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National Felons League 2016

Nymr83 Mar 24 2016 02:21 PM

We don't have a thread yet? great, lets start here: [url]http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/03/24/report-rams-avoided-hard-knocks-in-2014-by-drafting-michael-sam/ Allegations that the NFL blackmailed the Rams into drafting Michael Sam, the first openly gay player to be drafted, by threatening them that if they didn't draft him they would be forced to appear on HARD KNOCKS that year.

Frayed Knot Mar 24 2016 08:50 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

Hard to know if that's true or not, but it certainly sounds like a very NFL'ian thing to do: cook up a scheme where you 'get credit' for drafting the gay guy (even if it's 2-3 rounds later than the gurus thought he deserved) but then do so with one of the last picks in the whole draft while also pre-arranging to make his replacement available to the team pressured to take him. Meanwhile some rule changes -- both are only 'one year experiments' but so are most rules which then never get changed - touchbacks come out to the 25 yr line so as to further discourage run-backs. - two personal fouls in a game equals ejection, aka: the Odell Beckham rule

Nymr83 Mar 25 2016 02:28 AM Re: National Felons League 2016

Frayed Knot wrote: Hard to know if that's true or not, but it certainly sounds like a very NFL'ian thing to do: cook up a scheme where you 'get credit' for drafting the gay guy (even if it's 2-3 rounds later than the gurus thought he deserved) but then do so with one of the last picks in the whole draft while also pre-arranging to make his replacement available to the team pressured to take him. Meanwhile some rule changes -- both are only 'one year experiments' but so are most rules which then never get changed - touchbacks come out to the 25 yr line so as to further discourage run-backs. - two personal fouls in a game equals ejection, aka: the Odell Beckham rule -the NFL will do anything to avoid returns, recognizing they are a dangerous play with blockers and defenders always meeting at full speed compared to anything that starts with the players a yard apart. i think this rule fails as you are getting to the point where it might make sense to try and pooch it inside the 5 instead of trying to kick it out of the end zone -i'm not sure i like the 2nd rule. it sounds good in theory, but more often than not in the NFL the flag gets thrown on the guy who retaliates rather than the guy who hits first, making this ripe for baiting players into getting ejected.

Frayed Knot Mar 25 2016 05:28 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

They might as well just eliminate the kick-off if all they're going to do is rig the rules so as to make as many of them into touchbacks as possible. They won't do that, of course, because it would negate the possibility of on-sides kicks which kills the idea that 'the outcome is still in doubt' in too many games. Plus they usually do a commercial break both going into and coming out of kickoffs and they wouldn't want to give those up. Obviously the goal here is to at least give the appearance of increased safety although it comes just as a devastating front-page article in the NY Times lands today which illustrates how the NFL in-house report on head injuries was seriously under-reporting the amount of concussions. The larger problem with all that is that it was from this study that they were basing all their pronouncements which minimized the effects of head trauma over the last decade-plus and which they claimed to "stand behind" all this time even though it turns out that their claims of "mandatory" reporting of concussions turned out to be anything but. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/25/sport ... below&_r=0 Oh yeah, and another one of their ex-players died of ALS this week.

Nymr83 Mar 25 2016 07:20 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

They won't do that, of course, because it would negate the possibility of on-sides kicks which kills the idea that 'the outcome is still in doubt' in too many games. Plus they usually do a commercial break both going into and coming out of kickoffs and they wouldn't want to give those up yes, those are the two reasons you'll always have a kickoff, at least in form even if it becomes less and less a "real" play

Frayed Knot Mar 30 2016 03:32 AM Re: National Felons League 2016

Just this week the NFL has: - demanded that the NY Times retract their story (linked above) about the league falsifying the concussion reports on which the league based its policies on head injuries (even though it had, for instance, the Cowboys reporting ZERO concussions during a time frame when Troy Aikman alone was acknowledged to have suffered at least four). - had the Indianapolis Colts owner compare the dangers of playing football to that of taking aspirin (hey it might be good for you or it might not) - had the Dallas owner label as "absurd" any link between football and head injuries - had the commissioner compare the chances of football injuries to that of sitting on your couch (OK that was several weeks ago rather than this week) Good thing this is a league committed to safety.

