So what's everyone's thoughts now that we are officially locked? Do we get a deal in place by the draft, training camp, 1/2 way through the season? Nothing?
Personally, I see stuff getting done before we start losing games this season. Hard to believe that some of the ESPN reports said the Owners and Players Union were only 130-160 million off from a sure deal. I mean christ, if that's it, not the original billion dollar mark, then what the hell happened?
How about the draft? Since we're locked out right now, does this change up strategies for teams immensely or not at all? I can see some of the higher pick teams being a little more careful, but not much different.
EDIT 1::::And just to change it up, since nobody ever rezzed an old NFL season thread, let's keep all the NFL/UFL/Fantasy Football talk to the most current thread. No reason for me or anyone to link to an old thread anymore for past news.
EDIT 2::::Prepped OP for current season, 2012-2013. Removed UFL from post as well, since it has been nixed apparently.
I don't see how you can have any reasonable expectation of an NFL season happening next year. Most of the events that will occur are pretty much automatic(lockout->decertification->injunction->giant lawsuit filed by players against league->appeal by owners to get a different judge based on bias->blahblahblah).
And honestly, it is pathetic that, in the end, they couldn't bridge a 130M gap. That is like 4 million dollars per team. Brady and Manning could have just paid the difference on their own or something.
I definitely have a sour taste in my mouth toward the NFL now. In a just world, the sport would be damaged for a long time by this. But we really don't live in a just world. In the world we live in, people will be so happy to see real NFL games again that the teams will probably immediately make MORE money than they were before.
Labor disputes have never been viewed the same since the 1994 MLB Strike. Up until that point, even with strikes, there was always games no matter the league and there was always a champion. It took years for MLB to recover to pre strike levels of attendance and revenue (though MLB does pull down more money now).
But look at the NHL, even though they have recovered attendance wise their TV revenue is a laughingstock compared to what they were getting pre-lockout. Versus does not a quality TV network make.
The NBA lockout after the 1998 Finals was mild by compatison, however the total bottom line suffered for till 2000 or so... mostly because it took a while for new stars to develop due to the loss of games.
College Football is going to be the only game in town comer NFL season... and its going to be extremely funny when the NBA lockouts its players too, and ESPN has nothing to cover but the NHL (the coverage is pathetic at best), the UFL (what coverage?), the MLB playoffs a couple of days a week, and college football on Saturday... and their Mid Major slate during the week.
ESPN is going to suffer as well due to the NFL lockout, as Sportscenter will literally have nothing to cover.
As for the NFL, they have already priced out regular fans. You almost have to mortgage your home to even go see a game in person, which begs the question why bother? If the NFL does lose games, Games may not be blacked out because of the "premium seating" selling out, but i guarantee attendance and total revenue will be way down.
Why would you want to buy NFL merchandise or the new Madden 2012 if there is no football to be played? That roster means jack squat. Players may be on teams and never play a down for them because of the lockout, so why buy the jersey?
Thats the short term response, the long term response will take time to gauge. But the anger level is high, far higher than in 1987.
The two sides were actually around $860 million dollars off when you include in other things like splitting revenue growth, which is a lot more than the NFL is trying to make it out to be.
Personally while I think all parties are at fault I am pinning more of the blame with the NFL than the NFLPA for a couple of reasons.
1. They are the ones that opted out of the old CBA.
2. From several reports from several sources both before and during the negotiation process there seemed to be a couple owners who were disrespectful to the players and made it pretty clear that they wanted to "take back there league." And clearly made this personal first.
3. The fact that it was proven that the NFL negotiated the TV network contracts in bad faith and not maximize revenues for both the players and owners so that they have a "war chest."
4. I can understand this one to a certain extent, but given number three I feel that in the players position I wouldn't have trusted them either, which is the fact that the NFL owners wouldn't open their books and give the third party auditors the info they need to compile a report for the NFLPA.
5. The 18-game season and them talking about player safety.
As for the season I would be shocked if it was canceled, as even if their is no CBA I doubt either side would want and/or consider canceling the season. The owners no longer have their war chest and the players want to get paid. I think at the very worst we will have a few canceled games and/or a season with no CBA, just temporary rules.
As for the UFL I actually really enjoyed watching it last season on Vs. (it helps when Doug Flutie is your color commentator). The level of play is on a level just below the NFL and clearly above college. It was especially fun to see the likes of Dante Culpepper and Jeff Garcia play (plus watch every Chicagoan's favorite orator Dennis Green coach).
The UFL team I cheer for are the Omaha Nighthawks, since one they are the closest team to Chicago and two have a passionate fan base. They started out good and then just collapsed down the stretch. But I personally have high hopes for them this season.
Plus I really do want the UFL to succeed. And I think it is something that is really good for all of football. Plus I really think the UFL could and should turn into a development league of sorts because it is becoming more and more obvious that most college players aren't ready for the NFL when they are drafted. Plus this allows for less hidden gems (like 6th round pick Tom Brady) to fall through the cracks.
I'm really pulling for the UFL to take off. Arena Football is now dead in West Michigan, so I can only hope we get a UFL team in the future. I'm diggin the team names too. Nighthawks is friggin awesome. Though, the "Colonials" made me laugh the first time I heard it. Destroyers is pretty damn good too.
I honestly won't be surprised if there is no NFL this upcoming season. But if it happens, the NFL will be ruined for good. Look what happened to baseball back in 1994 when the strike happened, and the NHL when it had its lockout in 2004.
Plus I really do want the UFL to succeed. And I think it is something that is really good for all of football. Plus I really think the UFL could and should turn into a development league of sorts because it is becoming more and more obvious that most college players aren't ready for the NFL when they are drafted. Plus this allows for less hidden gems (like 6th round pick Tom Brady) to fall through the cracks.
Same here. Considering all the draft busts that appear in every single draft, it makes me wonder why the NFL never had its own "minor league" equivalent like MLB does or even the NBA with the D-League.
I'm really pulling for the UFL to take off. Arena Football is now dead in West Michigan, so I can only hope we get a UFL team in the future. I'm diggin the team names too. Nighthawks is friggin awesome. Though, the "Colonials" made me laugh the first time I heard it. Destroyers is pretty damn good too.
The names are pretty good as are the logos and uniforms. My main problem with them is that a couple of their team location choices don't make sense.
1. I know every team wants to be in Florida, but that market was already over saturated by NFL teams. Plus their are several other Southeast states that would probably love to have an pro football even at the UFL level.
2. Sacramento is good, but I didn't understand why they put the team at first in the Bay Area which already has two NFL teams.
3. Las Vegas and Omaha were two great choices in my opinion.
4. Hartford I think was an average choice, but I didn't get New York. I know it is a big market, but I knew that it couldn't handle another team with two NFL teams.
My suggestions is if you want to get to eight teams they should look for current football markets that could handle another team.
Three choices I think would be good candidates:
1. Milwaukee: Wisconsin is a big football state, but driving to Green Bay is a couple hour drive meaning it does take a good amount of time to get there. So I think the city would openly embrace an UFL team. A big untapped market. Also a fun little tidbit if you put your name on the Packers waiting list when you were born it is very likely that your name still wouldn't be called before you died, well unless you plan to live 955 years.
2. Suburbs of Chicago (most likely Naperville or Aurora): Chicago is the largest current NFL market with only one team. You have a passionate fanbase and a great tradition of football that very few teams can match and every game is sold out. I think (from personal knowledge of the area) that if you put an UFL team in one of the suburbs around Chicago you would be able to attract a rabid fan base. My personal choice would be Naperville or Aurora (which are pretty much next to each other) and represent the fifth and second most populous cities in Illinois. They are in the West Suburbs, by the highways and interstates, meaning that they are easy to get to from Chicago, Rockford, Joliet, the North Suburbs, and the South Suburbs.
3. LA: This is the second largest market in the US and it has no NFL team. There is a passionate football starved fan base there that I think would welcome an UFL team with open arms. Plus given the way the UFL operates and their stadium needs (hell they could probably just take the LA coliseum) they can get a franchise there in a year instead of years. Plus by a NFL team does get to LA the UFL team will have a had a couple of years or more to entrench themselves into LA (not that I don't think LA could handle both an UFL and an NFL team).
West Michigan is an interesting prospect, though I don't know enough about West Michigan to have an opinion on its viability.
It made me sad to see that the UFL didn't grow as a league in (what was likely) the most important time for them to do so. They had LA on the line, and then tossed it away while they were looking for an eighth team. If they had kept Florida around (a team that had played and lost the championship game both years) they'd have had seven teams in the league going into the off season. I find it difficult to believe, with all the NFL lockout talk that was going on at the end of the UFL season, that they couldn't find one more halfway-suitable market.
Instead, they stayed stagnant with the same number of teams. The only thing different is that instead of the Florida Tuskers, they now have the Virginia Destroyers. It's almost as if they were betting on the lockout to provide them their financial growth this season, rather than trying to improve the league in general.
This whole situation leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. The owners really screwed the pooch on this one. They had no intention of trying to get a deal done. The agreed to an extension only to make themselves look like the good guys; like they gave it their best shot, but they're only motivated by one thing....GREED.
In regard to the UFL......can't do it. It's just not the same. It's no different than the AFL. Its just not watchable to me. I'll be forced to savor the college football regular season and start playing golf on Sunday's. Hopefully the NBA has a lockout too and one or several of the major networks come crawling to the NHL for a television deal (even though I get all the games already anyway).
I sure am gonna miss playing fantasy football with all of you though
Guardman: The reason Hartford was selected was for the reasons you said PLUS the mega shaft the Patriots gave the city at the last minute right before they built Gillette. In case you are not familiar with the story, Kraft basically was one signature away from committing to building a stadium there when at the last minute he said no. He was basically using Hartford as bait to get MA to finance the new stadium. If he built in Hartford he would of fronted the entire build sans the demolition work.
