Season over before it starts
 

First off, I will preface this by saying I have have lost 99.9% of my interest in the NFL. Couldn't care less any longer. It's nothing more than Goodell's version of WWE.


I used to watch every minute of the draft and pregame shows and every other tidbit of NFL programming I could find. I was beyond hooked. But a number of people have turned the league into a pansy social experiment that is a mere shadow of its former self.




But I digress - on to why this season is sunk before it starts...


1) 2020 planet earth. Can anyone really focus on anything??? Covid, riots, weather, potential wars, food shortages, businesses failing. It all seems to be going to hell in a handbasket.

2) Covid - how will it affect the players and coaches themselves? Will we lose star players (we always have crap luck on that) due to the virus - either out sick or quarantined?

3) Drew Brees (pre apology tour) - his last year. his 20th year. Can he still play at his HOF level? Will it matter (it hasn't got us over the hump since 2009). Is he dreaming of sitting in a NBC booth already?

4) Drew Brees (present day) - oh brother... He's pissed off most of the nation at this point and is entering a Twitter war with Trump. Can you say distracted? He has bought into the notion that you can't protest racial injustice and be patriotic at the same time. Here's a thought - don't sit/kneel/etc during the anthem, come out of the lockerroom at the half and do so for 5 minutes. Most people watching at home aren't watching the anthem anyway - at best they hear it while in the kitchen getting a beer or something to snack on.

5) Locker room is poisoned. Probably the most concerning for the 2020 campaign for fans left. Players will say they accept Drew's apology but will they really? Jenkins went on a tirade - something tells me he's not satisfied with a Tweet and an Instagram post. Maybe some of the linemen let Brees get ran over and injured. Maybe MT and others have the dropsies until Brees is benched in lieu of Winston. By whatever means necessary to get the out of touch Brees out of the game.

6) Malcontents. Leave aside all of the chaos of the past couple of weeks, I think the Saints screwed up with the signing of Winston and Jenkins. Winston was a train wreck in Tampa and my most vivid memories of Jenkins are him getting abused in the secondary on crucial plays. Payton knows the window is almost closed and is desperate to make something happen and is reaching with these 2 guys.

7) Sean Payton. Seems to have "ate the cheese" on himself. Thinks he's the crossfit champion, celebrity playboy, and world leader coach. Somebody find his ex-wife and put her in charge because he was a hell of a lot better coach when married to her. And riding Brees HOF coattails hasn't hurt either. I suspect he'll retire shortly after Brees and replace Bob Costas as the narcassistic political commentator for SNF.


I could go on and on but I probably have put some of you to sleep and made some others of you angry. Neither was my intent...

I part with this - as I doubt I will be around much with my work, worldly concerns, and my loss of interest in the NFL:


* You folks here are great - there was never a better group of loyal and intense fans that could support a team that often underachieved or disappointed. And I have never found a better Saints fan site to visit.

* I hope that if you continue to watch the Saints or the NFL in general that you can find some enjoyment from it. I don't any longer, and life is too short to waste leisure time on something you don't enjoy.

* I wish you all well - hope that everyone stays safe!

Re: Season over before it starts
 

So, have you actually been in the locker room to ascertain that it is indeed "poisoned"? There has been forever disagreements in the locker rooms over subjects such as politics and religion according to NFL Radio's Solomon Wilcots. He said that players can compartmentalize them, however, still function as a team. I think you are reading too much into the whole affair. Drew Brees is a genuine person and well liked by every player throughout the league. I would expect his teammates, and others across the league, to honestly accept his personal apologies and to move on, as they have claimed to have done.

As for abandoning the league, I think your are taking things far too personal. The NFL is one thing and one thing only ... entertainment. No more, no less. Letting it become any more than that is missing the boat. Personally I cannot wait for things to get back rolling. I'll once again have Sunday Ticket and will be watching EVERY game! I will be completely focused on enjoying the NFL for exactly what it is ... entertainment.