Ashie62 Apr 02 2016 01:05 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

Throwing baseball in here. Al Jazeera was correct about Taylor Teagarden. 80 game suspension.

Frayed Knot Apr 11 2016 12:01 AM Re: National Felons League 2016

“This is our sport, it's being attacked,” [Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce] Arians said. “We have to stop it at the grass roots. It's the best game that's ever been f---ing invented. And we have to make sure that moms get the message, because that's who's afraid of our game right now. It's not dads; it's moms.” Do you think maybe that it's the decades of intentional misinformation (in some cases, still going on) which may have something to do with the moms' apprehension Bruce?

Nymr83 Apr 25 2016 05:25 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

Brady's suspension reinstated!

Frayed Knot Apr 25 2016 08:15 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

A year and a half later and this clown show is now back on with no signs of ending.

Nymr83 May 10 2016 12:53 AM Re: National Felons League 2016

Antonio Cromartie, best known for the scene where he names his 10 kids with 8 women on Hard Knocks, has just had twins with his wife... following a vasectomy!

Frayed Knot May 10 2016 01:10 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

Without the procedure he would have had triplets.

Frayed Knot May 24 2016 07:32 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

Was trying to figure out the best way to excerpt this but I think linking it is easiest. http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/ ... 16-million Basically the NFL took its pledged $30 million "unrestricted gift" to the National Institute of Health for brain injury research but then set about trying to influence the study including charges that they pressured the NIH to bypass certain doctors they didn't favor to the point of re-steering some of the money back to the league's own committee - or so claims a Congressional investigation.

TransMonk May 24 2016 09:28 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

Bills GM Doug Whaley says football not a game humans should play "This is the game of football," [Buffalo Bills GM Doug Whaley told WGR 550 radio. "Injuries are part of it. It's a violent game that I personally don't think humans are supposed to play."

Nymr83 Jul 06 2016 05:33 AM Re: National Felons League 2016

[url]http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/07/05/denard-robinson-found-asleep-in-car-after-driving-into-pond/?utm_network=facebook&utm_post=5991652&utm_source=FB%20-%20SNF%20on%20NBC&utm_tags=srm%5Bfootball%5D i would suspect there is more to the story, but the Jaguars' Denard Robinson fell asleep behind the wheel and his car was found sinking in a pond. when told the car was sinking by police, he fell back asleep. drug/alcohol tests suprisingly negative. weird

Edgy MD Dec 07 2016 05:19 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

A former Heisman winner killed, an arrest made in the killing of a former Jet, and a trial starting in the killing of a former Saint. All in the news on the same day. I'm guessing that it's not that much of a dream come true becoming an NFL player.

Carnac the Metnificent Dec 16 2016 03:59 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

A: Radioactive Frogs [fimg=500:2x2r61md]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v667/decolady/people/carnack-mag.jpg[/fimg:2x2r61md] Q: What did the Seattle Seahawks look like in last night's uniforms?

TransMonk Dec 16 2016 04:30 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

[fimg=250:1t2q1i2d]http://i.imgur.com/a6CJ6w6.png[/fimg:1t2q1i2d] It sounds like the regular Thursday night games will be going away after next season. Hopefully, that means that these gross Color Rush unis will go away too.

Frayed Knot Dec 16 2016 05:25 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

TransMonk wrote: It sounds like the regular Thursday night games will be going away after next season. Oh I don't think the Thursday games are going anywhere. The players may hate them and the network talking heads all profess to hate them (while watching them religiously anyway) but neither the league or the networks hate them and unless the players are willing to give up the money from that package (of which some 40? percent goes towards the salary cap) I think they'll grudgingly accept them going forward with hopefully some concessions towards improved scheduling to where teams are only slated for those games following their regular off weeks.