Guardman: The reason Hartford was selected was for the reasons you said PLUS the mega shaft the Patriots gave the city at the last minute right before they built Gillette. In case you are not familiar with the story, Kraft basically was one signature away from committing to building a stadium there when at the last minute he said no. He was basically using Hartford as bait to get MA to finance the new stadium. If he built in Hartford he would of fronted the entire build sans the demolition work.
Ah, okay that makes more sense now. I never thought Hartford was a bad choice, I just thought there were better choices out there.
The main thing with the UFL I've seen though is that they have the level of play and they have a management system in place that helps control spending, but they lack a good expansion plan and marketing.
A lot of people I know who are football fans don't even know what the UFL is. They really need to market themselves better. Getting on Vs. was the first step, but it seems like too many households don't get it (My house has to get it in a special package which we get mostly because of hockey). What they should try to do is try to get a game a week on ESPN to increase exposure. They probably have already tried this, but if they presented the right pitch I would be surprised if they couldn't get on ESPN.
Second is they need to really market a lot locally and get some big name people to the games. Because from those that I watched when there were big name people there the stands seemed fuller (the exception is Omaha which always had full stands).
Third is I would try to work with the NFL. Maybe do cross promoting. Because I think the UFL is ultimately really good for the NFL. And if you are really good try and become the development league of the NFL (cause like I said before the NFL needs one).
As for the expansions I think their main problem is that some of their financial woes (which as far as I can tell aren't as much management related but number of fans related) is turning away potential investors for expansion teams.
Finally here's something I want to throw out since I've been thinking about this, but a minor league affiliated with the NFL would probably help lower the cost of drafting rookies as minor leaguers are not paid as much, therefore lowering the cost of developing something like a first pick. I mean there is still a question of a player holding out for much more money and they will probably be paid a lot still, but a minor league will probably lower rookie salaries to something a lot more manageable.
I agree that there should be a dedicated minor league for football. What makes football so damn special that they don't need one where all the other popular American sports have them? I never understood that.
Also, has anyone taken a look at how much pussification they're putting into the game for the next season (whenever that might be)? Here's the link
Look at the categories for "illegal hits". Most of them I don't have a problem with, but the first two are just moronic at the highest level. "QB in act of throwing"? Are you kidding me? Defensive linemen have just been neutered as a position, since hitting a QB while throwing was a viable strategy in order to try and get an incomplete. Which (I thought) was the WHOLE POINT! And "Receiver trying to catch a pass"? Another viable strategy. If you can't get to the ball, you HIT THE RECEIVER to try to jar the ball loose before he has possession!
Even if there is no lockout, I think I'm done with football if this takes effect. Why not put them all in little tutus and have them dance around for us like pansy-ass fairy boys?
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I agree that there should be a dedicated minor league for football. What makes football so damn special that they don't need one where all the other popular American sports have them? I never understood that.
Also, has anyone taken a look at how much pussification they're putting into the game for the next season (whenever that might be)? Here's the link
Look at the categories for "illegal hits". Most of them I don't have a problem with, but the first two are just moronic at the highest level. "QB in act of throwing"? Are you kidding me? Defensive linemen have just been neutered as a position, since hitting a QB while throwing was a viable strategy in order to try and get an incomplete. Which (I thought) was the WHOLE POINT! And "Receiver trying to catch a pass"? Another viable strategy. If you can't get to the ball, you HIT THE RECEIVER to try to jar the ball loose before he has possession!
Even if there is no lockout, I think I'm done with football if this takes effect. Why not put them all in little tutus and have them dance around for us like pansy-ass fairy boys?
I agree that the first two points on illegal hits are asinine at best. And I would be shocked if they went through. I think a lot of this is pandering trying to show that they care about safety.
The other one I am mad about is the potential changing of the kickoff rules, which basically mitigates a large part of special teams. This will really reduce the importance of kickoffs and it sort of feels like they are trying to legislate kickoffs out of the game if his goes through. It is also a huge hit for teams like Chicago that rely on their kickoff returns and their kickoff coverage to gain superior field position.
West Michigan is an interesting prospect, though I don't know enough about West Michigan to have an opinion on its viability.
Well, we had the Grand Rapids Rampage in the Arena league. That was sold out almost all the time. We have the Griffins in hockey, which are the Wings' affiliate for their "minor" leaguers. We also got the West Michigan Whitecaps, whom belong with the Tigers.
Having a team play here would only seem right, and could be the Lions best chance at developing players. It works pretty good for the Wings and Tigers. Only problem is we'd need to have an official field built, unless they think they can pull off sharing with the Whitecaps, which, seems like a bad stadium anyway for football. The family around here that has their name plastered everywhere are the DeVos's. They created Amway. I'm sure one of them could foot the bill.