:bng:

Re: Season over before it starts
 

This is 100% true. The White players and Black players are often split on issues of race and politics. This isn’t anything new. Y’all remember I said we should sign Richie Incognito despite the fact he’s shown signs of being a bigot. When you get on the field you’re trying to win and all that bull**** goes out the window. It only becomes a problem when you aren’t winning. There’s no reason we shouldn’t be piling up victories.

Majority of my White teammates growing up feel just like Brees. All my Black teammates feel just like Thomas, Jenkins, etc. DIVISION ISN’T NEW! WE’VE BEEN DIVIDED THE WHOLE TIME! That doesn’t mean we won’t work together to get something we want. If they want a ring, they’ll let bygones be bygones in between the lines and go get it. This is the everyday reality of American society since forever.

Re: Season over before it starts
 

[QUOTE=AsylumGuido;890205]So, have you actually been in the locker room to ascertain that it is indeed "poisoned"? There has been forever disagreements in the locker rooms over subjects such as politics and religion according to NFL Radio's Solomon Wilcots. He said that players can compartmentalize them, however, still function as a team. I think you are reading too much into the whole affair. Drew Brees is a genuine person and well liked by every player throughout the league. I would expect his teammates, and others across the league, to honestly accept his personal apologies and to move on, as they have claimed to have done.

As for abandoning the league, I think your are taking things far too personal. The NFL is one thing and one thing only ... entertainment. No more, no less. Letting it become any more than that is missing the boat. Personally I cannot wait for things to get back rolling. I'll once again have Sunday Ticket and will be watching EVERY game! I will be completely focused on enjoying the NFL for exactly what it is ... entertainment.

:bng:[/QUOTE

I don't watch the NFL anymore either except for my beloved Saints and the teams that they will play so I can get a feel for the competition. I used to be an addict to my NFL addiction. When they introduced Thursday night football I was ecstatic. I could lay on the couch watching football all day Sunday and then again Monday night. I followed the draft but Godhell took all the fun out of that. I used to watch anything on sports network to follow the league. But that crap is unwatchable now. The analysts are brain dead and the marketing has gone toward fluff pieces with feelings. I'll tune in a soap opera if I need that crap. I tune in to hear football discussion not find out insignificant crap that is hardly related to the NFL.

I don't watch the NFL anymore because the officiating determines games and the NFL wants close games to keep viewers tuned in so they try to keep the games close. Oh, and while they review these inept calls we are flooded with commercials. Penalty? Go to commercial! Injury? Go to commercial! And then there is the split screen while they run commercials during the actual games. The game is entertainment as Guido says. Well, unlike the movie Gladiator I am not entertained!

Then sprinkle Roger Godhell's new rules that even the refs can't keep up with around the league and the confusion is evident. Still, we don't have full time refs because they could not control the outcome of games.

Re: Season over before it starts
 

I think if our team puts in the work we will persevere through the distractions. Compared to what Phil Jackson guided the Bulls through with what was shown in the Last Dance, we have it pretty easy really.


I agree with Guido's mindset, it is entertainment, it's a sport. Seeing the best athletes and strategic minds get after it, the intense rivalries and the memories, those are inspiring, that's the fun factor I signed up for. There's a lot of things in today's NFL that are far, far from ideal - but at least they are still interested in providing a product (coldly staring at MLB front office and union).

Re: Season over before it starts
 

I like and agree with your 3, 4, 5.
3). Regarding Brees, he is Public Enemy One.
I don't agree with him being Public Enemy Number One.
Dog with steak, dog with steak....the media and some players with ride out Brees statement and apology until Dec. 2020.

4) Avoid the problem.
The standing, sitting, kneeling, squatting, turning you back, whatever the hel1 you want to do during the National Anthem can be solved by just not bringing the team out on the field until the National Anthem is over. Many common sense people suggested this years ago . Players do not want that because they are denied their right to protest it and make them statement.
All players , ALL, whether they want to or not will kneel for the National Anthem this season or be Breesed if they don’t do this .
I am not saying their right to chose is wrong, but fact, this is different.

