THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LOSERS
Posted by Tim Bryce on August 21, 2018
BRYCE ON SPORTS
– No, I will not be watching this year either.
Click for AUDIO VERSION.
To use this segment in a Radio broadcast or Podcast, send TIM a request.
This will be my third consecutive year in which I haven’t watched the National Football League (NFL). I originally quit because of the thug players who should have been behind bars and not on the gridiron, but when the players started the rukus over the flag, that did it for me. At first, this was hard for me as I had been a fan since the 1960’s, but as each year passes, the NFL was slowly divested from my system and, frankly, I do not miss it anymore. This should be cause for concern to the League as there are many people who feel the same way, as indicated by declining viewership. In my eyes, the institution is corrupt and lacks class. All of the athleticism and heroics of the past are gone, and we are left with nothing but overpaid deadbeats on the field, certainly nothing of interest to me. They simply need to clean house, something they are obviously afraid to do.
I do not want to dwell on the past, such as watching a Dick Butkus tackle, a Ray Guy punt, a Barry Sanders sprint, an Anthony Munoz block, a Joe Namath pass, or the heroics of a George Blanda. I’ll always relish their memory, but it is time to move on to something else more meaningful.
Fortunately, I have Little League, the only true remaining spirit of baseball. Their World Series concludes this Sunday and it is always a pleasure watching all the kids from teams around the world compete at this level, playing their hearts out. If it’s a choice between Little League and the Majors, the kids win hands down. The MLB is a lot like the NFL in one sense, it is no longer a game; now it’s a business, which is why I prefer watching the youth programs and farm clubs.
Over the last couple of years, I have found myself gravitating to college and high school football as opposed to the pros. It’s always a pleasure to watch such games, particularly my high school alma mater, Wyoming HS in Cincinnati. Whereas the pros take a knee during the national anthem, my old team proudly carries and waves the flag as they take the field. As an aside, we have high expectations for my high school team this year. They were good in 2017, but could very well win the state this year.
As to college football, I enjoy the SEC down here in the South, but there are many other fine schools with football programs in Florida, including USF, UCF, Miami, FSU, and UF. I also keep an eye on Ohio State and the Big 10. My college alma mater, Ohio University, is part of the Mid American Conference (MAC) and I relish any victory they can muster.
Following the high school and college football seasons, my interests turn to hockey and we are fortunate to have the Tampa Bay Lightning in our area, a true contender. By the way, they do not seem to have a problem with the American flag or national anthem at their venue.
So you see, I’m not going to be at a loss for football or sports this Fall. The NFL certainly hasn’t got a monopoly on it. If anything, they are going out of their way to deter people from watching it. So, how do I spend my Sundays now? That’s simple, I would rather mow the lawn than watch the National Football Losers.
Keep the Faith!
Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.
Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M&JB Investment Company (M&JB) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 40 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com
For Tim’s columns, see: timbryce.com
Like the article? TELL A FRIEND.
Copyright © 2018 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.
Listen to Tim on WZIG-FM (104.1) in Palm Harbor,FL; Or tune-in to Tim’s channel on YouTube. Click for TIM’S LIBRARY OF AUDIO CLIPS.
THE BRYCE IS RIGHT! 
Tim Bryce said
An A.R. of Dunedin, Florida wrote…
“I didn’t watch last year neither will I watch it this year. For me, it’s about the money those athletes make. I just can’t be a part of that. College is becoming the same way.”
LikeLike
Don Frankel said
Tim,
You didn’t even get to the CTE. You would think the NFL would come up with a different kind of helmet. There are materials that absorb impact. But then maybe they’ve taken too many shots to the head already. Too bad you didn’t get to see Jim Brown play. He looked like a man playing with little boys.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Tim Bryce said
Yes, I remember Jimmy Brown. I also remember Alex Karras talking about how hard he was to bring down. “Most runners you just hit them and they go down. Brown would keep going forcing you to really tackle him.”