TransMonk Dec 16 2016 06:10 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

I was going off of this Mike Florio article from a few weeks ago: With mounting criticism of the quality of every-week Thursday football, scattered suggestions have emerged in recent weeks that the NFL could pull the plug on the experiment. Those suggestions are stronger than that; per a source with knowledge of the situation, the league will be considering the possibility of ending, or at least limiting, Thursday Night Football. I should have changed the word "will" with "might" in my statement. Either way, changes are going to need to be made to increase the benefit for all sides.

Frayed Knot Dec 16 2016 06:53 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

Yeah, that statement caused a bit of a stir when first published but it was also immediately denied by the league - although they'd deny it whether it was true or not so that part likely means nothing. So while I think there may be some changes as to how TNF is structured, the NFL is about as likely to turn down extra money as Trump is to turn down extra publicity, and that while the players might talk a good game about not wanting to play games following a short turn-around, their history of staying unified enough to get their way in negotiations ins't real good.

Nymr83 Dec 16 2016 10:39 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

couldn't they do just as well with "Saturday Night Football" which would not be as disruptive?

Frayed Knot Dec 16 2016 11:33 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

Nymr83 wrote: couldn't they do just as well with "Saturday Night Football" which would not be as disruptive? Saturday has long been the lowest ratings night of the week so it wouldn't bring nearly as high a potential audience as compared to Thursday. Plus at this point there are more college games at night (at least among the biggest clubs) than there are on the traditional Saturday afternoons so there'd be increased competition among football viewers.

Frayed Knot Dec 26 2016 02:15 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

Couple of things from this past weekend's games - I wasn't watching Pitt/Balt, but when the Ravens scored with 1:18 to go in the game to take the lead the dork doing the highlights was saying that the Ravens ballcarrier "should have gone down at the 1 yard line" so as to not give the Steelers as much time to come back. First of all, there's a pretty good chance that was pure hindsight because by then he knew what was coming next: the Steelers going the length of the field in 78 seconds to win the game. But even if it wasn't, the Ravens needed a TD there and not a FG so, while going down at the one would have given them three shots at the end zone, it's not like teams have never been stopped on 2nd-and-goal before, and that 'don't leave them too much time' thing is just the sort of playing not to lose rather than to win philosophy that dogs both NFL benches and NFL fans these days. You wanna win? How 'bout playing defense while you're on defense and not let them gain 10 yards/play instead of advocating that they play defense while on offense! - One I did see live was the Bills losing on the FG in the final minute of OT vs Miami. Now I'm neither real strongly pro-Rex nor anti-Rex so I don't have any preconceived bias in this deal, but when he tried *AND FAILED* to pull off the "ice the kicker" time-out move because he not only wanted to do it but figured it would be even better if he waited until the final half-second to call it, I thought it served him right that the refs ruled that he didn't call it in time and allowed the game-winning kick to stand. I hate that move anyway and want it to be outlawed so for those would want to be extra-irritating and wait until they think the snapper is thisclose to go-time well then you deserve to not get the call. You also deserve to get hit in the face with the back of a snow shovel.

Nymr83 Dec 26 2016 02:51 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

Couple of things from this past weekend's games - I wasn't watching Pitt/Balt, but when the Ravens scored with 1:18 to go in the game to take the lead the dork doing the highlights was saying that the Ravens ballcarrier "should have gone down at the 1 yard line" so as to not give the Steelers as much time to come back. First of all, there's a pretty good chance that was pure hindsight because by then he knew what was coming next: the Steelers going the length of the field in 78 seconds to win the game. But even if it wasn't, the Ravens needed a TD there and not a FG so, while going down at the one would have given them three shots at the end zone, it's not like teams have never been stopped on 2nd-and-goal before, and that 'don't leave them too much time' thing is just the sort of playing not to lose rather than to win philosophy that dogs both NFL benches and NFL fans these days. You wanna win? How 'bout playing defense while you're on defense and not let them gain 10 yards/play instead of advocating that they play defense while on offense! agreed - when you are tied or down by 1 or 2 and the FG wins the game then by all means take a knee at the 1, otherwise you can't pass up the score. - One I did see live was the Bills losing on the FG in the final minute of OT vs Miami. Now I'm neither real strongly pro-Rex nor anti-Rex so I don't have any preconceived bias in this deal, but when he tried *AND FAILED* to pull off the "ice the kicker" time-out move because he not only wanted to do it but figured it would be even better if he waited until the final half-second to call it, I thought it served him right that the refs ruled that he didn't call it in time and allowed the game-winning kick to stand. I hate that move anyway and want it to be outlawed so for those would want to be extra-irritating and wait until they think the snapper is thisclose to go-time well then you deserve to not get the call. You also deserve to get hit in the face with the back of a snow shovel. I'm against this move, but it would be impossible to legislate when a coach says he had the wrong defensive alignment or saw something that made him think it might be a fake.

Frayed Knot Dec 26 2016 05:30 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

- One I did see live was the Bills losing on the FG in the final minute of OT vs Miami. Now I'm neither real strongly pro-Rex nor anti-Rex so I don't have any preconceived bias in this deal, but when he tried *AND FAILED* to pull off the "ice the kicker" time-out move because he not only wanted to do it but figured it would be even better if he waited until the final half-second to call it, I thought it served him right that the refs ruled that he didn't call it in time and allowed the game-winning kick to stand. I hate that move anyway and want it to be outlawed so for those would want to be extra-irritating and wait until they think the snapper is thisclose to go-time well then you deserve to not get the call. You also deserve to get hit in the face with the back of a snow shovel. I'm against this move, but it would be impossible to legislate when a coach says he had the wrong defensive alignment or saw something that made him think it might be a fake. It would at least be difficult to keep brain-dead coaches from calling unnecessary time-outs simply because they'd be accused of 'not doing everything it takes' if they had a spare TO and didn't use it for presumed psychological purposes, but there are already too many damn time-outs in American sports so it'd be great if they stick a limit who and when TO's can be called. And even if they can't figure something out I'd still like to employ the back of the snow shovel penalty.

MFS62 Jan 01 2017 08:48 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

During a break in the Jets game, I switched to the Patriots' game. The announcers were talking about whether Tom Brady will win the MVP award, despite missing the first four games of the season. One of the said "If he wins it, at 39 he will be the oldest player to win the NFL since YA Tittle in the 50's." Bull Dinkey!! George Blanda won the Maxwell Award (the name of the award in those days. It was awarded by the Maxwell Club of Philadelphia to the NFL MVP like the Heisman Trophy for college players.) in 1970 at the age of 43. Lousy fact checking by someone who probably was too young to know what the MVP award was called. I don't like my heroes getting dissed. Back to the Jets game. Later

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jan 02 2017 04:00 AM Re: National Felons League 2016

The common-parlance "NFL MVP" is the Associated Press MVP. Preeeeetty sure Blanda never took one of those home. And the Maxwell's a college award, I think. The larger point stands, though-- it's been a lot more recent since an oldy took it home. Pey-pey won the award a few years ago as a Bronco, at 36 or 37.

Nymr83 Jan 02 2017 04:32 AM Re: National Felons League 2016

Manning won in 2013 at 37, he was the oldest as far as I can tell. Blanda won the AP's "male athlete of the year" in his early 40's, but that is not the NFL MVP award

MFS62 Jan 02 2017 04:52 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

Nymr83 wrote: Blanda won the AP's "male athlete of the year" in his early 40's, but that is not the NFL MVP award Yup, it was the Bert Bell Award for NFL Player of the Year that he won in 1970 at the age of 43, not the Maxwell. Of course, MVP depends on which list you use: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_ ... ayer_Award Later

Nymr83 Jan 03 2017 04:58 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

ESPN pays 100 mil for what is supposed to be the worst playoff game ever [url]http://www.totalprosports.com/2017/01/02/report-espn-will-lose-75-million-because-of-texansraiders-wild-card-game/

Frayed Knot Jan 03 2017 05:42 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

I don't quite understand how the reported $100 million for the rights fee to a single WC game is considered separate from their overall payment. I mean could ESPN refuse to air the game and save the money? And if so what happens to that game, does the NFL then auction it off to the highest bidder? Whether you want to call what the four-letter network pays an even Two Billion or phrase it as $1.9 B with an additional 100 mil for the playoff game, it seems to me like a distinction without a difference. What jacks up the price ESPN pays for their rights fee as compared to those of other networks -- ESPN pays more overall despite getting just one game a week which is often the worst match-up -- is that they get [u:1tpgeqkt]A Lot[/u:1tpgeqkt] more access to game film to use as highlights in the myriad of weekday shows they have dedicated to all things NFL so what they pay, whether you want to consider they playoff payment separate or just part of the same pile of fungible cash, effectively serves to finance a HUGE chunk of their overall programming well above and beyond just those three hours (3-1/2? ... 4?) on Monday nights plus the bogey prize among the first round playoff games. So even if their balance sheet shows a bunch of red numbers connected to this one game, I still think we can hold off on the telethon for them.

Edgy MD Jan 03 2017 05:47 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

If there's any company that knows how to absorb the occasional loss leader as part of their overall profit scheme, it's Disney.

Nymr83 Jan 03 2017 05:48 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

well, i believe this single playoff game was part of a separate negotiation/contract - all the networks had a shot at bidding for this one game and ESPN "won" the right to lose money. certainly plausible to think there were other dealings going on here like the NFL saying "bid this or lose other stuff"

Frayed Knot Jan 03 2017 06:19 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

Sounds logical, but whether they want to characterize it as $1.9 billion for all that other stuff plus an additional $0.1 billion for the playoff game, or simply $2 billion for the whole package, it adds up to the same thing. Where ESPN is starting to count its pennies is that their overall subscriber base is falling now for the first time ever thanks to 'cord-cutters' and various other cable avoiders. Again, no need to crank up the telethon as they're still essentially printing money but this may actually put a bit of a downward pressure on the rights fees they typically command from cable distributers, currently somewhere near six dollars / per month / per subscriber.

Nymr83 Jan 06 2017 04:11 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

Odell Beckham, Lyft driver! [url]http://ew.com/news/2017/01/05/odell-beckham-jr-lyft-undercover/

cooby Jan 06 2017 04:18 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

That's cute!

Frayed Knot Jan 13 2017 08:01 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

We know all about how fans of sports teams that are in the process of abandoning a city get all bent out of shape over it and so there's nothing new about what San Diego Charger fans are going through right about now. But has there ever been a case where potential fans in the incoming city seem so thoroughly indifferent to the new arrival? The opening lines of longtime LA Times writer Bill Plaschke's column reads: Every relationship is built on honesty, so the San Diego Chargers should hear this as their moving vans are chugging up the 5 Freeway on their noble mission of greed. We. Don’t. Want. You. He goes on to talk about how not only will the Chargers be behind the arrived-about-ten-minutes-ago Rams in popularity but that they'll also be far behind the Raiders despite that team returning to northern California (and probably soon Las Vegas) a few decades ago after only a brief time in SoCal and also likely in back of USC football and possibly UCLA as well. Then there's the part where they have to compete for attention with the Dodgers and Lakers and Angels and Clippers. The other thing this does to the LA market is limit the TV options. During the time that the nation's second largest city went without any NFL teams, L.A. fans, many of them transplants from elsewhere, routinely got the best TV match-ups each week as there was no home team game that had to be "protected" from viewer competition. But starting next season those fans are going to be locked into the currently pitiful Rans & Chargers games most weeks while some of the more enticing games get blacked-out. On the bright side they're probably guaranteed some sell-outs for the next two seasons seeing as how they'll be playing in a 27,000 seat soccer stadium for the next two years (and possibly even out-draw the Galaxy?) while waiting for the new $2.5 billion stadium to be built for the 2019 season, a stadium where they'll be merely rent-paying tenants to the building-owning Rams.

Edgy MD Jan 14 2017 04:34 AM Re: National Felons League 2016

This sure makes classy San Diego a leading candidate to replace Cleveland as the most star-crossed big league sports town.

