Why I'm Not Following the (American) Football Season

It's September, the time when a whole lot of people pay a lot of attention to what's happening on the gridiron. I've done that myself for many years, but I've decided this year it's time to finally put my time and money where my principles are.

I've got two major problems with the game of American football: the injuries it causes on the field, and the way the organizations treats their players off the field.

Head trauma caused by playing football is not news...it's been reported widely for years. (A quick search will turn up plenty of articles, but here's one for easy reference.) There was even a movie. It's a difficult condition to diagnose. Different people have widely varying reactions to blows to the head. What one person shrugs off might cause serious issues for another. Worse, the effects are often delayed, showing up days, weeks, or even years later. But what is known is this...repeated hits to the head are bad for anyone, and in at least some cases are known to cause serious problems.

At the professional level, the injury potential can be excused to some extent because the players are adults able to make their own decisions. Years ago, the players weren't informed and couldn't make that decision, but these days there's no excuse for any adult playing football to plead ignorance. Adults that want to take a risk for love of the game or for a big paycheck should be allowed to make that choice.

However, the vast majority of football players aren't professionals. They're high school kids and college students, mostly still minors. We restrict young people from doing potentially dangerous things all the time, and playing a game with a high likelihood of causing life-long health issues should be no exception. But we don't discourage it - we actually do the opposite in most communities, treating football games as social events and the players as heroes. I don't want to be part of the problem by participating in the sub-professional football ecosystem, even in a small way as a spectator.

My second concern comes in at the college and professional level. The organizations that run the game (NCAA and NFL) don't treat their players very well, even if you leave aside the injury concerns.

In the NCAA, huge sums of money go to schools and coaches while the players aren't paid. At the top schools, it's possible you could argue that scholarships and benefits make up for that (although I don't think that's nearly enough), but certainly at lower division schools that's not the case. Don't believe me? Ask Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He played basketball rather than football, but the same arguments apply to both. Basketball and football account for the vast majority of the money in college sports. The "amateurism" doctrine in college sports needs to change, and until it does I don't want to spend any more of my time or money in support.

In the NFL, the majority of players don't have guaranteed contracts. If they get injured or just slow down a bit, they can be cut and the team owes them nothing. The average NFL career is less than 4 years, and most players won't make big money in that time. Enough to live on, certainly, but if they get a costly injury...very likely...that money won't last.

There's also been a lot of news in the last few years about NFL players protesting against treatment of people of color at the hands of the police. Some people have said they stopped watching football because those players were disrespectful of the United States. I don't agree with that at all, and fully support the right of the protesters. In fact, one of my reasons for not watching football is the opposite...I think the NFL owners have suppressed those protests. The obvious example is the way that Colin Kaepernick has been unable to find a team, but the NFL has tried to make rules limiting the ability to protest and individual owners have spoken out against it.

For all these reasons, I've decided it's time to make a clean break with football. It's impossible to completely avoid it...it's everywhere on the news and across the Internet...but I won't be spending time watching TV coverage, or spending any money on merchandise or attending games. One person won't make a difference, I know, but it feels like the right thing to do. If enough people eventually make the same decision, change may come.

American Football Season

It's the first big weekend of the (American) football season, with most colleges playing their first game. The NFL gets underway next week.

I like football, though baseball will always be my favorite of the major sports. It's certainly entertaining to watch, with plenty of action in each play. The sport is an interesting mix between strategy and individual skill. The plays called on each side are like a chess match between the coaching staff on each side, with the intent of getting the best players on each team in a position to use their skills to fullest.

Another interesting aspect of football is how much every game matters. College teams only play a dozen or so games in the regular season, and the pros just a few more. Just one bad day can make a huge difference to an entire season. There's always some kind of drama at the end of the season about which teams are going on the post-season. It happens in other sports as well, but in football, the final games have high drama just about every year.

Watching football is a bit of a guilty pleasure due to the inherent danger in the sport. The big story in recent years has been about brain injury, brought about by very large men hitting one another repeatedly in the head. There's also problems with addiction to painkillers and other drugs, on top of the purely physical issues inherent in any sport (especially such a violent one). In college and the NFL these days, I feel that the players have been sufficiently informed about the risks to make their own adult decisions. (Though that may not have been the case in the past.) But even today, I oppose the idea of high school and youth contact football. It's more dangerous for still-developing bodies, and I'd rather see the decision about such a risky activity left to those who have reached the age of majority.

This year, I've also joined a fantasy football league at the urging of some friends. I've never been a big fan of the fantasy sports games. I've tried it a few times, and generally get tired of it part-way through the season. Playing with friends makes it a bit more interesting, though. So I'll probably manage to maintain interest through the end of the year, if for no other reason than to try for some bragging rights.

Some kind of unexpected happenings crop up in the football season every year. This year won't be any different, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it unfolds.

Super Bowl Wrapup

It was a pretty entertaining Super Bowl that was played last night, with the Denver Broncos winning 24-10. It's always better when the team you're pulling for wins, of course.

This was one of those rare sporting events where everything went pretty much exactly according to the predictions, except for the outcome. The Denver defense was supposed to be really good, and it was. The Denver offense was supposed to be really bad, and that was certainly the case - under 200 yards, and only 9 points if you don't count the 4-yard gift-from-the-defense TD drive. Carolina's offense put up better numbers than the Denver offense, as predicted - 100+ more yards, and 10 points.

But the Broncos won, in large part because the Panthers made more mistakes. Four turnovers are going to lose you a lot of football games at any time of the year, and especially in the playoffs. The first-quarter fumble recovery TD for the Broncos set the tone. Denver's defense never left Cam Newton alone all night, especially MVP Von Miller.

So the action on the field was pretty entertaining. Off the field, not so much. The CBS commentators are my least favorite of the three big networks (NBC has the best and FOX is second, in my opinion). The halftime show did nothing for me, to the point where I spent most of it up and wandering around in the kitchen.

And then there were the commercials, none of which were very amusing or memorable. I did laugh at the wiener dogs, and I appreciated the Helen Mirren don't-drive-drunk spot. But in general the ads were underwhelming. The single spot that most impressed me was local - Art Van Furniture had an ad planned, but pulled it in favor of their president thanking people for their donations of bottled water and other support for the people of Flint. (Art Van stores have been central locations for water donations.) It's good public relations for Art Van, of course, but I think it still takes some guts to use that expensive ad time for something other than direct advertising.

All right, that's football done for another season. Now on to more important things...spring training starts in a couple of weeks!

Super Bowl L

It's Super Bowl L weekend (yeah, I know, it's officially 50, but I do like this once-yearly use of the Roman numerals I learned in grade school), so I guess I should pick a team to cheer for. I know that doesn't sound too enthusiastic, but I do actually enjoy watching these big sporting events. The surrounding hype I could do without, which is why I haven't paid much attention to anything Super-Bowl-related for the last two weeks.

When I was watching the playoffs, the Carolina Panthers were my third-favorite team in the NFC, and the Denver Broncos were my second-favorite in the AFC. Makes sense to hope the Broncos win on Sunday, then. I like cheering on the underdog anyway, and with the way the Panthers have played through the season and the playoffs, Denver certainly feels like the underdog in this one.

There's also the last-hurrah aspect of Peyton Manning's appearance, in what is almost certainly his last Super Bowl. I like watching Cam Newton play, too, but I figure he's likely to have several more shots at the big game. This is probably Peyton's last chance on the field, and it would be a nice closing statement to a Hall of Fame career if he went out on top.

Having said all that, I still think it's more likely that the Panthers win, and they very well could win big. Their offense has rolled through some really good defenses (i.e. Seattle), and I don't think Denver's offense will be putting a lot of points up. If the Denver defense makes just a few mistakes, the Broncos could quickly be in an insurmountable hole. I'll be hoping to see the old guys pull out an upset, though!

NFL Playoffs - NFC

Well, I said yesterday that NFL playoff games are exciting and fun. This year's AFC wild card games were certainly exciting at times - opening kickoff TD return, last second game-winning field goal - and they were probably fun if you're a Chiefs or Steelers fan. Not so much on the other side, with one game being a blowout of the Texans, and the other an emotional meltdown that was lost in large part due to personal fouls on the Bengals.

Today, it's the NFC's turn. I'd be pretty surprised if a repeat of either the blowout or the loss-by-penalty was repeated, but you never know. Here's how I'm ranking the teams in my own personal cheering order:

6. Green Bay Packers - Division rivals of my Detroit Lions don't end up high on my list of favorites unless there's some really compelling reason, and all the Packers have going for them right now is that they play at Lambeau Field. Fun to watch football played out in the elements (from my nice warm couch), but that would end if they won the game anyway.

