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NFL
Jul 6, 2020 15:53:10 GMT
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 6, 2020 15:53:10 GMT
Same here. Fall=Football. Not to sound like Captain Obvious, but the next couple of weeks to a month are critical. If there continue to be COVID-19 cases building up (like Clemson recently), I don't see how they can proceed. I posted something in the College Sports thread about Chip Kelly getting in trouble with his players at UCLA because they (the players) thought that Chip wasn't taking their health seriously enough.
I have a nephew in high school and he's playing football. Last week he heard about the physical classrooms being reconfigured for social distancing purposes, in addition to special seating being worked out in the cafeteria. But, right now, a few nights a week, he and the rest of the football are holding summer workouts - jumping on and sweating on and breathing on each other for a couple of hours. Go figure.
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NFL
Jul 13, 2020 11:35:01 GMT
Post by Kapitan on Jul 13, 2020 11:35:01 GMT
The power of sponsors: today is the day Washington will drop its nickname. Remarkable what a little comment or two from FedEx, Bank of America, and Pepsi can do to help one reconsider one's position...
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NFL
Jul 23, 2020 18:06:58 GMT
Post by Kapitan on Jul 23, 2020 18:06:58 GMT
The power of sponsors: today is the day Washington will drop its nickname.
The team announced it will go forward this season as [drum roll, please] the Washington Football Team. Seriously. They won't have a new name/logo for the 2020 season, so that's who they are for the time being. The color scheme remains the same, and helmets will be red with gold numbers in lieu of a logo.
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NFL
Jul 23, 2020 18:13:32 GMT
Post by kds on Jul 23, 2020 18:13:32 GMT
The power of sponsors: today is the day Washington will drop its nickname.
The team announced it will go forward this season as [drum roll, please] the Washington Football Team. Seriously. They won't have a new name/logo for the 2020 season, so that's who they are for the time being. The color scheme remains the same, and helmets will be red with gold numbers in lieu of a logo.
I'd be interested to see how merch sales are for the Washington Football Team. I imagine some fans will buy them for the fact that it's a novelty, and a one year thing. But, it's also highly unlikely at this point they'll be attending any games in person for the WFT.
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NFL
Jul 23, 2020 18:22:13 GMT
kds likes this
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 23, 2020 18:22:13 GMT
Just to stick it to all of the politically correct people out there, a part of me wishes they would permanently call themselves the Washington Redskins Football Team.
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NFL
Jul 23, 2020 19:16:20 GMT
Post by kds on Jul 23, 2020 19:16:20 GMT
Just to stick it to all of the politically correct people out there, a part of me wishes they would permanently call themselves the Washington Redskins Football Team. From what I understand, Snyder was hell bent on keeping the Redskins name. But, once Fed Ex and Amazon got involved, he stood to lose a ton of money.
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NFL
Jul 23, 2020 19:31:16 GMT
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 23, 2020 19:31:16 GMT
Just to stick it to all of the politically correct people out there, a part of me wishes they would permanently call themselves the Washington Redskins Football Team. From what I understand, Snyder was hell bent on keeping the Redskins name. But, once Fed Ex and Amazon got involved, he stood to lose a ton of money. Just to be clear, I'm in no way defending Daniel Snyder, and, yeah, what finally got to him was losing big $$$$$$$$$. I also support the changing of the name; I'm surprised it took this long. But, don't you get the feeling that no matter they come up with, some group will come forward and protest it?
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NFL
Jul 23, 2020 19:47:20 GMT
Post by kds on Jul 23, 2020 19:47:20 GMT
From what I understand, Snyder was hell bent on keeping the Redskins name. But, once Fed Ex and Amazon got involved, he stood to lose a ton of money. Just to be clear, I'm in no way defending Daniel Snyder, and, yeah, what finally got to him was losing big $$$$$$$$$. I also support the changing of the name; I'm surprised it took this long. But, don't you get the feeling that no matter they come up with, some group will come forward and protest it? Not necessarily. Stick to mythical or animal nicknames, and you're probably fine. But, I do think the whole cancel culture thing is spinning a bit out of control overall.
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NFL
Jul 23, 2020 19:59:16 GMT
Post by B.E. on Jul 23, 2020 19:59:16 GMT
How hard is it to pick a name? Come up with an acceptable list, poll your fans, let them decide.
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NFL
Jul 23, 2020 20:01:39 GMT
B.E. likes this
Post by kds on Jul 23, 2020 20:01:39 GMT
How hard is it to pick a name? Come up with an acceptable list, poll your fans, let them decide. That's exactly what the Ravens did when the original Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore, but to be fair, they had an entire off season. Washington is announcing their new temporary identity on July 23, about 6-7 weeks before the scheduled start of the season. I think it makes sense to take their time with names, logos, trademarks, etc.
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NFL
Jul 23, 2020 20:06:11 GMT
B.E. likes this
Post by Kapitan on Jul 23, 2020 20:06:11 GMT
How hard is it to pick a name? Come up with an acceptable list, poll your fans, let them decide. Rebranding is a pretty expensive and time-consuming process, largely because consultants and marketing firms (who profit tremendously off of it) sell it as hugely important:
"Doesn't the burgundy and gold here really imply toxic masculinity? Now, we understand you don't want a dramatic shift that puts off longtime fans, but we think a sangria with dijon accent color palette, perhaps with off-white offsets, could really be more inclusive and help quash the former cheerleader lawsuits and tabloid stories. Now, how do you feel about the team's font choices...?"