5) Locker room. Your team, grade level team, office department, precinct, etc. needs unity. Saints seemed to be good these years, as far as the public knows which is how it is supposed to.Now, hmmm. Hopefully they all can united in August.

Re: Season over before it starts
 

This will blow over just like everything else. In September there will be a whole new slough of topics for twitter to argue about. And no I’m not saying the conversation regarding racial issues will disappear. Hopefully it will evolve.

Hopefully this is a chance for Brees to lead the charge of white Americans who believe and are willing to look inside for change.

Re: Season over before it starts
 

We aren’t obligated to act with outrage with every ridiculous thing the media comes up with. They won’t solve anything for us, we’re responsible for that.

Sometimes I wonder if the media exists solely to sow discord among Americans for profit.

We all know subconsciously that forcing an issue never ends in agreement. An argument doesn’t aid a negotiation but actually hinders it, because it devolves into a win-lose power struggle — which engages our ego, which is so powerful, some would actually risk death than concede. It’s a fact backed up by actual brain scans.

Point is this, we’ve got two ears and only one mouth for a reason. If you can’t listen and validate each other before shutting down and blowing up in spectacular fashion, then what’s it all worth? Just take my freedom now in that case.

Re: Season over before it starts
 

You admit it's "Entertainment no more, no less." why do you get your cassock all in a bunch whenever anyone has something negative to say about "YOUR" "Entertainment no more, no less." Again by your own admission you were in the media and left the media!

Yet here you are on "SOCIAL MEDIA" quoting chapter and verseAttachment 13453 which is what? Yep! A form of MEDIA!! No wonder you're "confused"!

Shouldn't "Locker Room" be replaced with "Back Stage" or "On Set"? It is by your own admittance "Entertainment no more, no less."

Teams don't "practice" they "rehearse" (a play, piece of music, or other work) for later public performance. "Entertainment no more, no less."

They don't study game film to learn tendencies, they are learning the script. "Entertainment no more, no less."

"Entertainment no more, no less." How do any of us know that all the Drew Brees vs "The Locker Room" isn't all just part of the show?

In the Script Department of the New Orleans Saints.............."Hey Sean!!! How about we get Drew to say something that stirs up the team?" "You know one side get's all offended and later Drew has a meeting and issues an apology?" "If we're lucky the national MEDIA may get involved and really give us some good publicity!!!! "Let's dust off the old "Divided team comes together for a higher cause!!" "It'll wow 'em in the sticks!!!"

This should be your avatar!Attachment 13455 Even has the mustache and glasses, with the extra bonus of being in the MEDIA!!

Here's your first piece of "Entertainment no more, no less." to critique!!


Attachment 13454


I barely touched on the "Letting it become any more than that is missing the boat."

Strong swimmer?

As I said many years ago "Bread and Circuses" people "Bread and Circuses"
"Entertainment no more, no less."


Dominus vobiscum!

Re: Season over before it starts
 

Always looked forward to NFL. Not now. Can't stand people who suck up, apologize for no reason and buy into all the bs that is coming out.

Re: Season over before it starts
 

I am sitting here at work and none of what you have listed has changed my responsibility to my family and my employer. Going out on a limb I suspect that none of what you listed will change the players responsibility in regards to those two things either.

The Saints are a team but a highly compartmentalized team as all NFL teams are. This isn't Friday Night Lights, they don't all gather in the auditorium and listen to Sean Payton every day. The line isn't going to let Drew get crushed, they all want bonus money for play off games and good stats/grades so that their next contract is as large as it can be. I am willing to bet that at least 1 player on that team has said "if Drew isn't behind us, so be it. I didn't need him him to get mine yesterday and I do not need him to get mine tomorrow." If what Drew said impacted players as much as the media says it did, Loomis would have a pile of trade requests on his desk.

Fan speculation is ignorant.

Re: Season over before it starts
 

I am still looking forward to the NFL, more so now than in a long time. Trying to make it out as anything more important than entertainment is missing the target.

Re: Season over before it starts
 

Amen!