5. Minnesota Vikings - Pretty much repeat the above.

4. Washington Unapologetic Racial Slurs - Prior to this year, I'd have put the Washington team at the bottom simply because of their hard-headed owner refusing to consider changing the team's name, after public outcry over it being racially offensive. It doesn't bother me personally, but it's a problem for some people, and that's enough to at least consider making a change. Besides, how much money would the team make selling all the new gear? But anyway, this year the team put Michigan State grad Kirk Cousins at QB, and that's enough to move them up a bit for me. Besides the Michigan State connection, Cousins is also one of those guys that all the talking heads say shouldn't be a great quarterback, and that's enough to make me hope that he does well.

3. Carolina Panthers - There's a good chance that the Panthers will end up winning the whole thing this year, because they've been the best team in the NFL for most of the season. I don't have any particular dislike for them, and Cam Newton is one of the more dynamic players you'll see anywhere. I could do without all his dancing and posturing, but that's certainly not unique to Carolina.

2. Arizona Cardinals - Last year, Arizona looked really good until injuries bit them near the end of the season, and they weren't able to finish strong. This year, injuries are much less of a concern. I like head coach Bruce Arians' style, and they've got some great players who are always entertaining.

1. Seattle Seahawks - Part of the reason I put Seattle at the top is my ex-resident-of-the-Pacific-Northwest bias, and part of it is because of the crazy way they lost last year's Super Bowl. I'd love to see them get a third straight chance in the big game. It'll be more difficult this year, without home games and with Marshawn Lynch still recovering from surgery, but it's in the realm of possibility.

NFL Playoffs - AFC

It's NFL playoff time, and with my Detroit Lions watching at home, it's time to figure out who to cheer for while watching the games. Playoff football is exciting and fun even when your team isn't playing, so I certainly want to watch. It's just not the same without having a favorite team in each game, though, so let's see who we have to work with.

(Side note on the Lions: They started out terribly, but finished fairly strong. The future even looks better than it did mid-season. QB Matthew Stafford picked up his game, running backs Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick show real promise, and DE Ziggy Ansah was second-team All-Pro this year. Lots to work on, but at least things look better than when the team was 1-7.)

So here are the AFC playoff teams, from those I'd least like to see win, to most.

6. New England Patriots - Is anyone without Boston-area ties not tired of hearing about these guys? Between Deflategate, the Seahawks gifting them the Super Bowl last year, and their fast start this year, there's been no letup of Patriots in the news. Sooner they're out, the better.

5. Houston Texans - Only in the tournament at all because of how the divisions are split up. Other than seeing how badly JJ Watt will terrorize the opposing quarterback, there's not really anything interesting about this Houston team.

4. Pittsburgh Steelers - The Steelers have been up and down all year, and just barely edged out the Jets for a wild card spot. The offense is certainly fun to watch, but it just doesn't seem like a Pittsburgh football team to me without a dominating defense.

3. Cincinnati Bengals - This is a bit of a feel-good story, thanks to Andy Dalton injuring himself a few weeks back and AJ McCarron taking over at quarterback with little experience. I wouldn't mind seeing the Bengals finally manage to win a playoff game, since it's been 25 years.

2. Denver Broncos - I'm almost as tired of hearing about Peyton Manning as I am of Tom Brady, but given the injuries that he's had, it's almost assuredly Peyton's last playoff run. If the Broncos win, it'll be due to their defense, but it will also be a nice story either because Peyton finished up strong, or young Brock Osweiler took over and made it happen. Would be fun either way.

1. Kansas City Chiefs - Kansas City started out terribly, 1-5 through 6 games. Then they buckled down and won 10 in a row, and nearly caught Denver for the division title. If they have a good playoff run, it'll be a great never-say-die team story.

That takes care of the AFC side of things. Tomorrow, the NFC.

Limp Lions

It is not a good time to be a Detroit Lions fan. Losing seven of the first eight games this year is awful, of course (and one could argue it should have been all eight, but the Chicago Bears wanted to lose even more than the Lions did a few weeks ago). Having your team in the news due to firings of the offensive coordinator, team president, and general manager is pretty bad, too. I'll be shocked if head coach Jim Caldwell is still in charge in 2016. The worst bit, though, is that it's hard to see things getting better any time soon.

Kinda says it all.

