Old School vs. New School: How To Rank Greatness

It seems as if this week is the week in which former NBA players decided to defend their eras and their players. You had Stephen Jackson who was on the 2006-2007 Warriors that beat the top seeded Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs as an eighth seed. Then, you have NBA legend Oscar Robertson saying this. You have Isaiah Thomas saying this, too. So, this week was the week in which former NBA players, some all-time greats, told us how they really feel.

People are putting Stephen Curry in the category with all-time great point guards already. Former players are complaining. He’s having fun with the whole thing, though. This is not anything new. In many sports, when a generation of players retire and the new generation of players reach their primes, the old generation tends to complain. They want to hold on to their spot. They feel the need to remind the fans that were either very young or not born at the time of their primes of how good they were. Some take it to the extreme and don’t just say they were good back in the day, but that they are good now after retirement. This is not an NBA dynamic. This isn’t just a player dynamic either. This is a dynamic in all of sports.

You guys ever argue with an older person about sports? You already know how it goes, (unless you are an older person reading this, don’t stop reading though). The first thing you are going to hear about is how good the players back in their day were. Stats not even something that is brought up. You are probably going to bring up stats before them. All they would talk about is impact and what they saw with their own eyes. This is something that is very important. I personally feel that statistics hold too much weight in the sports world today because statistics could be deceptive sometimes. However, they’re going to use feelings, memories, and “vibes” to discredit the current players of your generation. The next qualifier that older fans are quick to bring up are rule changes. For the NFL, it got softer. For the NBA, it got softer. For the MLB, the game was much better back in the day because guys were better; more home runs. “But, they were on steroids. That’s why.” “Steroids don’t make you make contact with ball, trust me I’ve been watching the game since you were a baby.” On and on and on, you guys know how it is. Legitimate facts and claims might be brought up. This is a fundamental aspect of every good argument/debate. Both sides must bring up legitimate facts that both parties can agree on in order to argue about what they don’t agree on. Rule changes do change the way sports are played making the games different. However, if both sides were to be honest, there’s just a generation gap. You will never fully understand how great the former players were despite how many YouTube videos you saw of them because you weren’t alive or old enough when these players were playing. The older person may never fully understand how great this generation of players are despite rule changes because they’re so used to seeing a certain style of play, seeing how great their generation of players were, or stubborn. It’s different when you experience greatness at the time when they were great because you understand the impact. However, anybody can over or underestimate people.

Now to Stephen Curry.

He’s on pace to break several offensive records this year and he has his team on pace to win the most games in NBA history. The team that they might surpass for the most wins in NBA history is the NBA champion 1995-1996 Bulls. This is a win total that many people didn’t think would be passed for a long time. Some teams have won 67 games, but nobody has even reached 70 since the Bulls set the mark at 72 wins 20 years ago. In other words, Stephen Curry and the Warriors are having a historic season.

How do you discredit a person’s greatness when the numbers show you how great they are? You discredit everything else surrounding them. Their team was really good, he or she was just along for the ride. Or in Stephen Curry’s case, the league isn’t as good anymore and the rules changed so its easier to play the game. THEY COULDN’T PLAY IN OUR DAY! Numbers do lie sometimes. It feels like every year, a different quarterback throws for the most yards in a season. Out of the top 15 seasons for most passing yards, 12 of those seasons were had in the last 5 years. A statistic like that will show you why having the most passing yards in a season is probably not the best indicator for how good a quarterback is historically. The increase in passing yards are directly correlated with the rule changes in the NFL that make it easier for offensive players to produce.

However, the decrease in home runs over the years due to the fact that guys aren’t using steroids anymore (at least most guys). This decrease does not mean the players are worse now than they were back then. They just don’t cheat…as much. Are rules in the NBA different than they were back in the day? Yes. No hand checking. The definition of a flagrant foul has changed. However, the skill level of the competition is not the same as it was back in the day. Today’s NBA has more athletes. Today’s NBA athletes are better shooters and I know that Oscar Robertson doesn’t like that. OK, let’s be real. It was never OK to hit people in the face as they are shooting. In any era, that’s a foul. This is what you would have to do in order to stop Stephen Curry from making a three and even then it’s not promised that he is going to miss. I have literally seen Chris Paul have his hand on Stephen Curry’s chest as he’s shooting and he still made it and he turned around a looked at his coach Doc Rivers and basically told him that he had his hand on his chest so he tried his best. I think it was the same game that this happened. Shooting the basketball is shooting the basketball and I find it hard to believe that guys aren’t getting up in the best 3 point shooter in NBA history’s face to try and make him miss, despite what the legend Oscar Robertson says.