Frayed Knot Jan 14 2017 02:31 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

Hey, even Cleveland is coming off a NBA championship plus a seven game World Series - even if the Browns had only one more win this season than does the CPF's entry in the NFL. For San Diego, this move, coupled with the previous move of the now Clippers up the freeway to LA, leaves them as a one sport town. That's right it's All Padres all the time on 'All Sports Talk Ess Dee' (but only if you keep it where it is) The other thing that's taking a pr-pasting in this whole mess is the team's first shot at a logo [fimg=250]http://www.trbimg.com/img-5877f953/turbine/sd-ahamblin-1484257674-snap-photo[/fimg] Yeah, we're just going to steal the Dodgers logo, put it in quasi italics, add a lightning bolt to it, then call it a day. Supposedly they're already backing off from it while claiming that it was never intended to be the permanent symbol and that this has nothing to do with the immediate and near universal backlash to it. Yeah right! The one good trend I thought the NFL was adopting during the rash of city roulette that they've been going through over the last few decades is the one where the moving team adopts a whole new nickname and color scheme ala the Baltimore Ravens. But I guess that was just a temporary thing (likely to make an expansion team in Cleveland more [$]attractive[/$]) as neither the Rams nor the Chargers (and I'm sure not the Raiders when they move next week or next year) have taken that lead.

Edgy MD Jan 14 2017 03:50 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

Frayed Knot wrote: Hey, even Cleveland is coming off a NBA championship plus a seven game World Series - even if the Browns had only one more win this season than does the CPF's entry in the NFL. Yeah, that was sort of my point. It's time for somebody else to carry the mantle.

MFS62 Jan 14 2017 03:58 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

The San Diego Chargers' symbol has been the lightning bolt, going back to their days in the American Football League. I'll give the logo a temporary pass until they come up with an improvement. Later

Edgy MD Jan 14 2017 04:16 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

I guess the San Diego-based Brandiose took their defection personally and refused to work them.

Frayed Knot Jan 14 2017 04:25 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

MFS62 wrote: The San Diego Chargers' symbol has been the lightning bolt, going back to their days in the American Football League. I'll give the logo a temporary pass until they come up with an improvement. Yes but they're no longer the San Diego Chargers. They gave up that right when they decided to move and when a team decides to abandon their half-century-plus long home in favor of greener pastures they should be forced to drop all logos, nicknames, color schemes, etc. and adopt something new; the league owns those copyrights not the individual owners so they could make it happen if they chose to as they did when they reserved the 'Browns' for Cleveland. Then if someday a team would move/return/expand back to SD then they could take up the Chargers name and colors again. Such enforcement would also help to avoid anachronisms like having teams named for lakes and trolleys in a city with no lakes to enjoy nor trolleys to dodge, or having a team called the Jazz in a state where not only is Jazz not native but may possibly be illegal.

MFS62 Jan 14 2017 06:51 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

Frayed Knot wrote: MFS62 wrote: The San Diego Chargers' symbol has been the lightning bolt, going back to their days in the American Football League. I'll give the logo a temporary pass until they come up with an improvement. Yes but they're no longer the San Diego Chargers. They gave up that right when they decided to move and when a team decides to abandon their half-century-plus long home in favor of greener pastures they should be forced to drop all logos, nicknames, color schemes, etc. and adopt something new; the league owns those copyrights not the individual owners so they could make it happen if they chose to as they did when they reserved the 'Browns' for Cleveland. Then if someday a team would move/return/expand back to SD then they could take up the Chargers name and colors again. Such enforcement would also help to avoid anachronisms like having teams named for lakes and trolleys in a city with no lakes to enjoy nor trolleys to dodge, or having a team called the Jazz in a state where not only is Jazz not native but may possibly be illegal. AMEN! To this day, I only refer to the baseball teams that moved from New York by their city names. About the Chargers' logo, the team started as the Los Angeles Chargers, and the thunderbolt was part of their uniform. The Chargers new logo has the spirit of the 'bolt while not directly copying it. And that's ok by me. Later

Frayed Knot Jan 14 2017 08:32 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