Bad Lions teams are nothing new. Most NFL fans know that the Lions are the only team to go 0-16, back in 2008. The 50th Super Bowl will be played at the end of this season, and the Lions have participated in none of them. Exactly one playoff game has been won by Detroit in the Super Bowl era.

A few years ago, things were looking up. The Lions had Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson, Ndamukong Suh, and a few other first-round picks playing well. The defense was great, and the offense was putting up pretty numbers. Detroit managed two playoff appearances, in 2011 and 2014, though neither was a win. But the opportunity window for that squad closed fast.

Now, in 2015, the defense is no longer dominant. Suh left in free agency. DeAndre Levy, arguably the best Lion's defensive player with Suh gone, has been injured. Free agent signings like Haloti Ngata haven't filled the gaps. And the offense isn't much better. Stafford has been wildly inconsistent, occasionally hitting a good stretch but mostly making poor decisions. Johnson has had all kinds of injuries in the past few years, and is clearly not the player he once was. And the offensive line...less said about their performance, the better.

While there are a few young players who show promise, like Ziggy Ansah and Ameer Abdullah, most of the Lions roster is old by NFL standards. A lot of money is tied up in some of those older players, which is going to have to go at some point. On the bright side, the 2016 draft could be a good one for Detroit, with a few extra picks from the loss of free agents last off-season, and presumably a high overall pick thanks to an awful 2015 season. Even if that happens, though, it'll be a few years before that new blood really settles into the NFL and starts to perform.

Whoever gets that general manager job in Detroit is going to have a rough road bringing the team back to a competitive level. Good luck to whoever it is, they'll need it!

Yahoo Streams the NFL

This weekend, for the first time, an NFL game was streamed live on the Internet for free. Getting NFL on the Internet isn't a big deal. They've been doing it for a while. This is the first time it's been free, though.

It's pretty clear that the league wanted to make this event as low-risk as possible. The game was played from London, England, in the early morning in the US. The matchup of Buffalo and Jacksonville isn't likely to be all that important to anyone outside those two markets, where the game was available on broadcast TV. If the broadcast had technical problems, the impact would be minimal with this particular game.

Yahoo is the lucky Internet content company that got this first shot at NFL on the Internet. That could be good luck or bad, depending on the reaction to the broadcast: either "good for Yahoo, they did a great job" or "Yahoo is horrible, they screwed up the NFL." I think they managed to come down mostly on the good side.

I found it very easy to get access to the stream. All I had to do was install the Yahoo app on my Fire TV. No need to log in to anything. No restrictions on which device I could use. Other streaming services (sports or otherwise) could learn something from how Yahoo approached the user experience. Minimize the effort needed to view your content, and people are more likely to watch it.

Technically, I'd say Yahoo did an OK job, but not great. The quality of the stream was mostly good, but not quite HD quality. Pretty noticeable on those high-angle shots of the whole field, when individual players are tiny little blobs, but not a big deal on the more common angles focusing on an individual play. The stream paused a couple of times, but nothing major; certainly nothing close to the worst buffering pauses that I've experienced with other streams. I suspect that a higher-profile game, with a larger audience, would have had bigger issues. For this game, though, it worked out all right.

The broadcast itself looked very much like any other NFL game, only with Yahoo logos instead of CBS/FOX/NBC. I was pleasantly surprised that Yahoo didn't try to add extra ads; of course, the NFL probably didn't let them. Lots of commercial breaks, of course, but that's nothing new for NFL games.

The game itself was better than I expected, considering that it featured Jacksonville and Buffalo - not exactly the top of the power rankings. The Bills basically handed the game to the Jaguars with turnovers in the first half, led by quarterback EJ Manuel with two interceptions and a fumble, leading to a 21-point Jaguar lead. Credit to Buffalo, though, for not giving up. They slowly worked their way back into the game with a couple of field goals and a touchdown. Then Jacksonville quarterback Blake Bortles threw an interception of his own that was returned for a go-ahead Buffalo touchdown. He settled down and threw a touchdown pass on the next possession, though, to regain the lead. The Bills had a last chance, but couldn't get through the Jaguar defense for a final comeback. It was ugly, featuring lots of turnovers, but in this case that made for an interesting game.

From my perspective, I'd say Yahoo and the NFL did a pretty solid job with the first free streaming broadcast of a live game. There's room for improvement, of course, but the issues were fairly minor. And the ease with which I was able to access the stream made for a great experience. I'd be happy to see Yahoo doing future game streams.