Some of those rule changes for kickoffs make me confused. Wasn't it always at the 35, and then got pushed back to the 30 about 6 years ago? I figured that was to make kickoffs more exciting or what not. But yea, this might hinder Hester a bit for blowing that record up to a ridiculous number b4 he retires. But I'm sure nobody would be able to top what he puts up anyway.
A kicker or punter during the kick;
A quarterback at any time after change of possession;
A player already on the ground.
Those should be the only times a player should be considered defenseless. A quarterback in the act of throwing is now a defenseless player? That's just moronic beyond belief. The NFL is turning QBs into untouchable, sacred objects, just like what Wizards is doing to lands and LD right now.
I also noticed their putting UFL news into the NFL headlines as well. Well, I guess mostly since there has been some signings of former NFL coaches to the UFL and players.
Also, something I've been pondering... Let's have a small discussion as to the UFL expanding to 10 teams, and basically making a new 5 team division.
What 5 cities do you think could use, or need something like this? And, then how would you make the two 5 team divisions? east/west? north/south?
Hartford Colonials
Las Vegas Locomotives
Omaha Nighthawks
Sacramento Mountain Lions
Virginia Destroyers
My choices:
Milwaukee--This was mentioned by Guardman, and I completely agree. L.A.--Again, I agree with Guardman on this one. San Antonio--I think the Spurs are great in that town. Having a football team there could be a major cash cow. Dakota region--Just like the Panthers basically. Just keep it like "the Dakota Tornadoes" or whatever name you imagine and pick the largest city in between those 2 states. I think that area could use something like this. Grand Rapids/West Michigan--G.R. is the largest city on this side of the state. Like I mentioned before, this is a huge sports market on this side of the state. All the Detroit teams, (with exception to Lions obviously) feed off of the farming that goes on here with talent. My community embraces sports religiously it seems.
Far as making 2 divisions, it would probably look like this:
West:
LA
San Antonio
Las Vegas
Sacramento
Omaha
East:
Grand Rapids/West Michigan
Hartford
Milwaukee
Virginia
Dakota
A kicker or punter during the kick;
A quarterback at any time after change of possession;
A player already on the ground.
Those should be the only times a player should be considered defenseless. A quarterback in the act of throwing is now a defenseless player? That's just moronic beyond belief. The NFL is turning QBs into untouchable, sacred objects, just like what Wizards is doing to lands and LD right now.
Agreed. It's becoming more like flag football by the day and its disgusting. Players must now ask permission before making a tackle. If a receiver goes up to make a catch you're SUPPOSED TO hit him as hard as you can to jar the ball loose. These guys know what they signed up for. Stop treating them like they're made of glass.
In other NFL news that really doesnt matter because their wont be a season: Kickoffs have been moved from the 30 to the 35 yard line.......because apparently there werent enough kickers crushing the ball out of the back of the endzone already. Idiots....
As much as I would like to see the UFL attempt to sieze the moment and try to do better... at this point I don't have much if any faith in the league. 5 teams is just ackward at best (even one more team would really be nice). I'm not certain they even have a TV contract at this point. They failed to repay Mark Cuban's 5 million dollar loan and he is now sueing them over it so is less likely to have them on his network.
I hate to say this because I worked at the Sacramento games last year as a vender, but the league is failing. Unless something major happens I don't see it lasting more than one more season at this point.
As much as I would like to see the UFL attempt to sieze the moment and try to do better... at this point I don't have much if any faith in the league. 5 teams is just ackward at best (even one more team would really be nice). I'm not certain they even have a TV contract at this point. They failed to repay Mark Cuban's 5 million dollar loan and he is now sueing them over it so is less likely to have them on his network.
I hate to say this because I worked at the Sacramento games last year as a vender, but the league is failing. Unless something major happens I don't see it lasting more than one more season at this point.
I believe that VS had picked up some games, but not an entire season worth.
In other NFL news that really doesnt matter because their wont be a season: Kickoffs have been moved from the 30 to the 35 yard line.......because apparently there werent enough kickers crushing the ball out of the back of the endzone already. Idiots....
I hate this decision, along with most of the other tackling rule changes. But there's at least one silver lining: Hester's return TD records aren't gonna be broken anytime soon. Kinda sad to see the guy get completely neutered though. He's got at least half a decade of good return talent left in him and he's now useless because the ball's never gonna be brought out of the end zone anymore.
I'm coining it now, folks. The kickoff-yardline-change is now the Hester Rule.
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Doesn't Hester mainly return punts though? I'm pretty sure the Bears have someone else for kickoff returns, as they phased Hester out of kick returns when he became a wideout.
I hate this decision, along with most of the other tackling rule changes. But there's at least one silver lining: Hester's return TD records aren't gonna be broken anytime soon. Kinda sad to see the guy get completely neutered though. He's got at least half a decade of good return talent left in him and he's now useless because the ball's never gonna be brought out of the end zone anymore.
I'm coining it now, folks. The kickoff-yardline-change is now the Hester Rule.