Re: Season over before it starts
 

Players will be gunning for #9 hard and I believe he'll die on his sword outwitting most of them.
The rest can eat a bag of you know what..
It'll be an interesting season to say the least and will be a grest day for humanity when røgerr disappears for good.
I was saddened to see the players hit Drew that hard.I lost a hell of alot of respect for a few of them.

Re: Season over before it starts
 

"Don't press SEND!" - Herman Edwards. 2011 NFL Rookie symposium. In a moment of anger, sometimes people say things they don't mean.

Social media can be cancerous at times.

Re: Season over before it starts
 

During the anthem have new black recruit police on the field. Tribute to them and all who fight for equal justice and freedom. Something we can all stand up and honor.

Re: Season over before it starts
 

Now you're giving us a solution to the problem. It's not a demonstration with looting and damaging private businesses....many owners of the same color as the rioters doing most of the damage.

Re: Season over before it starts
 

I have mentioned this before, but, there have been three distinct groups of individuals involved in these protests/demonstrations/riots ...

1) Conscientious peaceful protesters who truly wish for change,

2) organized individuals promoting violence for self-glorification, headline grabbing, or other various reasons,

3) and then those that have no real interest or feelings about "the cause" at all and are only in it for the merchandise or the thrill of destruction.

I feel that first group makes up 90% or more of the individuals out on the streets. Maybe seven or eight percent make up that third group. It is the small number in the second group that gives the first group a bad name and enables the third group.

Re: Season over before it starts
 

Personally, I believe that this will galvanize the team and our O-line will be playing at it's finest to protect Drew from anyone looking for revenge. If someone does come after Drew he is a marked man.

In rugby if a player is playing dirty and going after a particular player the entire team goes after him and quite often he has to hobble or be carried off the pitch. There is this thing called team loyalty! I have come to the defense of a team mate that I disliked but he was my team mate and that is what mattered at the time.:biggun:

Re: Season over before it starts
 

I am just sick of people bowing and scraping to placate the minority and you can have a fair bet on when the season starts, there will be more sucking up before the first game. So no, I haven't missed the target. I know exactly what I want from sports and this isn't it.

Re: Season over before it starts
 

I'm not sure there were any I respected to start with.

Re: Season over before it starts
 

Oh, well. To each his own. I'm going to continue to watch all sports for what it is ... entertainment.

Re: Season over before it starts
 

I'm with you Arkansas.

The game has become unwatchable in recent years, with replay, dumb rules, and so many commercial breaks. YouTube an old game from the 70s, and find yourself immersed.

Now that the players have alienated me, I dont care about them anymore, so whats the point? They're like 90 year old hookers. You expect me to pay that much? For what?

The players, their hostages, like Brees, and the appeasers who should be managing them, have also forgotten that Football comes during beautiful
Fall days, when I could be kayaking, fishing, and playing outside.

So, social justice, standing up to The Man, whatever. I've lost interest. Have fun.

One idea no one else may have had already. This is a great board, with a lot of great people, many I know in real life, including the Late Great Foreverfan.
We should stay together, like the old Baltimore Colts Marching Band, which kept marching, even after the Colts left for Indianapolis. I plan to continue to visit the B&G, just to say hi. I dont know whether I will continue to organize gatherings. Im certainly going to miss the TailGating. But the CoronaHoax cut our crawfish party in half. I've made friends, for whom my
enjoyment transcends football, so I feel like our Houston group will continue.

Re: Season over before it starts
 

I guess I can see where you are coming from. Kind of. But, the game for me is a relief and the ability to escape and pull for my team. I can still do that regardless of the individuals that play the game. To me, whether I agree or disagree with anything outside of the white lines with those players means less than what I get out of the game itself. I guess I am far more invested than most in the game.

As outspoken as I may seem, I let stuff roll off my back. It is almost impossible to ruffle my feathers.

