Giving up on the NFL. Change my mind. (1 Viewer)

[OhioSaintsFan]

I gave up as well. More time to devote to tracking and harvesting delicious animals in the fall.

I've already boxed up everything NFL related and put it away to gather dust.

 

[Craig Walker]

Well, this is certainly a first - for me to post two new threads in the SSF in the same day (or month, or year) but this whole thing has me doubting what I have believed for over 50 years.

I love our team, the guys, what they do for the community. I love what they appear to stand for. I love my fellow fans.

But is it all in vain? Is the stress and strain of unrequited outrage really a good thing? Is the product just that, a product subject to the whims of the stockholders and leadership? A sham designed to print money but whose recent faux pass' have shead light on the people behind the curtain having an interest in only one thing?

Lord knows it would be hard but I am ready to throw in the towel on the NFL. Is that wrong?

Ditto. Fan since '79. (10 years old). Season ticket holder for *many* of those years.

Ready to find something else to do with my time.

 

[Craig Walker]

Let's pretend the Saints are 14-0 next season: You know good and well that every single one of us will will be going "yeah but..."

 

[ThibodauxSaint]

Let's pretend the Saints are 14-0 next season: You know good and well that every single one of us will will be going "yeah but..."

Yep. Everything possible was lined up for us this year. Number 1 seed and homefield advantage and it was shown that even this doesn't even mean anything. Like you said even if we go 16-0 next season it will be hard to get excited about it because what will it matter if come playoff time the rug is pulled out from under us again. That will always be in the back of everyone's mind.

 

[Swimmer]

Well, this is certainly a first - for me to post two new threads in the SSF in the same day (or month, or year) but this whole thing has me doubting what I have believed for over 50 years.

I love our team, the guys, what they do for the community. I love what they appear to stand for. I love my fellow fans.

But is it all in vain? Is the stress and strain of unrequited outrage really a good thing? Is the product just that, a product subject to the whims of the stockholders and leadership? A sham designed to print money but whose recent faux pass' have shead light on the people behind the curtain having an interest in only one thing?

Lord knows it would be hard but I am ready to throw in the towel on the NFL. Is that wrong?

The owners know the power behind "The Clan Sports Teams." We are going back in history thousands of years, long before the Olympics in Greece. It seems to be a deep part of our basic humanity, "Those are our boys and we will show you who has the best, smartest and most athletic children." I've spent a good deal time in the Scottish highlands. The clans are still alive in matters like this. In soccer, people literally get stampeded to death over bad calls at soccer games.

The Saints are our regions clan representative team. Massive pride is taken in our clan teams. We invest dreams in our clan teams. For us clan members to pull away is almost against our human DNA

What sucks is that the owners know that about us, about our clans, about our dreams and they have completely commercialized the entire clan experience which was originally all amateur. Now it is big business. The NFL and teams spend millions on branding teams to draw the most money and interest from their local regions and the NFL does the same on the league.

This is purely personal, but what truly scares me is 1) Was this just a massive series of human errors that can be prevented in the future with technology (Don't like it but can live with that of the league actually fixes this), or 2) is the league manipulating the outcomes of critical games so that they can make even more money. If it is 2, that truly scares the fish out of me.

Does anybody have any real ideas if organized crime still plays in major sports outcomes. With 100% certainty, I know they did manipulate games in the NFL up until 15 years ago. I know this unquestionably. Let's leave it at that. But I thought that kinda faded away. Does anybody have any idea if this happens? 15 years ago, the going price of buying off a kicker or WR was $25,000 to $50,000. A ref, in financial problems, were even cheaper. Thx

 

[Craig Walker]

Yall see the Wilbon commentary/video from Monday (PTI)? We need more people like him beating the drum against the NFL.

 

[Winter]

I can’t Bleu.
I was already way less involved, once Drew hangs em up I’ll be done.
No anger in that statement. I also don’t watch wrestling. If I want to watch a soap opera that’s what I’ll watch.
They killed off the fandom I had left Sunday. And I’ve been a die hard for a long time and paid in a lot to the league.