Well let's be fair here, the only parts of the kick off rule that actually made it was to move from the 30 to the 35 and that the rest of the kicking team can only line up 5 yards behind the kicker as opposed to 15. They allowed them still spot the ball at the 20 and also allowed the return team to use the 2-man wedge.
They also expanded replays to be an auto booth review on all scoring drives but coaches lose the 2rd challenge if they are successful on the first 2. The tackling rules are unchanged for this season as they were tabled.
Doesn't Hester mainly return punts though? I'm pretty sure the Bears have someone else for kickoff returns, as they phased Hester out of kick returns when he became a wideout.
DAMMIT. And I call myself a Bears fan. I think you're right, they've given a majority of the kickoff return duties to Manning now. Hester is punt returner now.
Still, this does mean that there's gonna be a massive increase in the number of touchbacks, thus making what seems to be an increasingly boring sport even more boring. What good is a 2-man wedge if the ball constantly goes out the back of the endzone?
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I also noticed their putting UFL news into the NFL headlines as well. Well, I guess mostly since there has been some signings of former NFL coaches to the UFL and players.
Also, something I've been pondering... Let's have a small discussion as to the UFL expanding to 10 teams, and basically making a new 5 team division.
What 5 cities do you think could use, or need something like this? And, then how would you make the two 5 team divisions? east/west? north/south?
Hartford Colonials
Las Vegas Locomotives
Omaha Nighthawks
Sacramento Mountain Lions
Virginia Destroyers
My choices:
Milwaukee--This was mentioned by Guardman, and I completely agree. L.A.--Again, I agree with Guardman on this one. San Antonio--I think the Spurs are great in that town. Having a football team there could be a major cash cow. Dakota region--Just like the Panthers basically. Just keep it like "the Dakota Tornadoes" or whatever name you imagine and pick the largest city in between those 2 states. I think that area could use something like this. Grand Rapids/West Michigan--G.R. is the largest city on this side of the state. Like I mentioned before, this is a huge sports market on this side of the state. All the Detroit teams, (with exception to Lions obviously) feed off of the farming that goes on here with talent. My community embraces sports religiously it seems.
Far as making 2 divisions, it would probably look like this:
West:
LA
San Antonio
Las Vegas
Sacramento
Omaha
East:
Grand Rapids/West Michigan
Hartford
Milwaukee
Virginia
Dakota
Time for you all to post on this topic.
I really like the choice of San Antonio and I'll take your word on West Michigan. But I am not a fan of the Dakotas. Even their largest metro area has only 200,000 people. You would need to get 10% of the population in the area to sell out a game, which just isn't practical in my opinion. You need a metro area of at least 400,000 to make it worth it in my opinion. The other problem is that a lot of the population is spread out in the Dakotas.
As much as I would like to see the UFL attempt to sieze the moment and try to do better... at this point I don't have much if any faith in the league. 5 teams is just ackward at best (even one more team would really be nice). I'm not certain they even have a TV contract at this point. They failed to repay Mark Cuban's 5 million dollar loan and he is now sueing them over it so is less likely to have them on his network.
I hate to say this because I worked at the Sacramento games last year as a vender, but the league is failing. Unless something major happens I don't see it lasting more than one more season at this point.
I know they have a contract with Vs. to show at least on game each week on the station through this year.
Doesn't Hester mainly return punts though? I'm pretty sure the Bears have someone else for kickoff returns, as they phased Hester out of kick returns when he became a wideout.
Hester is mainly punts. Manning is mostly kick-offs. Plus they sprinkle in Johnny Knox in their as well.
But Hester does do some Kick returns usually at the start of the game or half.
Basically this isn't going to hurt Hester that much, but it hurts the Bears who rely on those extra yards from Kickoffs for better field position.
...but it hurts the Bears who rely on those extra yards from Kickoffs for better field position.
It hurts the Bears, the Browns, and the Bengals, to name a few (I haven't looked at stats, just basing my opinion on what I've seen the past few years (via. live games and/or highlights)).
*sigh* Why do they have to ☺☺☺☺ with things? As cliche as it is, it fits here: "If it isn't broken then don't fix it." Apparentally the so-called "Competition Committee" think it is broken... supposedly all in the name of saftey. Hogwash.
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(about the English language) It's kinda like a raft that was cobbled together from parts of three different boats and since then has been kept barely afloat with crude repairs every time a leak appeared.
Personally, I see stuff getting done before we start losing games this season. Hard to believe that some of the ESPN reports said the Owners and Players Union were only 130-160 million off from a sure deal. I mean christ, if that's it, not the original billion dollar mark, then what the hell happened?
How about the draft? Since we're locked out right now, does this change up strategies for teams immensely or not at all? I can see some of the higher pick teams being a little more careful, but not much different.
EDIT 1::::And just to change it up, since nobody ever rezzed an old NFL season thread, let's keep all the NFL/UFL/Fantasy Football talk to the most current thread. No reason for me or anyone to link to an old thread anymore for past news.
EDIT 2::::Prepped OP for current season, 2012-2013. Removed UFL from post as well, since it has been nixed apparently.
