James Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 I made the decision 2 months ago or so to boycott the NFL, here´s why: 1. 3 or so years ago the NFL caved to the race hustlers and denied Rush Limbaugh ownership of an NFL team. I am not a massive Rush L. fan, but I am a fan of liberty and fairness. The NFL showed cowardness. 2. The NFL, with all the violent crimes committed by certain players, appears to be a den of thugs. 3. The display this year by the St. Louis Cardinals 5..coming out of the tunnel with their hands up, denigrating American police officers, 100% unfairly, ..the display was very bad. Worse was the NFL creating zero consequences for these 5 bandwagon jumping cowards. 4. The Patriots history of cheating does not help. 5. This is a big one: after every good play, or even after not so good plays, NFL players behave like gorillas, pounding their chests, screaming, and telling the world they are the biggest baddest sonbitch of them all. #5 is the most pervasive problem. It makes me really sad when I see film of games from 40 years ago when after a good play the players celebrate with joy, comport themselves with class,.....and then I juxtapose this against what the players of today do. Sad. I am as competetive as anybody. I hate to lose. Having said that, sportsmanship comes first. Always. It´s the foundation of the entertainment vehicle that is sports, for me at least. I´m an Ohio State fan. I bleed Ohio State. But I´d rather Ohio State go 0 - 11 and play with class than for them to win it all but act like a bunch of thugs.. (luckily for me they play with class AND won it all ) :-) I´m also boycotting the NBA and likely college football next year. I won´t bother you guys with the detials on these. My point is stuff will never change if I (we) don´t use what power we have (purchasing decisions) for the good. Anyway, enjoy the game you guys!....don´t cry for me Argentina. PS Hopefully Katy Perry won´t "kiss a girl" during halftime given a zillion kids around the world will be watching. :-) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackhawkpat Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 James let me try to comment on each of your points about the NFL and then conclude with an invitation to a better option. 1) Can't speak for Limbaugh as a potential NFL owner, but the NFL does screen their candidates very closely and I have read accounts of alleged drug addiction by Limbaugh in the past, so maybe that played a role? 2) Wife/girlfriend beating charges, child beating charges, cheating allegations......just a brutal year for the NFL. 3) Odd that the five Rams players had no discipline for their actions, but the Bears Brandon Marshall was fined ten thousand dollars for wearing green shoes to draw attention to his charity for children with attention deficit disorders by the league. 4) It's not just the Patriots...several QB's are now saying how they like to "bend the rules for the amount of air in the ball"......either discipline or take the rule out.... 5) The Chicago Bears Lamarr Houston injured himself while dancing after sacking the Patriots backup QB in the fourth quarter while down by 25 POINTS!!!!!! Houston had a horrendous season after signing a big free agent contract and rumors were the Bears wanted to dump his contract but now cannot. The reason? You cannot void the contract of an injured player!!!!! So, his self induced injury guaranteed him seven million dollars for next season. To put this in perspective, in the first 94 years the Bears existed as a team, they gave up over fifty points three times...in the past two years, their defense is so bad, they have done it six times. This is a reason to celebrate? Act like you've done it before and get back in the huddle. With all that being said, I invite you to try hockey, in particular the 2010/2013 Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks. Watch this clip to see the character of the type of players that are in the NHL, starting with the Blackhawks Patrick Sharp. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted February 1, 2015 Author Share Posted February 1, 2015 Great post Pat. The Limbaugh thing was because the NFL´s "black caucus" didn´t like how Limbaugh lampoons certain black political actors if I recall. He does get out on the edge, but doesn´t go over it. Your points (especially 3 - 5) are really good ones. And hockey IS a cool sport, I regret I never played it as a kid, but I never played it so it´s hard to get into it. My brother though has Blue Jackets season tickets and takes his son and daughter to the games, he really really loves it. But the main point is I struggle with how the NHL let´s the guys fight. It´s beneath them to allow this stuff (fighting) but it seems they do it to draw fans, or something. Pretty low - rent. I just find the fighting hard to accept. Though let me know if I´m wrong as I haven´t really followed hockey recently. Maybe the NHL banned the fighting? Anyway, thanks for the push, maybe I´ll tune in and give hockey another shot. P.S. I have always been a Bears fan,,.huge fan in the Sayers/Butkis era and have loved them since. Though I don´t like the character of the organization these days. I tried to get into them early in the season (before my latest boycott) but I couldn´t. It wasn´t about losing (I loved the {Bears in 1969 !!..)...it´s just about the personality of the team, just wasn´t digging them. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted February 1, 2015 Author Share Posted February 1, 2015 Though I do get into Division III football. It´s more true blue than any of the other leagues. I went to several Wisconsin Whitewater games when I was living in Lake Bluff (outside Chicago)..I went to one North Central/Wheaton game and also some games in Ohio and Indiana. Great stuff. $10 tickets. Hot dogs are reasonable. All seats are great ones, and best of all, the players play for love of the game (no scholarship) and they play with sportsmanship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneNR Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 I don't follow football, but hubby is a big guy reaching 6 foot in his early teens and has played the more aggressive positions while playing in high school --- so we watched what turned out to be the last network airtime hour of the game with him giving me commentary on what was happening. Very unusual execution and end results of plays took place. Slow motion repeats allowed me to see in more detail what hubby had been explaining to me when players were in motion. I saw the almost near brawl and yellow flags being thrown in the air and wondered if it was going to go down hill from there, but somehow team members from each side managed to break up the opposing team players that were on each other, though I think there were some kind of penalties going to be assigned because of it. It is a shame that NFL has morphed in many ways into what I have been hearing it has become, making it difficult for the players who do a good job and are sportsmen on and off the field. But whenever high paychecks, national notoriety, and willing groupies (there have always been different class levels of those available since way back) are there to tempt a player into becoming a "less becoming" character individual there will be problems inherent. NFL in general needs an enema, BADLY. My second daughter is a San Jose Sharks fan, but she tells me the "bloody violence" is expected by the fans, not that she likes it, she just knows that is ALWAYS something just waiting to occur. Perhaps at some point the fans objecting to all the negative stuff need to respectfully let these organizations know they don't wish to see this kinda thing, and perhaps boycott a game or two enough to get someone's attention, someone with authority to get things headed in the right direction to change or terminate certain negative aspects or characteristics seen too often from participants on and off the field. Having said that, I'm still not a fan of NHL or NFL, but if others like the games, it should be made as safe and as anti-antagonistic as they can for players and spectators (I am thinking of the Brian Stow case --- at a baseball game!!! ). I just don't understand these goings on when they don't need to be happening at all. Permanently injuring someone over a game of any kind? I just don't understand. AnneNR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackhawkpat Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 While I would never want to take fighting out of the game, it has decreased dramatically over the years. My hometown Blackhawks have only been in three fights in almost fifty games this year and two of those came against in the same game against Winnipeg, the team that fights the most often. I think because hockey doesn't get the viewership or publicity other sports do, people assume that the bench clearing brawls we saw in the 70's (Susie, care to chime in as a Flyers fan? lol) are still happening and that is not the case. Over the past ten years, the NBA has had more bench clearing fights than the NHL. The beauty of the game is the pace and magnificence of the skating. When I was little, my mom would actually accompany me to games just to watch the great Bobby Hull skate up and down the ice. She could care less what the outcome was, but to watch his incredible strides and turns sent her into a tizzy! We have only had two domestic issues in hockey history, both of them foreign players from other countries visiting here wearing NHL colors, and zero drug suspensions, unlike the other three major sports. I like all sports, but I love hockey! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted February 4, 2015 Author Share Posted February 4, 2015 It´s the fact the league in effect sanctions the fighting by having the referees back off and let the fighters go at it. No other league that I know of sanctions figthing between the players. Anyway, that is what is too much for me. It just seems very cheap and desperate.. James 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted February 4, 2015 Author Share Posted February 4, 2015 Here´s a link to the "top 10 fights of January 2014" from the NHL. Quite disturbing how the referees back off, let the guys fight...while the announcers and fans go crazy with delight. If you watch the video you´ll see that nothing like this goes on in any other sports league. A league that allows its players to maul each other is not my idea of a league that promotes sportsmanship: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted February 4, 2015 Author Share Posted February 4, 2015 P.S. The only thing I could fathom that would be more violent than the NHL would be if they formed a WNHL. Oh boy, I shUUUUddder at the thought of THAT !!!... :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackhawkpat Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 But, James, you can find occasional fights in any sport. You mentioned above that sportsmanship comes first for you and that is why you root for Ohio State football. Here is a clip from their 2013 game versus Michigan. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted February 4, 2015 Author Share Posted February 4, 2015 Ok, Big 10 football is on a par with the NHL with respect to the number of fights....and the Big 10´s policy re: allowing fights. No difference. Ok.. I´m sorry but sometimes I am floored by some of the statements made here, and everywhere for that matter. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pretender Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 In over 30 years of going to college football games at Illinois,Illinois State,and my Division III School Millikin University,the only fight I can remember seeing was between ISU's Reggie Redbird and the Northern Iowa Panther mascot.I also love Illini hockey,but you can count on 2 or 3 fights a night.They do seem to break them up quicker than they do in the NHL though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOMMY TUNES Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 I've been boycotting football for years…Why? Because it took over the world from my favorite sport…baseball. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackhawkpat Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 In over 30 years of going to college football games at Illinois,Illinois State,and my Division III School Millikin University,the only fight I can remember seeing was between ISU's Reggie Redbird and the Northern Iowa Panther mascot.I also love Illini hockey,but you can count on 2 or 3 fights a night.They do seem to break them up quicker than they do in the NHL though. The NCAA banned fighting in college hockey many years ago. If you fight, it is a game misconduct and a one game suspension. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pretender Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Illinois doesn't play NCAA hockey,they play ACHA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darlene Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 These are really great posts! Society isn't evolving for the better, and the NFL is a true mirror of what's going on in the world at large. Considering that Bill Clinton openly admitted using drugs and the current president went through college in a drug-induced haze, and we're talking about hard-core cocaine here, not just pot, alleged past drug use is not any reason at all to deny Rush Limbaugh ownership of an NFL team. That just doesn't wash. What would they be afraid of--that he would convince the players to use drugs?! How ridiculous, considering the behavior of the players in general. No, it doesn't wash. They denied him because he is a Conservative. He's a squeaky-clean Mormon. That may be a reason, also. It's more than just individual or even collective behavior that really rots here, it's the "mentality" of the entire NFL. And this New England Patriots cheating scandal is just the latest debacle. We didn't even watch the superbowl. We had no interest, as my husband says, "in watching cheaters who shouldn't even be there to play in the big game." That they were allowed to play and not disqualified is a symptom of the NFL's lack of morality. I was sad that the Seahawks lost. So was Herman. At least they BELONGED there. The Patriots didn't. The NFL is just one more place where boorish, crass and violent behavior is rewarded and honesty is scoffed, even laughed, at. A boycott is a great idea. --Dar 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susie b Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 I have to agree with James. I, too, long for the days of class & decorum on the playing field... in any sport. Think back to the athletes of our youth: Joe Namath, Sandy Koufax, Johnny Unitas, Ernie Banks... Can you even imagine any of these fellas throwing a punch? Many of today's athletes are overpaid brats who cater to the lowest common denominator, however, there is also hope in the fine example of one Derek Jeter. Hopefully, we see more like Derek Jeter on the playing fields in the future.One can only hope. Call me the eternal optimist. :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susie b Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Hey Pat, Did you see the Obama - LA Kings - Galaxy White House meeting?The Prez is a Blackhawks fan and gripes a bit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackhawkpat Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Illinois doesn't play NCAA hockey,they play ACHA. Thought they used the same set of rules? (with the facemasks and all that...I don't really watch college sports) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susie b Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Presented our topic at the gym this morning and was surprised, but pleased. My exercise physiologist was a linebacker for a Pennsylvania college football team. He told me that after his sophomore season, he didn't like the culture or direction of the football team and quit. He gave up his football scholarship and joined the lacrosse team with no scholarship. I was impressed. I think that took a lot of guts for a 19 year old to recognize a bad situation and walk away from the team, the glory & the money. He told me tales of alumni "gifts"...girls, cars, money...payola. It was pretty disgusting. He gives me hope that there are other athletes who have honor & scruples. He is now 30 years old, has achieved his masters degree in physiology and is building a successful life for himself & his fiancée with a good old fashioned American hard work ethic. I feel honored to be his client. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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