For example, the NFL, the only major pro league with a genuinely competitive regular season where every game truly does matter, is pondering playoff expansion. Couple that with consideration of having teams abroad in Great Britain eventually, and in 20 years we get....
The British Knights (4-11) will be facing the London Monarchs (5-10) for a chance to claim the last spot in the expanded 22 team NFL Playoff Format.
Punt-off is at 3 AM EST.....
The punt-off, of course, refers to the talk of eliminating the kickoff, routinely the most exciting part of the game, for a punt to begin the game, which for some reason is supposed to keep the game safer.
"I care about player $afety fir$t and foremo$t," Goodell says on the matter.
His entire safety argument has no credibility whatsoever after he campaigned for an eighteen game season as well as signing with NFL Network to get a Thursday Night Game going all seventeen weeks.
Allowing replacement refs didn't sit well with players or fans, either, and completely conflicts with Goodell's safety claims.
One more thing about expanded playoffs: if there were 8 teams in from each conference, then the Jets would be a playoff team right now at 6-7. Does that seem right?
Why all the anger towards Goodell? You do know that he represents the owners and does his job with their best interests in mind, right? He doesn't just decide to make up whatever rules or changes that he wants. Is the game the same as when I was growing up watching in the 80's and 90's? No, of course not. Does that mean the product is any worse? Player safety should be the main concern for everyone involved. You can't continue to put a quality product out on the field if head injuries contiue at their current rate. Something has to be done to prolong not only the careers of current stars, but also their potential quality of life down the road.
ReplyDeleteYour point about Goodell wanting to expand playoffs couldn't be more wrong. The owners 100% would want to expand the playoffs because of revenue. If 2 preseason games were eliminated and replaced with 2 extra playoff games, the potential revenue would be much, much more.
I agree that player safety should be a main concern. But in following with the owners' intentions, Goodell has contradicted his concern for it. He's put revenue before it by allowing teams to play on four days' rest, by pushing for the eighteen game season, and by allowing replacement referees just to save a little extra cash.
DeleteMy point on the playoff expansion means that Goodell is willing to allow the quality of the product to be compromised for revenue, which I can understand from a business perspective. But with the amount of money the NFL brings in, expansion should not be considered. In a similar fashion as the NBA, the regular season's importance would be diminished. The NFL stands alone in its ability to have almost every game mean something. Sacrificing this for money would be a mammoth step in the wrong direction.
I will agree with you that expansion, especially to a non-North American market would not be a good idea from a fans perspective. I couldn't care less about seeing a team from Europe play a game in the middle of the night. The reason the owners want ot expand the playoffs is because of revenue. They profit much more from hosting an extra playoff game or two instead of a lousy pre-season game that fans leave by halftime. I know it sounds like I'm defending Goodell, and to a point I am, but he's just the elected face to represent the owners in public. People think he sits in his office and dreams up ways to ruin the game. People should point the finger at the owners if they are getting tired of the product changing.
DeleteThere is a fine line between incurring revenue and something that is bad for the game, like playoff expansion. Placing advertisements all over uniforms or the field, for example, would increase revenue. There's certain things that just shouldn't be done.
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