And honestly, it is pathetic that, in the end, they couldn't bridge a 130M gap. That is like 4 million dollars per team. Brady and Manning could have just paid the difference on their own or something.
I definitely have a sour taste in my mouth toward the NFL now. In a just world, the sport would be damaged for a long time by this. But we really don't live in a just world. In the world we live in, people will be so happy to see real NFL games again that the teams will probably immediately make MORE money than they were before.
But look at the NHL, even though they have recovered attendance wise their TV revenue is a laughingstock compared to what they were getting pre-lockout. Versus does not a quality TV network make.
The NBA lockout after the 1998 Finals was mild by compatison, however the total bottom line suffered for till 2000 or so... mostly because it took a while for new stars to develop due to the loss of games.
College Football is going to be the only game in town comer NFL season... and its going to be extremely funny when the NBA lockouts its players too, and ESPN has nothing to cover but the NHL (the coverage is pathetic at best), the UFL (what coverage?), the MLB playoffs a couple of days a week, and college football on Saturday... and their Mid Major slate during the week.
ESPN is going to suffer as well due to the NFL lockout, as Sportscenter will literally have nothing to cover.
As for the NFL, they have already priced out regular fans. You almost have to mortgage your home to even go see a game in person, which begs the question why bother? If the NFL does lose games, Games may not be blacked out because of the "premium seating" selling out, but i guarantee attendance and total revenue will be way down.
Why would you want to buy NFL merchandise or the new Madden 2012 if there is no football to be played? That roster means jack squat. Players may be on teams and never play a down for them because of the lockout, so why buy the jersey?
Thats the short term response, the long term response will take time to gauge. But the anger level is high, far higher than in 1987.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/03/13/making-sense-of-the-financial-divide-between-the-two-sides/
The two sides were actually around $860 million dollars off when you include in other things like splitting revenue growth, which is a lot more than the NFL is trying to make it out to be.
Personally while I think all parties are at fault I am pinning more of the blame with the NFL than the NFLPA for a couple of reasons.
1. They are the ones that opted out of the old CBA.
2. From several reports from several sources both before and during the negotiation process there seemed to be a couple owners who were disrespectful to the players and made it pretty clear that they wanted to "take back there league." And clearly made this personal first.
3. The fact that it was proven that the NFL negotiated the TV network contracts in bad faith and not maximize revenues for both the players and owners so that they have a "war chest."
4. I can understand this one to a certain extent, but given number three I feel that in the players position I wouldn't have trusted them either, which is the fact that the NFL owners wouldn't open their books and give the third party auditors the info they need to compile a report for the NFLPA.
5. The 18-game season and them talking about player safety.
As for the season I would be shocked if it was canceled, as even if their is no CBA I doubt either side would want and/or consider canceling the season. The owners no longer have their war chest and the players want to get paid. I think at the very worst we will have a few canceled games and/or a season with no CBA, just temporary rules.
As for the UFL I actually really enjoyed watching it last season on Vs. (it helps when Doug Flutie is your color commentator). The level of play is on a level just below the NFL and clearly above college. It was especially fun to see the likes of Dante Culpepper and Jeff Garcia play (plus watch every Chicagoan's favorite orator Dennis Green coach).
The UFL team I cheer for are the Omaha Nighthawks, since one they are the closest team to Chicago and two have a passionate fan base. They started out good and then just collapsed down the stretch. But I personally have high hopes for them this season.
Plus I really do want the UFL to succeed. And I think it is something that is really good for all of football. Plus I really think the UFL could and should turn into a development league of sorts because it is becoming more and more obvious that most college players aren't ready for the NFL when they are drafted. Plus this allows for less hidden gems (like 6th round pick Tom Brady) to fall through the cracks.
Maybe, just maybe, Oregon could get a UFL team.
Same here. Considering all the draft busts that appear in every single draft, it makes me wonder why the NFL never had its own "minor league" equivalent like MLB does or even the NBA with the D-League.
The names are pretty good as are the logos and uniforms. My main problem with them is that a couple of their team location choices don't make sense.
1. I know every team wants to be in Florida, but that market was already over saturated by NFL teams. Plus their are several other Southeast states that would probably love to have an pro football even at the UFL level.
2. Sacramento is good, but I didn't understand why they put the team at first in the Bay Area which already has two NFL teams.
3. Las Vegas and Omaha were two great choices in my opinion.
4. Hartford I think was an average choice, but I didn't get New York. I know it is a big market, but I knew that it couldn't handle another team with two NFL teams.
My suggestions is if you want to get to eight teams they should look for current football markets that could handle another team.
Three choices I think would be good candidates:
1. Milwaukee: Wisconsin is a big football state, but driving to Green Bay is a couple hour drive meaning it does take a good amount of time to get there. So I think the city would openly embrace an UFL team. A big untapped market. Also a fun little tidbit if you put your name on the Packers waiting list when you were born it is very likely that your name still wouldn't be called before you died, well unless you plan to live 955 years.