That said, if they haven't had these sorts of conversations every few years over the past couple decades, I'd be shocked. Seriously, if they didn't have a short-list of names and logos ready to go, they're dumber than I think they are. And I think they're really dumb.
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NFL
Jul 24, 2020 12:21:01 GMT
Post by kds on Jul 24, 2020 12:21:01 GMT
How hard is it to pick a name? Come up with an acceptable list, poll your fans, let them decide. Rebranding is a pretty expensive and time-consuming process, largely because consultants and marketing firms (who profit tremendously off of it) sell it as hugely important:
"Doesn't the burgundy and gold here really imply toxic masculinity? Now, we understand you don't want a dramatic shift that puts off longtime fans, but we think a sangria with dijon accent color palette, perhaps with off-white offsets, could really be more inclusive and help quash the former cheerleader lawsuits and tabloid stories. Now, how do you feel about the team's font choices...?"
That said, if they haven't had these sorts of conversations every few years over the past couple decades, I'd be shocked. Seriously, if they didn't have a short-list of names and logos ready to go, they're dumber than I think they are. And I think they're really dumb.
Living close to where they play, I can say that they've been one of the worst run sports franchises of the 21st century, pretty much since Snyder took over from Jack Kent Cooke (also an asshole), who took over from George Marshall (major asshole). So, I'm pretty confident that they had zero intention of changing the same, and didn't have any backup names or logos at the ready.
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NFL
Jul 24, 2020 12:36:48 GMT
Post by Kapitan on Jul 24, 2020 12:36:48 GMT
I read the Star Tribune's story about Vikings' staff and the first players coming into town, getting tested for COVID, and starting preseason activities, but it doesn't seem real. I don't mean the whole situation--after five months or so, the pandemic itself feels VERY real by now!--but the return to sports.
Basketball "preseason" (can we say "re-season?") games have begun in Disney facilities, baseball has begun in its empty stadiums, and now football is supposedly going to put 22 men in close proximity to one another as they breathe, spit, cough, yell, collide...meanwhile the players and owners are fighting anew at the last minute over the likelihood of low revenues.
It just all feels to me like it's not going to really happen. The pessimist in me sees false starts and disappointment.
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NFL
Jul 24, 2020 14:41:57 GMT
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 24, 2020 14:41:57 GMT
I read the Star Tribune's story about Vikings' staff and the first players coming into town, getting tested for COVID, and starting preseason activities, but it doesn't seem real. I don't mean the whole situation--after five months or so, the pandemic itself feels VERY real by now!--but the return to sports.
Basketball "preseason" (can we say "re-season?") games have begun in Disney facilities, baseball has begun in its empty stadiums, and now football is supposedly going to put 22 men in close proximity to one another as they breathe, spit, cough, yell, collide...meanwhile the players and owners are fighting anew at the last minute over the likelihood of low revenues.
It just all feels to me like it's not going to really happen. The pessimist in me sees false starts and disappointment.
I've been trying to refrain from commenting because I keep saying the same thing and it's not optimistic. If the pro sports' leagues do make it to the end - and that's far from a given - I just think it's going to be so tainted that I have a hard time taking it seriously. When we wake up in the morning, is the first thing we check on the "sports page" is which players tested positive for COVID-19 and how long will they be out? Will the favorites of the respective games be the teams who are least affected by COVID-19? How crazy is that.
I heard this on a sports radio talk show, but there are already rumblings of teams "influencing" the testing, players finding ways to "get around it" (like other drug testing), and, if a player does test positive, he/she might buck the system and find it unconstitutional or illegal to be banned from competition. Somebody raised this question...what if on the eve of The Super Bowl, say Patrick Mahomes tests positive for COVID-19? Will the Chiefs bury it, pay somebody off, demand their own doctor/test thus delaying the official test results, file an official protest or injunction to have the test declared "tainted" or inaccurate and demand another test AFTER The Super Bowl - or will the player just say FU, demand to play and dare the league to subject him to consequences after-the-fact. Will the team back him? So many questions and scenarios that could realistically occur.
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NFL
Jul 26, 2020 12:11:32 GMT
Post by Kapitan on Jul 26, 2020 12:11:32 GMT
We've got a little mini-drama with RB Dalvin Cook, who is entering the last year of his contract and has been seeking a massive extension.
During coach Mike Zimmer's press conference about his own recent contract extension, he said Cook told him he'd end his holdout and report to camp on time. Cook's agent disputes this and said they never talk. Since then it has come out that Cook talked to his position coach, who told Zimmer.
It's a little weird on all sides. Why would Zimmer say Cook told him if it was Kenny Polamalu as a middle man? Why would the agent dispute the story if it was substantively true and only wrong on the chain of transmission of information? Hopefully Cook will be there on time, but all logic would say he will: under league rules, if he doesn't report on time, his status changes after this coming season from unrestricted to restricted free agent.
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