I suspect that the Chargers' logo being so iconic is the reason why they get to carry it on to their new city in the same way that the Rams kept theirs during their trek from L.A. to Anaheim, to St Louis, and now back to L. A. When Baltimore stole the Browns they probably didn't want the existing name or the (non) logo that came with it. The only other NFL franchise I can think of that dropped the previous identity when city-hopping was when Houston moved to Tennessee (first to Memphis, then on to Nashville). They at least had the good sense to realize that the 'Oilers' name had no business in central TN. And now the Steelers at Chiefs playoff game, the only one this weekend that was scheduled for the early afternoon time slot (which is when they used to try and fit ALL games in January), has now been moved to the night slot on Sunday due to weather. How'd you like to be sitting in an outdoor stadium during 35-degree or so freezing rain at night in January in KC? Even for a home playoff game that's a tough ask of fans and that's before you get to any travel issues to and from.

d'Kong76 Jan 14 2017 08:38 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

Moving the time of a playoff game due to weather (this is football, not ping pong) seemed to me yesterday like a good excuse to triple the TV ratings for this game under the guise of public safety.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jan 14 2017 08:40 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

I think they're getting a pretty dangerous ice storm out there this weekend

d'Kong76 Jan 14 2017 08:51 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

I know, but I love NFL-conspiracy. Move the game to a Monday gay dame. It's a national holiday, so everyone can safely attend.

Frayed Knot Jan 14 2017 09:19 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

Oh I'm not claiming conspiracy or anything like that. It's just that when they start out by scheduling only one actual day game where the sun has even a chance to be out, it's kind of funny when that's the one that needs to be bumped. The bottom line is that they wind up with two late-day games in the south and in domes while both night games are at cold weather site outdoors. Part of that is bad luck but the rest is because they long ago decided to favor paying fans over TV ones and to their insistence that the Golden Boy always has to be in prime time.

batmagadanleadoff Jan 14 2017 09:24 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

It's the pussy-fication of the NFL. Football's supposed to be played in any weather short of an earthquake or a tornado. The Ice Bowl participants are rolling over in their graves. At least the dead ones anyway.

d'Kong76 Jan 15 2017 01:57 AM Re: National Felons League 2016

Frayed Knot wrote: Oh I'm not claiming conspiracy or anything like that. I know, that was all me... and NFL/CBS will laugh all the way to the bank.

Frayed Knot Jan 16 2017 02:55 AM Re: National Felons League 2016

So the only way the Green Bay/Dallas game could have ended better would be if the GB kicker missed the first FG attempt which was negated by the Cowboys coach pulling the disckish timeout bullshit move and then made the second one. And I still want the snow-shovel in the face penalty for coaches who think that's a good idea.

MFS62 Jan 16 2017 03:05 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

If a closely fought football game coming down to the last minutes can be boring it was the Pittsburgh- Kansas City game. As the song from Oklahoma goes: Everything's up to date in Kansas City Except football offense. We expected an icy field resulting from a storm. Instead, it was over 32F at game time, the skies were clear, and the field had been covered and was in good condition. Yet both teams seemed to be conservative in their approach. It was a clunker. Later

d'Kong76 Jan 22 2017 02:37 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

Today's usually one of my favorite pro-football days. The stupid two weeks between today and the Super Bowl is anti-climatic and usually I don't pay at- tention to much of the game because I'm yapping with people and stuffing my pie hole. Of course, heightened awareness kicks in as quarter ends approach and the pools take center focus. I'm told one day I'll have an actual rooting interest in a Super Bowl... Going for Steelers and Packers, two road teams and light underdogs.

Frayed Knot Jan 22 2017 07:47 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

Part of me wants NEP to go all the way just for the soap opera it would produce when Goodell has to hand the trophy to Kraft, Brady, and Coach Hoodie. The Commish is, for the second week in a row, opting to attend the game in Atlanta today rather than head to Foxboro where apparently he has not been since the whole Deflategate thing broke over two years ago now.

Ashie62 Jan 22 2017 07:50 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

Rooting for the Falcones and Tom Brady's. Love to see Goodell hand trophy to Kraft.

Frayed Knot Jan 22 2017 09:57 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

Is there some rule of protocol (maybe carved onto a stone tablet somewhere?) dictating that one-time football coaches shall be referred to as "coach" for the remainder of their life?

Ceetar Jan 22 2017 10:04 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

I don't think I'm in any boxes this year. And probably just falling asleep watching it alone at home. sad.