2. Suburbs of Chicago (most likely Naperville or Aurora): Chicago is the largest current NFL market with only one team. You have a passionate fanbase and a great tradition of football that very few teams can match and every game is sold out. I think (from personal knowledge of the area) that if you put an UFL team in one of the suburbs around Chicago you would be able to attract a rabid fan base. My personal choice would be Naperville or Aurora (which are pretty much next to each other) and represent the fifth and second most populous cities in Illinois. They are in the West Suburbs, by the highways and interstates, meaning that they are easy to get to from Chicago, Rockford, Joliet, the North Suburbs, and the South Suburbs.
3. LA: This is the second largest market in the US and it has no NFL team. There is a passionate football starved fan base there that I think would welcome an UFL team with open arms. Plus given the way the UFL operates and their stadium needs (hell they could probably just take the LA coliseum) they can get a franchise there in a year instead of years. Plus by a NFL team does get to LA the UFL team will have a had a couple of years or more to entrench themselves into LA (not that I don't think LA could handle both an UFL and an NFL team).
West Michigan is an interesting prospect, though I don't know enough about West Michigan to have an opinion on its viability.
Instead, they stayed stagnant with the same number of teams. The only thing different is that instead of the Florida Tuskers, they now have the Virginia Destroyers. It's almost as if they were betting on the lockout to provide them their financial growth this season, rather than trying to improve the league in general.
In regard to the UFL......can't do it. It's just not the same. It's no different than the AFL. Its just not watchable to me. I'll be forced to savor the college football regular season and start playing golf on Sunday's. Hopefully the NBA has a lockout too and one or several of the major networks come crawling to the NHL for a television deal (even though I get all the games already anyway).
I sure am gonna miss playing fantasy football with all of you though
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Ah, okay that makes more sense now. I never thought Hartford was a bad choice, I just thought there were better choices out there.
The main thing with the UFL I've seen though is that they have the level of play and they have a management system in place that helps control spending, but they lack a good expansion plan and marketing.
A lot of people I know who are football fans don't even know what the UFL is. They really need to market themselves better. Getting on Vs. was the first step, but it seems like too many households don't get it (My house has to get it in a special package which we get mostly because of hockey). What they should try to do is try to get a game a week on ESPN to increase exposure. They probably have already tried this, but if they presented the right pitch I would be surprised if they couldn't get on ESPN.
Second is they need to really market a lot locally and get some big name people to the games. Because from those that I watched when there were big name people there the stands seemed fuller (the exception is Omaha which always had full stands).
Third is I would try to work with the NFL. Maybe do cross promoting. Because I think the UFL is ultimately really good for the NFL. And if you are really good try and become the development league of the NFL (cause like I said before the NFL needs one).
As for the expansions I think their main problem is that some of their financial woes (which as far as I can tell aren't as much management related but number of fans related) is turning away potential investors for expansion teams.
Finally here's something I want to throw out since I've been thinking about this, but a minor league affiliated with the NFL would probably help lower the cost of drafting rookies as minor leaguers are not paid as much, therefore lowering the cost of developing something like a first pick. I mean there is still a question of a player holding out for much more money and they will probably be paid a lot still, but a minor league will probably lower rookie salaries to something a lot more manageable.
Also, has anyone taken a look at how much pussification they're putting into the game for the next season (whenever that might be)? Here's the link
Look at the categories for "illegal hits". Most of them I don't have a problem with, but the first two are just moronic at the highest level. "QB in act of throwing"? Are you kidding me? Defensive linemen have just been neutered as a position, since hitting a QB while throwing was a viable strategy in order to try and get an incomplete. Which (I thought) was the WHOLE POINT! And "Receiver trying to catch a pass"? Another viable strategy. If you can't get to the ball, you HIT THE RECEIVER to try to jar the ball loose before he has possession!
Even if there is no lockout, I think I'm done with football if this takes effect. Why not put them all in little tutus and have them dance around for us like pansy-ass fairy boys?
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I agree that the first two points on illegal hits are asinine at best. And I would be shocked if they went through. I think a lot of this is pandering trying to show that they care about safety.
The other one I am mad about is the potential changing of the kickoff rules, which basically mitigates a large part of special teams. This will really reduce the importance of kickoffs and it sort of feels like they are trying to legislate kickoffs out of the game if his goes through. It is also a huge hit for teams like Chicago that rely on their kickoff returns and their kickoff coverage to gain superior field position.
Well, we had the Grand Rapids Rampage in the Arena league. That was sold out almost all the time. We have the Griffins in hockey, which are the Wings' affiliate for their "minor" leaguers. We also got the West Michigan Whitecaps, whom belong with the Tigers.
Having a team play here would only seem right, and could be the Lions best chance at developing players. It works pretty good for the Wings and Tigers. Only problem is we'd need to have an official field built, unless they think they can pull off sharing with the Whitecaps, which, seems like a bad stadium anyway for football. The family around here that has their name plastered everywhere are the DeVos's. They created Amway. I'm sure one of them could foot the bill.