The generation gap is real. The generation gap in sports doesn’t just affect fans. It affects players, as well. When you have an NBA legend discrediting your career and accomplishments, it can hurt your career. It may not prevent you from winning rings, but it can prevent you from being thought of as highly as you would like to be at the end of your career because knowledgeable voices have influence. It can even prevent you from making halls of fame, ask Terrell Owens. I believe that in our society, we need to emphasize how influential generation gaps are in our perception of sports. Think about it, if Kobe didn’t start his career while Michael Jordan was playing and several years after like around now, maybe people wouldn’t be calling him this generation’s Michael Jordan, but the next Michael Jordan. Maybe Kobe played to close to Michael Jordan’s era so his impact was still fresh in the minds of NBA fans back in Kobe’s prime. Who know’s? Comparing players is fun is fun for fans and analysts. That’s part of what makes sports interesting. But, when well-respected former players start publicly discrediting current player’s accomplishments and the whole league, that might be a little too far. We, fans and players young and old, need to understand that we cannot completely and fairly judge a person’s career until after it’s done. Doing that might prevent us from recognizing that we are watching the best player in history, or fool us into thinking that we are watching the best player in history. While a player is playing, all we can do is speculate.

Gambling is Wrong! (Unless You’re in Las Vegas): Sports Gambling and Legalization in America

Gambling is wrong, unless you’re in Las Vegas. If you really feel good about a certain team in the NFL winning a game and it’s Sunday and you happen to live in Delaware, go ahead and bet on your prediction. Make some money off of it, but only the NFL though. And if you live anywhere else in America, gambling is wrong. Oh, if you live in Montana and Oregon, gambling isn’t wrong for you guys either, even though you guys don’t really gamble so much. But all you other people in the other states, GAMBLING IS WRONG! …….You know what? You all could bet on horse racing, but that’s it. They’re not people, so I guess that’s OK.

Gambling is as American as being a gun owner. Yet, this is the message that the government sends to the people of America. It’s part of the fabric of America. In the video above, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said that it might be a $400 billion underground business. Yet, gambling is still basically not allowed in most states. I am not saying that everything that is fundamentally American is right. There are things that America is known for globally that even we would consider morally wrong. There are things that America is known for globally that is considered morally right, as well. However, what I am saying is that the lottery is legal. You pay money, pick some random numbers, and then hope that those numbers are picked in a drawing so that you can win more money than what you paid to enter the drawing. This is a game of complete chance, not mention that you could be playing against an amount of people ranging from a few thousand to over a billion people. This is the definition of gambling. Yet, that gambling is OK and gambling on sports isn’t. One difference between the lottery and gambling in sports is that money generated from lottery tickets goes to the government. It could go to the state government or the federal government depending on the type of lottery. However, there are other important differences.

Whether you only watch the NBA, the NCAA, go to summer Pro-Am games, or play the game all the time, every basketball fan should know about the 1951 CCNY Basketball Scandal. Players were betting on their own games, but they wouldn’t necessarily try to lose the game. They would mostly try to win, but only within a certain point range because betting in basketball is done on a point spread. Understand something though, college basketball was bigger than NBA basketball in the 50’s. More people were excited about CCNY that the Knicks, so this was a huge deal, especially considering the fact that the crowd was betting on the games, as well. Imagine being a player on a basketball team and scoring a basket that puts your team up 10 and the crowd bet on an 8 point game so they boo you. You just cemented a win for your (and their) team, but they boo you. Through my study of sports in America in college, I learned that this is the type of stuff that used to happen back in the day. So, you have the players betting one way, and they are the ones playing so they control the game, and you may have fans voting another way and they can’t control the game, so when the fans found out what was going on, you could imagine how upset they were. The biggest problem was the integrity of the game. When you betting is tangibly affecting the outcomes of games, you know something is wrong.

Every sports fan should know about the 1919 Black Sox Scandal or at least should have heard the name “Black Sox” before. But if you, don’t…

This was almost 100 years ago, but betting is not the kind of ancient issue that people today claim that it is. I remember when this became a national story around 10 years ago…

And, am I the only one that’s seeing less and less FanDuel and Draft Kings commercials? I live in New York and I remember when I used to see Knicks post-game segments sponsored by Draft Kings and now the city is actively trying to prevent them from operating New York. We have gone from worrying about games being thrown by players to worrying about insider information being traded about somewhat virtual, imaginary (fantasy) sports. These are the reasons why betting is still an issue in America.

Enter Adam Silver, a leader in professional sports in America. He is a very well-liked and innovative commissioner. So innovative that he is supportive of Draft Kings and FanDuel and supports gambling on sports in the United States. Take into account that his predecessor David Stern stood in agreement with the Senate Judiciary Commitee in 1991 when Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) was being passed. This is the act that prohibited people, unless you live in Delaware, Montana, Oregon, and Nevada which were grandfathered from it. It states that it is, “…unlawful for (1) a government entity [187] to sponsor, operate, advertise, promote, license, or authorize by law or compact, or (2) a person to sponsor, operate, advertise, promote, pursuant to the law or compact of a government entity, a lottery, sweepstakes, or other betting, gambling, or wagering scheme based, directly or indirectly (through the use of geographical references or otherwise), on one or more competitive games in which amateur or professional athletes participate, or are intended to participate, or on one or more performances of such athletes in such games. [188].” This is the reason that horse racing isn’t illegal. Horses aren’t people. This is the reason, at least this is what city officials in New York would point to, that there is a strong push against FanDuel and Draft Kings although they claim that it isn’t really gambling because there is not enough chance involved because you have to know sports to play well. However, Adam Silver doesn’t care. He sees money, he sees everybody doing it, so he wants in. He doesn’t see it as wrong like a lot of Americans do.

Why is tobacco legal in America? Why is alcohol legal in America for those over the age of 21? It is because of money. These substances became popular in America that banning them would mean a loss of a lot of money. They became big business. Do these things harm you? Yes. Are they wrong? Most people would say yes with tobacco, but no with alcohol because if drunk in moderation, it might not have a strong negative effect on you. I understand that gambling is different because it is not a substance. However, referee Tim Donaghy risked his career and lost it due to his addiction of it. Pete Rose is making money off of the fact that he is shunned (not just banned in my opinion because there’s a possibility he won’t make the Hall of Fame despite being one of the best players of all time) from baseball due to his gambling addiction through his playing and coaching career.

Gambling addiction is real. The risk of games being fixed is real, just like how alcohol and tobacco addition is real. So, you might as well legalize sports gambling and bring more awareness to gambling addiction at the same time like we do with tobacco. $400 billion is not a small amount of money. That can help the economy greatly if this money wasn’t underground. Adam Silver is right. Tax it. Hypocrisy is something that not just countries, but individuals should always aim to avoid and honestly, this ban on sports betting isn’t only hypocritical, it’s stupid. Again, $400 billion. Not million. Billion.

No Love: Disrespect for the NBA Coaching Position

2013 seemed to be a significant year for NBA coaches. There were 12 coaching changes in the summer of 2013 with most of the changes being coaches being fired or not resigned. That summer seemed to set the tone for coaches that we see today.

Earlier this year, Kevin McHale, the coach of the Houston Rockets was fired EARLY in the season. Not even a quarter of the season went by. They went to the Western Conference Finals last year and ran into a brick wall called the Golden State Warriors. However, they were off to a disappointing start this year. Then, David Blatt, the coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers gets fired. The Cavaliers went to the NBA Finals last year with a team full of key injuries and ran into a brick wall called the Golden State Warriors (you see a trend here?). He got fired right before the All-Star break and the team was first place in the East. The coaches of the two first place teams usually coach their respective conferences for the All-Star Game. The interim coach for Cavaliers coached the All-Star Game having only coached for 3 games this season. These are the types of things that are going on in the NBA.

Five coaches have been fired this year and we are at the “halfway mark” of the season which is right after the All-Star game despite the fact that more than half of the season has passed. I would say that coaches are on a short leash, but a guy like Lionel Hollins, who has been successful as a coach in the NBA before, only lasted 1 and 1/2 seasons with the Nets. That’s another level of short. I would say you would have to win quickly as a coach in the NBA, but David Blatt got fired while his team was at the top of the East. The only logical reason that I could think of that coaches jobs are constantly on the line like this is a lack of respect for coaches in the NBA.

