, Concrete Charlie. Can you imagine going both ways as a center and linebacker for an entire NFL season, being a perennial All-Star, later a Hall Of Famer, and then having to look for a job in the off season to support your family. Now those were the "old days".
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NFL
Apr 1, 2020 0:17:59 GMT
Post by Kapitan on Apr 1, 2020 0:17:59 GMT
But "old days" surely must be the era you'd look most fondly upon. Not necessarily when you were young and impressionable! (Though that does always seem to be the case ... I think most of us end up loving the era when we were, say, 12-14 years old.)
As for the old-time players, isn't it insane? These days all we hear is that athletes make too much money. But certainly for most of the past century, pro athletes were "pro" mostly on the side...
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NFL
Apr 1, 2020 0:51:20 GMT
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Apr 1, 2020 0:51:20 GMT
But "old days" surely must be the era you'd look most fondly upon. Not necessarily when you were young and impressionable! (Though that does always seem to be the case ... I think most of us end up loving the era when we were, say, 12-14 years old.)
Oh how I wish I could get them back! And I mean just watching sports in general. But sticking with the NFL, I had a lot of "old days", and they were divided in segments based on my age. I first starting watching the NFL in the mid-1960's, when I was just learning the game; that hooked me. I would watch the Baltimore Colts and Johnny Unitas almost every Sunday. The next segment probably started in the late 1960's when I started to play youth football and extending into the mid-1970's when I played high school football. That was probably my favorite time. I was relating to the players because I was playing. The game announcers were now making an impression - Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier were my favorites. And, there were shows like This Week In The NFL which featured that great NFL Films music by Sam Spence. That is probably when my fandom of the NFL peaked. After 1980 and getting out of college, it was mostly following the Philadelphia Eagles (after Robert Irsay moved the Colts to Indianapolis), and just settling into typical NFL fandom. I was still a big fan of pro football, but over time, I have to say that my passion and interest faded slowly. There are several reasons, too many to mention, why my "good old days" were definitely a thing of the past. I was at an all-time low a few years ago, only to reborn with Fantasy Football!
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NFL
Apr 1, 2020 12:15:34 GMT
Post by kds on Apr 1, 2020 12:15:34 GMT
Unfortunately, a drunk asshole named Irsay robbed me of a potential childhood of "good old days." So, the era of football I'll look fondly upon will be early adulthood into middle age.
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NFL
Apr 1, 2020 12:47:30 GMT
Post by Kapitan on Apr 1, 2020 12:47:30 GMT
My good old days were destroyed on Oct. 12, 1989, when the Vikings decided that running backs Alfred Anderson, D.J. Dozier, Allen Rice, Darrin Nelson, and Rick Fenney were not sufficient to get them that oh-so-close trip to the Super Bowl.
That was the day they dealt Nelson, cornerback Isaac Holt, linebackers Jessie Solomon and David Howard, and defensive end Alex Stewart as well as eight draft picks (three 1sts, three 2nds, a 3rd, and a 6th rounder) for tailback Herschel Walker and three later-round picks.
Those picks we gave away became Emmitt Smith, Russell Maryland, Clayton Holmes, Darren Woodson, Alonzo Highsmith, Kevin Smith. The Cowboys became a great team for a decade, winning three Super Bowls with their share of that talent base. The Vikings got old, fast, switched coaching staffs (out went Jerry Burns; in came Dennis Green), and had to rebuild. To be fair, they were pretty good at rebuilding and remaining at least competitive throughout. But with those picks? Things could have been better.
And Walker, well, he had a great first game: he rushed for 148 yards on 18 carries in his Vikings debut, a 26-14 win over Green Bay, including the famous 47-yard run in which he lost a shoe. I believe he never had a longer run or bigger game with the Vikings.
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NFL
Apr 1, 2020 14:36:18 GMT
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Apr 1, 2020 14:36:18 GMT
Just by definition, obviously age has something to do with one's "good old days". But for a large segment of people, the last few years are a lot of people's "good old days" based on the sport's popularity and TV ratings which have never been higher.
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NFL
Apr 1, 2020 14:40:04 GMT
Post by Kapitan on Apr 1, 2020 14:40:04 GMT
No doubt. And that's always the case, too: "classic era" is almost always your era! Music, TV, movies, sports. But you're right that financially the NFL has been huge in recent years. I think fantasy football being more widely and easily available and the inclusion of female fans into the experience is behind that as much as (or more than) the quality of the games. But rules and style changes to favor the offenses probably are relevant as well.
At some point things go the other direction, though. Whenever something is so huge...well, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. I don't see a bright future for football.
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