LikeLike
Dr. Rich Swier said
Great. Published: http://bit.ly/2Psbr2s
Rich
On Tue, Aug 21, 2018 at 7:30 AM THE BRYCE IS RIGHT! wrote:
> Tim Bryce posted: “BRYCE ON SPORTS – No, I will not be watching this year > either. Click for AUDIO VERSION. To use this segment in a Radio broadcast > or Podcast, send TIM a request. This will be my third consecutive year in > which I haven’t watched the National Football League” >
LikeLike
Tim Bryce said
A J.T. of Palm Harbor, Florida wrote…
“Amen! I am the same way now, plus my step dad will never go back to watching. I find that just about anyone that served in the past felt the same way. “
LikeLike
Wayne Brown said
Right there with ya, Tim and the more I hear about their justification for “taking a knee”, the more resolve I have to not watch. If these overpaid social misfits had any real conscience, they would take some of that big money they are making and try to make a substantive difference. But, that is not what this is really about. It is about symbolism over substance and it keeps the spotlight shining down on those overpaid egos. Take away the lights and cameras and eventually this becomes a “non-issue” to them. Belittling our flag and the National Anthem is by no means a viable method at obtaining social change. Blacks are killing blacks daily on the streets of America and this bunch is crying about police brutality and social injustice. Ignorance is a disease that allows those who want to manipulate you for their own purposes to effectively do so. The real shame here is the kids that see this coming from someone they look at as role model in their life and thus they too immolate their actions. What does that say of the social injustice these players are serving up to the youth of America? Eventually, too many fans will become sick of this behavior and it will affect the bottom-line of the League and thus the paychecks of the players. I cannot wait until we see that play out. Hit them in the pocketbook and change will come rapidly. A man walked up to me last Friday and asked, “What time is the Cowboy game tonight?”. I replied, “You are asking the wrong guy–I have no idea!”. ~WB
LikeLiked by 1 person
Tim Bryce said
A W.H. of Boulder, Colorado wrote…
“30 years ago next July, I retired from the Navy and moved to Colorado. This is the longest I’ve been in one place in my life. When we arrived, my daughters were 3 and 10 and my wife, while handicapped, was still mobile at the time. We found that watching the CU LADIES basketball team was MUCH more enjoyable, not to mention affordable.
When I got married, I was told in no uncertain terms that I MUST become a Dallas Cowboys fan. You see, my wife went to SMU for a year, and her parents would drive 2.5 hours down from their home to visit her in Dallas and watch SMU’s football games on Saturday, then stay for the expansion team Dallas Cowboys the next day. They paid $5 for seats to watch that pro game with Eddie LeBaron at quarterback, and Don Meredith at QB for SMU. When Roger Staubach became the Dallas QB, it was easy for me to be a fan, because Roger the Dodger was a USNA grad and Heisman trophy winner. When he retired, mostly from repeated concussions, my “fandom” waned a bit, but was still there because of Tom Landry. Then, the team was bought out and the owner (the current owner) rather unceremoniously fired Landry. That was his prerogative, to be sure, but the WAY he did it and notified the coach that had been with the team since they started just rubbed me the wrong way. And, when I was living in DC on active duty, I lived through the infamous midnight departure of the Baltimore Colts to Indianapolis, and I thought to myself, there is absolutely NO HONOR amongst the owners of that league. I understand business decisions, but the way they handled those two events (and later ones as well) just rubbed me the wrong way.
I found watching the ladies version of basketball MUCH more enjoyable than the men’s. Why? Because, when you watch a college basketball game, it’s all about POWER – I have the power to bull through all those guys to get to the basket. In women’s basketball, like women’s hockey, they move a little slower, they’re generally smaller, and they have to maneuver the ball (or puck) and set up the play. You actually can watch how the set up works and progresses – and they’re not as concerned with power as they are with accuracy and finesse.
I too have been completely disenchanted with the “thug” mentality of NFL and NBA players. They make an obscene salary not because they’re good people, but because they are good at playing a game. And, truth be told, MOST of them fritter away those earnings and end up in poverty after they leave the game. Exceptions are out there, but more don’t make it because they focused on the game instead of their studies when they were in college, so they have little to market that interests businesses – other than “name recognition.” If they screw up that name recognition, and they lose the earnings they had, they have pretty much nothing.
In fact, I’ll only watch 2-3 college football games a year (Army-Navy is at the top of the list; Navy-Notre Dame is another) because for the most part, the big colleges are nothing but “minor leagues” for the NFL. Colleges have the same problem with THUGS being recruited to play – overlooking their personal and legal problems in order to get the physical prowess and talent – sometimes even going to the extent of granting a non-standard degree because the athlete is not a “student” – in the truest sense of the word. Does this mean ALL college athletes are this way? Nope. But, it’s getting more and more prevalent. Howard Twilley (Wide Receiver for the Miami Dolphins for years) went to my alma mater – University of Tulsa. He was an EE major when it took 5 years to get a BSEE. He finished his 4 years of college eligibility and turned pro without getting that degree right away. But, he went back to school in the off-seasons and finished his BSEE with a 4.0 average – and they don’t give EE degrees away. I know a St. Louis Cardinal QB back in the 60’s was a dentist. So, we have exceptions, but they are indeed exceptions, not the “rule” – which seems to favor thugs more today.
Now, while I’m a diehard NHL fan (for a lot of reasons), I’m finding that even my local Colorado Avalanche team is becoming unaffordable for the average Joe. I picked up 3 seats for opening night this year – in the nosebleed section around the net (not primo seats, to be sure) because I’m sure the game is going to be a sell-out and because my daughter will be in town from MT for her nephew’s 3rd birthday. They cost me $70 a seat before the “convenience fee” was added. When I had season tickets a couple of years ago, I had TWO seats literally ON the red line up about 10 rows from the top – PERFECT seats to watch the entire game and see how the action developed. They cost me $26/seat/game for 44 games. I gave them up simply because it was TOO MUCH to ask to find another person to go with me when my son-in-law or daughter couldn’t go – especially when there were 3 games a week being played, 8 games a month. And, driving to the arena in Denver rush hour traffic became a real downer as well. Then on top of the tickets, you pay parking. When I had season tickets, it was $9 a game to park. Today, it’s $15 if you have a season ticket, $20 if you don’t.
Now, the Broncos apparently are charging $100-150 a seat for a football game, parking probably about the same as hockey, but you can’t get season tickets to the Broncos anymore because they’re pretty much fully subscribed. They only play, what, 18 games? Look at the cost figuring 9 home games versus NFL’s 44 home games in a season and the cost to be a season ticket holder UNLESS you can somehow share the tickets with a group.
Oh, and I have an opportunity to go to the AF-Navy game in person. I’ve been to a few of them especially when I first arrived. But, I found that the ticket prices TODAY are $70 a seat for the game, $25 for parking. This is on a GOVERNMENT OWNED facility. This team is supposedly a government sponsored team and activity, and yet, CU’s ticket prices for a game here in Boulder are on the order of $50. So, IF I was a college football fan, I could take a bus to the CU stadium for $2.50, pay $50 for the seat, and be done. To go to AF games, it’s a 90 mile commute in VERY HEAVY traffic – especially around the AF academy area, and then a much higher ticket price. So, I made a FINANCIAL and MANAGEMENT decision. I watch hockey on TV (I can get the entire season on my TV as part of my satellite package, same with football, and then I can stay warm and dry during the game, eat what I want when I want, go to the bathroom any time (pause the playback and catch up later) with no line … you get the idea. Yeah, I have to put up with the media commentary and commercials, but then I don’t have to put up with weather or drunken fans either.”
LikeLike
john wright said
Good One ! John
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lawrence Marlin said
I don’t watch NFL football any more. It is a long, boring game, and the players attack America . What more do we need? My Sundays are much more productive and enjoyable now. My dream is the NFL will no longer exist in a few years. Can you imagine paying a commissioner gigantic sums of money to destroy your investment? The owners and players deserve to lose it all..
LikeLiked by 1 person
Tim Bryce said
Agreed!
LikeLike
2018 YEAR-END WRAP-UP « THE BRYCE IS RIGHT! said
[…] THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LOSERS (Aug 21) – A sports piece describing problems with the […]
LikeLike
SOME OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE SUPER BOWL « THE BRYCE IS RIGHT! said
[…] shouldn’t come as a surprise that I haven’t been a fan of the NFL for the last few years. I think they have simply lost their way and become a dangerous masculine […]
LikeLike