Analytics plays a factor in this, as well. We are in a new era of NBA basketball. Math has invaded the game. General managers are looking for today’s coaches to take into account shot percentages when they are coaching offense. I don’t mean that the general managers want them to tell their players to take high percentage shots. I mean that LITERALLY want the coaches to coach players to take shots that go down at a higher percentage using the advanced statistics that are available to teams. For example, if your team makes threes at a higher rate than layups, today’s general managers are going to look for you to coach your team to jack up threes and turn down layups. This newer way of coaching with an emphasis on numbers and not just traditional offense has resulted in people looking away from older coaches despite having the numbers. Many older head coaches lament this new focus by general managers due to the fact that a coach might have the results and it still might not be good enough. This is why the Memphis Grizzlies fired their successful head coach Lionel Hollins and signed rookie, analytics focused Dave Joerger as head coach. Although, even his job isn’t all too safe. This why the Houston Rockets only score from behind the three point line and close to the basket, nothing in-between.

But, it’s more than that. You cannot tell me that coaches are having their teams at the top of the NBA, still getting fired, and there not be anything deeper going on here. Stan Van Gundy is one of the most well-respected coaches in the league and he just got his first job since getting fired by the Magic at the end of the Dwight era. It seems as if Gregg Popovich, Rick Carlisle, and Steve Kerr are the only head coaches that are untouchable in the NBA and I only say Steve Kerr because the Golden State Warriors might have the best season in NBA history. There is a lack of respect for the coaching position in the NBA.

Job security is important in all career fields. If a person constantly works with the pressure of one mistake costing them their job, they are probably not going to do their job well. In coaching, your job security is dependent on how other people do their jobs. It is supposed to (emphasis on supposed to) be that if the players play well, then you keep your job. However, when you look at head coaches like Scott Brooks from the Thunder, David Blatt from the Cavaliers, Tom Thibodeau from the Bulls, and others, then you see that may not be the case in the NBA. Even if your team isn’t doing well, you have to give a coach time to really implement what he wants to implement with a team. A coach has to get to know their team. One year is not enough to do this. Two years might not even be enough to do this. Look, I’m a Knicks fan and even though a lot of fans wanted him gone, and I’m not saying that they are wrong in saying that or that the Knicks are wring in their decision, I cannot be totally outraged if Derek Fisher didn’t get fired this year or even came back for another year…………… OK, that extra year might be pushing it, but my point is that teams have to allow coaches to work and work freely. In the previous eras, coaches were given time to work. If a coach has a bad year in the 1990’s, or even two, unless it’s historically they’re not going anywhere. They have time to develop an identity with their team and see if they are the right fit for a team. In addition to finding the right fit, giving the coach a few years gives the general manager time to figure out if an underachieving team is underachieving because of the players or the coach.

Who’s more important: the player or the coach? Really think about this. Gregg Popovich and the whole Spurs organization are what general managers want. They want the perfect coach, the perfect system, and players who take discounts. So, in an era where people have no patience in general, are general managers giving coaches no real time to prove themselves because they are in a rush to look for the next Pop. Or, are they blame deflecting on the coaches anytime a team doesn’t live up to the expectations of the public.

The NBA is a player’s league. If you don’t have good player’s, you cannot win no matter what system you run. Yet, organizations hold coaches accountable for a team not doing well. Part of the reason for this is that general managers choose the players so if they blame the players, they are really blaming themselves. Another reason is that general managers invest a lot of money in players so trading players, even if that may be best for the team, means that the general manager wasted their money by signing this player in the first place, so they rather stick with the player, hope that the team suddenly starts to play well, and fire the coach to look like you’re fixing the problem. These are people’s livelihoods that teams are playing with. You literally have guys like Doug Collins, Jeff Van Gundy, and maybe even Mark Jackson that do not want to coach in today’s NBA because of what they would have to deal with. They rather stick to being commentators. At the end of the day, from what I’ve noticed, these teams usually set their teams development back by firing coaches quickly so to the teams that fire coaches quickly…

