2008 Kickoff Weekend a disaster for NFL

by BigBlueShoe on Sep 8, 2008 11:28 AM EDT in NFL General Comment 16 comments

One could not script a more devastating Kickoff Weekend for the NFL and their marketing folks. Look at this laundry list of disasters from yesterday’s games:

Tom Brady. Torn ACL. Season over. Patriots season in jeopardy.
Vince Young. Strained MCL. Out 4-6 weeks. I know the story says 2-4, but Jeff Saturday has a similar injury. It will be 4-6 weeks. Oh, and Vince continued his sidelining putting and general douchebaggery.
Chargers lay an egg against the Panthers.
Colts lay an egg against the Bears during the opening of their new stadium. Peyton Manning clearly not ready to play.
Seattle, a team expected by many to win their division, gets mauled by Buffalo.
Jacksonville, the anointed favorite among ESPN, gets beaten up by the Titans.

Much of what the NFL markets itself around (big name QBs and marquee teams) looked like utter garbage on Sunday. Thankfully, it is only Week One, and for many of the teams and players on this list there is hope for a rebound. On the flip side, maybe this is exactly what the NFL is all about: Unpredictability. Media people hate that because they get proven wrong a lot and it makes them look like the idiots they usually are. But for fans, it is gold. The motto of pro football is anyone can beat anyone, anywhere. And that’s what makes it great.

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I was having a really good day…Jax lost, Chargers lost….and then…well, you know the rest.

April in CA

by peytonsthebest on Sep 8, 2008 11:43 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

As much as I like to read Stampede Blue...

…One of the very few non eagles blogs, you guys spent the off season saying that your run defense was fine, Peyton will play for the opener, and play great, that preseason was just preseason and that any journalist worrying fr the Colts was just stupid.

Now is maybe the time to go back at your articles and critcism of some articles, and admit there might have been some truth in it.

I really don’t want to criticize, cause I love reading your stuff, but still, your offseason articles sounded like you against the rest of the world, while maybe, there was some truth in what was written.

by bubqr on Sep 8, 2008 12:08 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

If a few breaks had gone the other way

it would have been a different game and no one would question the preseason stuff. “Disappointed but not worried” is a great assessment of how I feel and what I feel is the appropriate attitude.

"I'm not racin', I'm just sprintin'
Cuz I don't wanna finish
they diminish, I replenish"
-Lil Wayne "Let the beat build"

by shake n bake on Sep 8, 2008 12:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

don't know what you're talking about BBS

Romo and the Boys looked great, like the best team in the league actually. And as we all know, the Cowboys on top is the only thing the NFL needs to market itself around like the good ole days. ;)

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Sep 8, 2008 5:02 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

you swore off this site, Terry.

April in CA

by peytonsthebest on Sep 8, 2008 6:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

no I didn't

remember, you failed to come up with a non classy thing T.O. has done in the last 2 seasons.

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Sep 9, 2008 11:36 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I remember

several of us came up with a few things….

April in CA

by peytonsthebest on Sep 9, 2008 11:49 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

no, you didn't

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Sep 9, 2008 3:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

How about a new one

costing his team 15 yards with an endzone celebration.

"I'm not racin', I'm just sprintin'
Cuz I don't wanna finish
they diminish, I replenish"
-Lil Wayne "Let the beat build"

by shake n bake on Sep 9, 2008 1:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

that wasn't unclassy

that a clever celebration, i can’t help it that the NFL stands for no fun league.

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Sep 9, 2008 3:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I still think

the fine for spitting on an opponent definitely counts as unclassy.

April in CA

by peytonsthebest on Sep 9, 2008 3:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

not if its in the heat of the battle

and the opponent is a total ass who deserved much worse. T.O. is only human and can be pushed only so far.

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Sep 10, 2008 11:45 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thank you for reminding everybody...

…that when Buffalo wins it is bad for the league.

I think you might want to consider changing your initials from BBS to CSM.

"I could have conquered Europe, all of it, but I had women in my life." - King Henry II of England

by Calvert on Sep 8, 2008 7:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Reading

Please go back and re-read the post:

On the flip side, maybe this is exactly what the NFL is all about: Unpredictability. Media people hate that because they get proven wrong a lot and it makes them look like the idiots they usually are. But for fans, it is gold. The motto of pro football is anyone can beat anyone, anywhere. And that’s what makes it great.

SB Nation's Indianapolis Colts blogger at Stampede Blue. Please make an account and post a diary, add some comments, and make some noise. Accounts are free, and only require an email address.

by BigBlueShoe on Sep 9, 2008 7:43 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

You’re looking at it from the fans point of view. I’m looking at it from the league’s point of view and in the Goodell era the game is not about parity or fair play but is about major media market domination, corporate sponsorship and star power that can generate merchandising sales. Buffalo has none of these things. It is nothing even remotely resembling a major media market. The team has no high-end stars like a Manning or a Tomlinson, something that would make a smaller market acceptable to the league. The NFL does not care about fans. They don’t want to know why a team that hasn’t been in the playoffs for a decade can still crack the top-10 in attendance, even after reducing the capacity of their stadium.

Tell me, as a Colts fan, what would you think if the league moved the Colts-Titans game to…say…Louisville? Or Champlain? Why would the league move the principal rivalry game away from the home fans? It would be ridiculous. It would be insane. You would wonder about both Goddell’s sanity and competence. But the league did it to Buffalo…and because it is Buffalo that suddenly makes it ok. We saw it happen in baseball when Selig moved the Canada Day series against the Expos and Blue Jays to Puerto Rico. We know how that ended up. We’re seeing it now in the NFL.

Goodell wants the Bills gone…and they’ll go. It is only a matter of time. It won’t matter how many times the Ralph sells out. Fan support does not matter one whit to the league. They’ll go for Toronto’s money and they don’t care who they trample over to get it. Goodell doesn’t want fan support. He wants corporate and government support. Toronto will give that to him. Buffalo cannot.

"I could have conquered Europe, all of it, but I had women in my life." - King Henry II of England

by Calvert on Sep 9, 2008 5:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs