NFL or College football Fans

[Neil Young]

I heard them mention his injury on the commentary today. His recovery is incredible.

[paulg]

Wow, I remember when Dickerson set that record.

Nice to see "Johnny Football" win the Heismann. What an athlete he is.

[Neil Young]

Did anyone see Cecil Martin wearing a Santa hat?

As for the moment when he presented cupcakes to Kevin Cadle, inspired television.

[Oberon]

Did anyone see Cecil Martin wearing a Santa hat?

As for the moment when he presented cupcakes to Kevin Cadle, inspired television.

Saw the hat, missed the cup cakes though When those two are on they never fail to make me laugh.

[Neil Young]

Yeah, they're brilliant.

Hollllllld awwwnnnnn.

[Mostar]

Adrian Peterson came so close to break Eric Dickerson 28-year old rushing record.

He was only 9 yards short

[Marina]

I honestly don't care about American football in the slightest but the general mood over here can only be described as pandemonium (the good kind?) because the Redskins are headed for the playoffs... which for anyone from Washington, DC is a very, very, very, very rare and noteworthy occasion. The Redskins have previously tended to be utterly wank, put simply.

[paulg]

I was a Redskins fan in my youth and remember that the only times, in recent history, that they have won a superbowl has been in a year of player strikes. In other words, they can't win anything over a full season

[Mostar]

I honestly don't care about American football in the slightest but the general mood over here can only be described as pandemonium (the good kind?) because the Redskins are headed for the playoffs... which for anyone from Washington, DC is a very, very, very, very rare and noteworthy occasion. The Redskins have previously tended to be utterly wank, put simply.

They have young and very exciting quarterback but they are far from being a team capable of going to Super Bowl.

Getting into playoffs is a big accomplishment for them as they have not enjoyed any post season success for a long time.

That said, there are tons of teams this year that quite easily could go all the way and I personally expect very interesting and entertaining next few weeks.

[paulg]

One of the things I admire about the NFL is how the draft process enables smaller teams to get success, over a short period of time. Some of the teams in this year's play offs were way off, a short time ago. The Texans haven't been in business that long, really. It's refreshing to see different teams do well and must give every player a boost knowing they could be in with a chance in a few years.

[Hollowman]

The revenue sharing does more for the small teams. Green Bay is a town of 100,000. Nothing like the market of the east coast or Texas teams. Before revenue sharing, in the 1980s, the big market NFC teams dominated.

If you look at the Texans, a lot if their key players weren't top ten draft picks. Andre Johnson was. He was a stud in the national title winning Miami side and went number three overall, and is kind if the face of the franchise as he has played his whole career there. But Schaub was a trade from Atlanta. Arian Foster was an undrafted free agent.

A sensible front office, stability, and good trades are probably more important than high draft picks. The draft is obviously essential as it is basically the only source of young players, but you don't need the number one pick to rebuild. Hell, the new Cleveland Browns have had eight top ten first round picks in the 14 years they've been operating. Still ****.

[Mostar]

The revenue sharing does more for the small teams. Green Bay is a town of 100,000. Nothing like the market of the east coast or Texas teams. Before revenue sharing, in the 1980s, the big market NFC teams dominated.

If you look at the Texans, a lot if their key players weren't top ten draft picks. Andre Johnson was. He was a stud in the national title winning Miami side and went number three overall, and is kind if the face of the franchise as he has played his whole career there. But Schaub was a trade from Atlanta. Arian Foster was an undrafted free agent.

A sensible front office, stability, and good trades are probably more important than high draft picks. The draft is obviously essential as it is basically the only source of young players, but you don't need the number one pick to rebuild. Hell, the new Cleveland Browns have had eight top ten first round picks in the 14 years they've been operating. Still ****.

Even though I agree about benefits of revenue sharing expecially for small teams Green Bay Packers are not good example as they are far from being a small franchise.

They are iconic team (Won the first Super Bowl, their coach Vince Lombardi is the best known football coach of all time, have record of 13 NFL world championships etc.) and they have tremendous fan base(according to many surveys only Cowboys and possibly Steelers have more fans overall but they are number #1 in terms of loyalty and knowledge) outside Green Bay community.