That said, I also enjoy the sport of debate. Not too sporting with a few, but several step up for the game. Y'all each know who you are. Or should. Or are not able. ;)

Re: Season over before it starts
 

You definitely seem to have a degree of infamy among some of our posters. For some reason, you've never rubbed me the wrong way, even when you disagree with me. Its probably, because you an whoever you're debating are talking so far over my head. I have a special place in my heart for NWLA fans, as I remember the Persecution getting my Saints games preempted by Cowboys, by a station licensed to Louisiana. I also remember the crap spoken at me by Cowboys fans up there, in the old days. I'll be around.

Re: Season over before it starts
 

College football is a real sport where the key is to win. Not to entertain mindless folks as it's primary purpose. The NFL reminds of the choregraphed world wrestling federation. It ain't real. If it's not real then I'm not all that entertained by what is supposed to be NFL competition among professional athletes unlike college football where the game still has integrity.

Re: Season over before it starts
 

College football is probably the most entertainment based college sport, next to basketball, in Division I. My son was a Division I swimmer and that definitely wasn't for entertainment. LOL. 1500 meter can only be entertaining to a parent.

Re: Season over before it starts
 

But people have ten fingers and a keyboard! They can rant with no consequences for their mindless ramblings. Just get on social media and say what is on your mind. It's good to move communication forward right?:doh:

Re: Season over before it starts
 

Well when Brees retires before Brady and lets him take the records, It will be over for my watching anyway.

Re: Season over before it starts
 

And you'll simply move your allegiance elsewhere?

Re: Season over before it starts
 

Man the sky is falling

get a grip

Re: Season over before it starts
 

Even worse were the fans

who disowned a man who brought this city so much joy
and always gave 120%


they didn't even hear his whole initial statement

they can sit home in the dark on Super Bowl day

Re: Season over before it starts
 

Swear to God it’s like road rage.Ive cancelled all my social media accounts except Facebook because I need it for business. I did a mass purge on my personal account and don’t even look at it anymore.

Re: Season over before it starts
 

Last season was the first season I watched as not a die hard Saints fan but a football fan (fantasy football). I still pulled for the saints , its hard not too but as the season wore on, I watched games based on fantasy football (the NFL network Red Zone is like fantasy football porn by the way).
I will continue to watch the game itself for just fantasy football purposes, I watch them like a person that bets on horses watches a horse race. I could care less about their personal story. Just put up the stats that I need to win that week.

Re: Season over before it starts
 

You are part of a quickly growing number of fans consuming the game in new ways and for new reasons. For every fan that claims to have stopped watching games there are five that now watch and follow multiple games per day on different platforms while playing fantasy football or engaging in daily online betting. The game has never been more popular and continues to grow around the world.

Re: Season over before it starts
 

Ratings declined 10% in 2018 and only increased 5% last year.

I suspect the ratings will plummet this year. I know at least 1 viewer who will stop watching if those a-holes kneel during the anthem. I'm hoping there are millions more.

FTK - F*** The Kneelers

Re: Season over before it starts
 

Ratings declined across all of "measured" viewing, not only NFL or other sports, and have since the advent of all the other sources of viewing the same content on other platforms. I have seen numbers as high as 20% of NFL fans that have moved to, or at least used at times, other means of watching their games. I would venture to guess that the actual percentage of those that have totally given up watching the NFL because of any sort of protest is under 1%. Many claim but cannot stop watching the game they still love.

Another major factor is the emergence of sports bars and restaurants. These establishment have exploded over the past few years and they just count as a single viewer even if the place is packed with 200 people. Another factor is The Red Zone that has become extremely popular among fantasy players and gamblers. It is not counted toward the viewership of individual games which is what the ratings you have mentioned are based upon.

I accept and respect your feelings and attitude, but the NFL is FAR bigger than this tiny objection from a vocal minority.

Oh, and I'll put up $20 that this year's ratings will set records if the season takes place because it is the only game in town. That is easy money for me. Take that bet, Danno, my friend?

Re: Season over before it starts
 

Cmon guys, you gotta have faith!

Re: Season over before it starts
 

Agree ... but this was always my version ...

Re: Season over before it starts
 

That was God awful. I will never be able unsee that.