Who Wants To Be A Multimillionaire: Insane Contracts in the MLB

In the early days of baseball, before the MLB existed, there was the National Association of Professional Baseball Players . This is basically the same National League that exists today because after the National League came the American League and the two, over time, merged and today we have Major League Baseball (MLB). However, in the days when the National Association of Professional Baseball Players was the major destination for all baseball players, players used to just hop from one team to the next. I know this sounds crazy and some of you reading this may think, “Yea, that’s free agency.” No. Imagine if Clayton Kershaw left the Dodgers and joined the Mets when the Dodgers got down 3-1 in the playoffs last year. I’m not sure how the playoffs worked for the National Association back in the day or even if they had any, but it was that easy for guys to leave their teams when they wanted to because they weren’t under contract. It wasn’t until the National League was formed that players weren’t allowed to leave their team. But when I say they weren’t allowed to leave their team, I mean players were bound to their team for life. The rule that allowed this was reserve clause. The reserve clause basically allowed teams to keep players for life by renewing their contracts when they wanted. It went from one extreme to the next. It wasn’t until over a hundred years later when the fight against it led by Marvin Miller (creator of the Major League Baseball’s Player’s Association), Curt Flood (who sued the MLB over the reserve clause and lost in the Supreme Court), Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally (players who challenged the rule in the 70’s and won free agency for the players) was the backlash against the rule taken seriously. However, these pioneers are the reason that the MLB caught up with the other sports leagues in America and that free agency exists today. They are the reason that Ryan Braun is supposed to make $145,500,000 through 2020.

 

Baseball is notorious for their contracts. When you talk about the top players you talk about hundreds of millions of dollars, per player. Not just the money, you talk about the length, as well. Players get signed for close to, or in Giancarlo Stanton’s case more than, a decade. This is unheard of in any other sport. Players get a lot of money in the NBA and NFL particularly the star players or quarterbacks. However, getting committed to a contract for most of your career (let’s be honest, if you sign a contract for more than a decade, that’s most of your career, I don’t care what sport it is), sets you and your family up for life. This type of security is almost unheard of for the even the top players in basketball.

The contracts are this huge for 2 reasons: the longevity that is possible in the sport and the limited quality of star talent in sports. Baseball is not basketball. It is not hockey. It is not rugby. It is not football, neither of them. Depending on the position, the sport tends not to be physically taxing on your whole body. Pitchers have to worry about their arm (although pitchers back in the day used to pitch double headers and complete games like it was nothing, but that’s another issue). Catchers have to be in an uncomfortable position for a long time. Besides that, infielders and outfielders run every now and again. It can get physical, but it is not typically a physical game. For this reason, general managers and owners do not mind making long-term investments into their star players, even if the player might be turning 40 at the end if the contract. Now, think of sports as a capitalistic business, which it is. If a product is productive at its purpose, then the more rare it is, the more valuable it becomes. At that point, it’s about who’s willing to pay the highest price to acquire the product. Each star is one of the best at what they do and may do it differently. Basically, there’s only one Giancarlo Stanton. There’s only one Mike Trout. There’s only one LeBron James. There’s only one Aaron Rodgers. There’s only one Henrik Lundqvist. I know that it may bother a few of you reading this that I am talking about sports players like their smartphones, but when a general manager trades away a player that the fans love from a team they have been on for their whole career without notice, then you know that this is exactly how these general managers and owners see these players.

You cannot become a billionaire by playing for a team in American sports. That financial status is reserved for the owners. If the athletes made so much money, then the owners wouldn’t even bother owning the team. This is the definition of rich people problems. However, think about the principle. Do not think like a fan while reading this paragraph. I repeat. DO NOT THINK LIKE A FAN WHILE READING THIS PARAGRAPH. In baseball, the top players are not making millions, but hundreds of millions of dollars, They are the ones that are bringing in the money for the team, not the owners. There are hundreds of players and less than 50 owners, 30 teams. Yet, all the players combined are bringing in around 50% of the revenue. And, you still have guys being set for life with their 10 year/$100 million dollar contracts. This just shows you how much money baseball and sports in general are making because you have guys making near $30 million a year and that’s nothing for the teams.

These are just some of the names of the players in MLB history who never lived up to their contract. This happens a lot. As a Mets fan, I remember Jose Reyes having his best year of his career during his last year with the Mets. Once he got his money from the Miami Marlins, he stopped playing at the level that got him the money he was getting. That happens a lot, as well. You can think like a fan again. How often do you hear fans complain about how much money a guy on their team is making and about how the money spent on him could be spent on someone else, or 2 other lesser known guys. This is the state of the MLB. If you have a few good seasons, you can be set for life. Is it worth it, though?

From a business aspect, it’s worth it, but from a team development aspect, it’s overrated. With stars, you can underachieve and still have the attention and excitement around your team. Nobody wants to underachieve (unless you’re the Sixers), but being bad with players that nobody knows is a recipe for relocation. But when you look at the teams that are winning championships or are contenders every year, the Cardinals, Giants, Mets, Royals, they build their teams through their farm systems. They may sign a free agent, but they don’t really on them for success. I think that giving a guy a lot of money for a long time might be ideal for some teams, but every team doesn’t need to be committing so heavily to baseball players. As far as the length of the contracts? Unless your hitting home runs like this guy in the video below (and no steroids in 2016), then I don’t think paying someone for a whole decade of production in advance is worth it, considering how many people don’t live up to the contract. But hey, it’s the market.