Some of those rule changes for kickoffs make me confused. Wasn't it always at the 35, and then got pushed back to the 30 about 6 years ago? I figured that was to make kickoffs more exciting or what not. But yea, this might hinder Hester a bit for blowing that record up to a ridiculous number b4 he retires. But I'm sure nobody would be able to top what he puts up anyway.
A quarterback at any time after change of possession;
A player already on the ground.
Those should be the only times a player should be considered defenseless. A quarterback in the act of throwing is now a defenseless player? That's just moronic beyond belief. The NFL is turning QBs into untouchable, sacred objects, just like what Wizards is doing to lands and LD right now.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=6243983
Kind of a follow up to most of the headlines.
I also noticed their putting UFL news into the NFL headlines as well. Well, I guess mostly since there has been some signings of former NFL coaches to the UFL and players.
Also, something I've been pondering... Let's have a small discussion as to the UFL expanding to 10 teams, and basically making a new 5 team division.
What 5 cities do you think could use, or need something like this? And, then how would you make the two 5 team divisions? east/west? north/south?
Hartford Colonials
Las Vegas Locomotives
Omaha Nighthawks
Sacramento Mountain Lions
Virginia Destroyers
My choices:
Milwaukee--This was mentioned by Guardman, and I completely agree.
L.A.--Again, I agree with Guardman on this one.
San Antonio--I think the Spurs are great in that town. Having a football team there could be a major cash cow.
Dakota region--Just like the Panthers basically. Just keep it like "the Dakota Tornadoes" or whatever name you imagine and pick the largest city in between those 2 states. I think that area could use something like this.
Grand Rapids/West Michigan--G.R. is the largest city on this side of the state. Like I mentioned before, this is a huge sports market on this side of the state. All the Detroit teams, (with exception to Lions obviously) feed off of the farming that goes on here with talent. My community embraces sports religiously it seems.
Far as making 2 divisions, it would probably look like this:
West:
LA
San Antonio
Las Vegas
Sacramento
Omaha
East:
Grand Rapids/West Michigan
Hartford
Milwaukee
Virginia
Dakota
Time for you all to post on this topic.
In other NFL news that really doesnt matter because their wont be a season: Kickoffs have been moved from the 30 to the 35 yard line.......because apparently there werent enough kickers crushing the ball out of the back of the endzone already. Idiots....
I hate to say this because I worked at the Sacramento games last year as a vender, but the league is failing. Unless something major happens I don't see it lasting more than one more season at this point.
I believe that VS had picked up some games, but not an entire season worth.
I hate this decision, along with most of the other tackling rule changes. But there's at least one silver lining: Hester's return TD records aren't gonna be broken anytime soon. Kinda sad to see the guy get completely neutered though. He's got at least half a decade of good return talent left in him and he's now useless because the ball's never gonna be brought out of the end zone anymore.
I'm coining it now, folks. The kickoff-yardline-change is now the Hester Rule.
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Well let's be fair here, the only parts of the kick off rule that actually made it was to move from the 30 to the 35 and that the rest of the kicking team can only line up 5 yards behind the kicker as opposed to 15. They allowed them still spot the ball at the 20 and also allowed the return team to use the 2-man wedge.
They also expanded replays to be an auto booth review on all scoring drives but coaches lose the 2rd challenge if they are successful on the first 2. The tackling rules are unchanged for this season as they were tabled.
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DAMMIT. And I call myself a Bears fan. I think you're right, they've given a majority of the kickoff return duties to Manning now. Hester is punt returner now.
Still, this does mean that there's gonna be a massive increase in the number of touchbacks, thus making what seems to be an increasingly boring sport even more boring. What good is a 2-man wedge if the ball constantly goes out the back of the endzone?
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I really like the choice of San Antonio and I'll take your word on West Michigan. But I am not a fan of the Dakotas. Even their largest metro area has only 200,000 people. You would need to get 10% of the population in the area to sell out a game, which just isn't practical in my opinion. You need a metro area of at least 400,000 to make it worth it in my opinion. The other problem is that a lot of the population is spread out in the Dakotas.
I know they have a contract with Vs. to show at least on game each week on the station through this year.
Hester is mainly punts. Manning is mostly kick-offs. Plus they sprinkle in Johnny Knox in their as well.
But Hester does do some Kick returns usually at the start of the game or half.
Basically this isn't going to hurt Hester that much, but it hurts the Bears who rely on those extra yards from Kickoffs for better field position.
It hurts the Bears, the Browns, and the Bengals, to name a few (I haven't looked at stats, just basing my opinion on what I've seen the past few years (via. live games and/or highlights)).
*sigh* Why do they have to ☺☺☺☺ with things? As cliche as it is, it fits here: "If it isn't broken then don't fix it." Apparentally the so-called "Competition Committee" think it is broken... supposedly all in the name of saftey. Hogwash.
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