[Hollowman]

Even though I agree about benefits of revenue sharing expecially for small teams Green Bay Packers are not good example as they are far from being a small franchise.

They are iconic team (Won the first Super Bowl, their coach Vince Lombardi is the best known football coach of all time, have record of 13 NFL world championships etc.) and they have tremendous fan base(according to many surveys only Cowboys and possibly Steelers have more fans overall but they are number #1 in terms of loyalty and knowledge) outside Green Bay community.

No, it was the perfect example. You're talking about their popularity NOW, with the new TV era and post-Favre. That's with hindsight. Fact is, they wouldn't have been able to compete had the first television contracts the NFL signed not been equitably split up across the franchises - in the early 1960s there is no way their local Wisconsin market would have allowed them to compete financially. No way. They've sold out home games since Lombardi, but the Cheesehead diaspora (much like today's widespread support for any franchise) is a result of TV exposure, which is now relative to success.

Green Bay would never have become the Green Bay they are today without the first revenue sharing agreement. They'd be like Sunderland, or Sheffield Wednesday, or Huddersfield - loads of success years ago, but unable to compete in the modern game. When revenue sharing first came in, the Packers hadn't won a title in like fifteen years. Lombardi arrives, then in 1960 the pie starts getting cut up evenly, and the Packers win some more titles. But they've only won two post-merger superbowls. They were **** again for like twenty five years after Lombardi left.

They'd probably still be **** but for two things - the '93 FA ruling and the '94 CBA which came to govern free agency and the salary cap. That was the first salary cap and it allowed teams to compete fairly (look at the teams who won the superbowl in the 1980s - this was when big time money first started coming in and the massive market NFC teams totally dominated. They won 13 consecutive superbowls - and 15 out of 16 - from the mid eighties to the Packers winning in 1997, and the 14 prior to the Packers win were shared by 6 big city teams). And like the first revenue sharing deal coinciding with Lombardi, the wage cap coincided with Favre. And the FA ruling allowed them to sign Reggie White. And today they're really, really ****ing popular.

But they wouldn't have been. Revenue sharing and collective bargaining.

[spud_gun]

No, it was the perfect example. You're talking about their popularity NOW, with the new TV era and post-Favre. That's with hindsight. Fact is, they wouldn't have been able to compete had the first television contracts the NFL signed not been equitably split up across the franchises - in the early 1960s there is no way their local Wisconsin market would have allowed them to compete financially. No way. They've sold out home games since Lombardi, but the Cheesehead diaspora (much like today's widespread support for any franchise) is a result of TV exposure, which is now relative to success.

Green Bay would never have become the Green Bay they are today without the first revenue sharing agreement. They'd be like Sunderland, or Sheffield Wednesday, or Huddersfield - loads of success years ago, but unable to compete in the modern game. When revenue sharing first came in, the Packers hadn't won a title in like fifteen years. Lombardi arrives, then in 1960 the pie starts getting cut up evenly, and the Packers win some more titles. But they've only won two post-merger superbowls. They were **** again for like twenty five years after Lombardi left.

They'd probably still be **** but for two things - the '93 FA ruling and the '94 CBA which came to govern free agency and the salary cap. That was the first salary cap and it allowed teams to compete fairly (look at the teams who won the superbowl in the 1980s - this was when big time money first started coming in and the massive market NFC teams totally dominated. They won 13 consecutive superbowls - and 15 out of 16 - from the mid eighties to the Packers winning in 1997, and the 14 prior to the Packers win were shared by 6 big city teams). And like the first revenue sharing deal coinciding with Lombardi, the wage cap coincided with Favre. And the FA ruling allowed them to sign Reggie White. And today they're really, really ****ing popular.

But they wouldn't have been. Revenue sharing and collective bargaining.

About as a comprehensive 'bitch slap' as you're ever likely to see on the entire internets.

[Chazza]

Bit of a mental start to this Ravens v Broncos game