Ashie62 Jan 23 2017 01:14 AM Re: National Felons League 2016

Frayed Knot wrote: Is there some rule of protocol (maybe carved onto a stone tablet somewhere?) dictating that one-time football coaches shall be referred to as "coach" for the remainder of their life? Makes me think of Lou Reed on Coney Island Baby. "I always wanted to play football for the coach."

Frayed Knot Jan 23 2017 01:23 AM Re: National Felons League 2016

I never minded calling football coaches 'coach', I just wondered when it became a lifetime title -- akin to say Doctor or Senator -- that's still applied often decades after they no longer prowl the sidelines.

d'Kong76 Jan 23 2017 01:26 AM Re: National Felons League 2016

I occasionally run into one of my gym teachers and I address him as coach when saying hello. (and I was never on any of his teams)

Edgy MD Jan 23 2017 01:43 AM Re: National Felons League 2016

When we met Bobby Valentine, I called him "Skipper." I don't know why, but it just felt natural and obligatory. I don't usually go into deferential mode around big shots, but I did with him. He responded by insisting I call him BAHB-by, but the best I could do was shorten it to "Skip." I didn't shine.

Ceetar Jan 23 2017 03:15 AM Re: National Felons League 2016

Edgy MD wrote: When we met Bobby Valentine, I called him "Skipper." I don't know why, but it just felt natural and obligatory. I don't usually go into deferential mode around big shots, but I did with him. He responded by insisting I call him BAHB-by, but the best I could do was shorten it to "Skip." I didn't shine. I hear a lot of people are meeting him next weekend. I never liked the 'coach' or 'skipper' it always feels like trivializing a person into one thing.

MFS62 Jan 23 2017 02:20 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

I hope Green Bay's loss will serve to limit the number of times we'll have to look at pictures of Vince Lombardi during Super Bowl weekend. To rooters of teams in the old American Football League, he was the leader of the Evil Empire. Later

Mets Willets Point Jan 23 2017 07:10 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

Wait, are we about to get another two weeks of nonstop blather about Deflategate?

Ceetar Jan 23 2017 07:11 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

Mets Willets Point wrote: Wait, are we about to get another two weeks of nonstop blather about Deflategate? only if you don't have those channels properly avoided.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jan 24 2017 07:39 AM Re: National Felons League 2016

I'm less rooting FOR Atlanta, and more rooting against Football Slytherin.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jan 24 2017 11:02 AM Re: National Felons League 2016

Yeah what a shitty finale, and all but 1 playoff game was a complete bore, and that was the one I missed.

MFS62 Feb 04 2017 04:10 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

OK, so some of you don't have to specifically talk about football, if you're going to, or having, a party to watch the "big game", what food will you be eating? Its wings and home made chili at my house. Later

Frayed Knot Feb 04 2017 04:11 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

I'm still confused about exactly where on Long island this 'Super Bowl LI' is going to be played.

d'Kong76 Feb 04 2017 04:21 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

Belicheck grabbed Trump by his, ya know...

MFS62 Feb 04 2017 04:28 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

d'Kong76 wrote: Belicheck grabbed Trump by his, ya know... ... ego. Later

Ceetar Feb 04 2017 07:49 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

Frayed Knot wrote: I'm still confused about exactly where on Long island this 'Super Bowl LI' is going to be played. New Jersey, obviously.

Mets Willets Point Feb 06 2017 07:30 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

"This one is very firm."

d'Kong76 Feb 06 2017 07:37 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

He doesn't look shaken, and his suit trousers are dry and unsoiled.

Frayed Knot Feb 06 2017 07:50 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

The in-stadium booing Roger got last night was priceless though. From the moment he started talking to the moment he stopped.

d'Kong76 Feb 06 2017 08:00 PM Re: National Felons League 2016

It's funny the things some people will rally around. A couple of my fb friends from the northeast were going on last night how he was quaking in his boots and shitting his pants about facing Belibrady, et al. I haven't read that Goodell orchestrated the disappearance of Brady's game jersey yet but the day is still young.