And you wouldn’t be throwing in the towel on the NFL. At least not the one we knew.
It’s now a soap opera that is very scripted. Imo.

Same here man... I was already in the camp of throwing in the towel once Drew retires, but this took the last of what I had left. I hate this for Drew, and I know I will check scores to see how he is doing, but the *** won't get another dime from me. Been a die hard football fan since before I can remember. Been a Saints fan since 1999. Most fans are fair-weather, but something about being a Saints fan through thick and thin is what kept me with this franchise. It stood for so many things to me that now, feels like it was all a facade. I feel cheated and embarrassed. Fool me once with bountygate, fool me twice with this... I'm out. Surprised I lasted this long now that I think about it.

 

[sterlr]

Because, especially next year, we need to show the players and team that we are behind them 100%. Do it for the Saints and not anything else. This team helps New Orleans more than most people probably realize. In order for the team to succeed it needs its fans, don't punish them for a corrupt NFL administration.

Unfortunately the Saints are the NFL they represent the NFL hence the conflict. I put my money and integrity above any Sport/franchise.

 

[Noble Saint]

Golf would be a fine option and not near as big a waste of time

I could join the nicest Country Club around for the money I have spent on the NFL. Plus more weekends and days of fun and entertainment. I think I have found a winner. Thanks!!!

 

[Gentilly504]

Let's pretend the Saints are 14-0 next season: You know good and well that every single one of us will will be going "yeah but..."

Even before the blown call, I’ve always had a “yea but....” with the Saints. Saints of yester years was like that.

 

[BreesusSaves]

Let's pretend the Saints are 14-0 next season: You know good and well that every single one of us will will be going "yeah but..."

Even worse scenario is the NFL doesn't admit they screwed the Saints, but next season the Saints are personally escorted by the refs to the Super Bowl regardless of whether or not the Saints deserve to be there.

There is no win in this situation. I feel like Bleu... I think I'm done with it all.

 

[keefresh2]

The league clearly doesn't care that they've made me despise it, so what's the point in being invested?
And even if we go 19-0 next year everyone will just say it was the league making it up to us for getting screwed the year before.
Sorry, I really can't talk you out of it.

 

[SystemShock]

I think that, what people have to realize, the NFL is entertainment. This became clear to me during the 00's, when started noticing the favoritism to certain markets, dubious calls during playoffs/championship matches, league PR actions...

2012 pretty much killed any credibility the NFL ever had.

Nowadays, I follow the Saints out of habit and nostalgia for the many years I lived in N.O. (it was the best of times, it was the worst of times ), but I am no longer emotionally involved with the game the way I was before.

 

[CajunSaint]

I am so done. Already did away with Sunday ticket. Go Saints, hope they win but my days of following the NFL are done.

 

[kizzy821]

OP, you're not wrong at all, and I think that's a warning that the Saints should heed. Their tepid response to what happened will cost them a lot of fans, I think. I've been a fan for 36 years, and if they don't stand up for themselves this time, I may be done.

I was thinking about this a lot during BG and with this situation. And my conclusion is that while a handful of them are piping mad and want to fight back and retaliate, the majority of the organization is probably exactly like any other population sample: one or two rebels and the majority conformists.

People who mumble and grumble amongst themselves about wrongs but when it comes time to speak up and demand change, they turn mute (speaking from personal experience).

So if I view the Saints as just another segment of society, I don't expect much from them in terms of reaction. It sounds harsh but it helps me make sense of things, like why all of them haven't turned down the Pro Bowl yet. Or why several players were already saying "It is what it is" less than 30 minutes after the game.

And to be 100% honest, if my job afforded me the lifestyle that I think most of them have - I would find a way to be okay with the BS as well. And I'm not just talking about the players.

I would rather live with the anger for a few months in exchange for no debt. I think I could do it. I would find inner peace on my ranch at sunset. Or on a remote beach on the other side of the world. Yeah... I could most certainly do it with enough practice.