 

Postseason NFL Scrimmages: The Pro Bowl

Football is a violent sport. People are basically beating each other up on the field legally. This same violence is a part of the reason why people love the sport. The last NFL game that is played before the Super Bowl is the Pro Bowl. This is the NFL’s All-Star game. The best players in the NFL meet annually one week before the Super Bowl to play a scrimmage. However, the Super Bowl participants don’t play. Anybody that has to play in the Super Bowl does not get selected to the Pro Bowl, so an argument can be made that the best players actually don’t play because if they are the best, then they would be in the Super Bowl and not home watching like the fans will be the following week. I know that’s true for the quarterback position because the likely MVP candidate, Cam Newton, is playing in the Super Bowl. I don’t know for a fact, but I’m sure that one of the reasons that the Super Bowl participants don’t play is because, despite the scrimmage nature of the game, it’s still football. It’s still a violent sport and you can get injured in any contact sport, particularly one where it is based off of contact. It is still an honor to get selected to play in the Pro Bowl, though. However, to imply that the Super Bowl winners shouldn’t play but not anybody else is to imply that the Super Bowl winners are the only ones that have something important to play for.

The NFL is the most popular league in the United States. Yet, contracts are not guaranteed. People religiously watch the NFL. More Christians probably watch an NFL game than go to church on Sunday in America. With this popularity, comes a lot of money generated. But still, players can be cut and not get paid in this sport because unless you are a star player, or a starting quarterback in general, there is most likely no money guaranteed to by the your team in your contract. Players get paid weekly in the NFL so if you sign a contract with no guaranteed money and you get cut before you play a game, then you get no money. But, what does this have to do with the Pro Bowl?

There were two teams that the Pro Bowlers were separated into, Team Rice coached by NFL legend and analyst Jerry Rice and Team Irvin coached by NFL legend and analyst Michael Irvin. Team Irvin won 49 – 27. Scoring 27 points in a NFL game is not unheard of, but scoring 49 points is a lot. It’s not impossible, though.

Look at the highlights again and look at the type of plays that the players were making. Look at how risky some of those plays are. There are certain types of plays that you will only see in the Pro Bowl. That’s because coaches will automatically bench a player who doesn’t put forward real effort in any game in any sport in the regular season, but mainly because there is no defense being played in the Pro Bowl.

When you combine non-guaranteed contracts, a season to play in the following year, the immense size of the average NFL player, with the physicality of the game of football, you’re going to have All-Star games where people don’t try. Just because they aren’t playing in the Super Bowl doesn’t mean that they don’t have to take care of their bodies, as well. I do not blame the players for not trying. If they don’t put forward effort in the NBA All-Star game, then they definitely won’t put in effort the NFL one. This does not change the fact that end result is what it is: a game with no defense and a lot of scoring.

The Pro Bowl could be said to be “struggling”. Some players don’t even want to go, but like getting selected and going to Hawaii. Every year, people complain about the lack of entertainment in it. The ratings are dropping. For years, people have been complaining about why the game still exists. It exists because people still watch it. Struggling is in quotes because despite the dropping ratings, millions of people still watch it. If millions of people still watch it, then networks are going to still get into contract agreements where they have to carry it. Football is so big in America that people will watch a football game that they hate just because it’s football.

Obviously, there are people that enjoy it. I know I have been very critical of the game so far, but there are still some slightly enjoyable aspects of the game…slightly. There was clearly material from the game that the NFL could have used to put together the highlight video that you see in the top of this post. I personally didn’t watch it. I can’t enjoy long touchdown passes and rushing touchdowns when I know that the reason that they are possible is due to the lack of tackling and effort in the game. However, somebody is watching it. A lot of people are watching it. I don’t think that it should go away as long as the players don’t have a problem with it. The NFLPA has not threatened the Roger Goodell yet and it’s making the NFL money, so you know the NFL won’t get rid of it. People are watching it, so you might actually get complaints from people that love the game about their extra day of NFL football being taken away, although I call it glorified catch. At the end of the day, there’s no real reason why the NFL will get rid of it right now. So if it annoys you, just play Madden. You might be more entertained.