NFL Week 5: McNabb's Queasy Stomach Thread

to quote spnited "Nobody gives a fuck about your fantasy football team"

That being said, since nobody gives a fuck, I'd like to thank Reggie Bush, New Orelans' and Minnesota's defense. I was up by 8 with Bush still to play against Brees and Peterson. I ended up winning by three thanks to their performances at key times last night. Maybe I should play the lotto.

 

Or it couild be the most highly-rated to date because while a large part of the nation had television stes, cable was till in its infancy and most people only got three flipping channels - not counting PBS - where they lived.
Nowadays there are more than a hundred channels.

 

Fantasy sports and brackets are the cranberries and rolls to a Thanksgiving dinner. The game itself is the meat and main course.

So Gold, why do people even watch the NFL or MLB playoffs since most fantasy seasons have ended?

 

Evil, that might hold water if the most recent Super Bowl hadn't been the highest rated game ever. When there is interest in the game beyond gambling, people will watch. When brackets and 10x10 square sheets are the only reasons, interest wanes.

Devil ... is anybody watching the MLB playoffs outside those markets? I'm not. And the NFL playoffs are highly gambled on, and plenty of postseason fantasy leagues exist.

 

OBSERVATIONS by Blitz (which may or may not jive with recent posters on this thread):
Lots of people gamble on sports.
Lots of people watch sports on TV and care a lot about the outcome, but have no money wagered on the game they are watching.
Having a "favorite team" does not mean you are not "grown up"
I love the Saints. They have been my "favorite" NFL team since I was 7 yrs old.
My alma mater means more to me than any other college.
I want them to do the "bestest" and go to a bowl every year or win the CWS and other NCAA crowns.
I honestly believe I am "grown up"
I have wagered hundreds on various sports games through the years, both in "Vegas" and with friends.
I couldn't care less about fantsy football, but when others play it I don't even think about it.
I move on with my day-to-day stuff that I do.
Sports betting from time to time, to me, is an enjoyable pursuit.
I do not feel like a criminal. I DO feel grown up.
Saints are still headed to the Super Bowl, if they can get past the Giants in the playoffs.

 

I am in a football pool for $5 a week, but I never gamble on single games. I also never pick against Pittsburgh.

I throw $5 into a bracket, but I never have my Alma Mater going far. Maybe this year...

To think that gambling (which is illegal almost every state) and fantasy sports are what drives modern sports is insane. They are dressings. Nothing more.

Gold, I think you have a very skewed perception of who watches games.

Walk into a mall, church, school or pub and shout out how many of you plan on watching the Redskins weekend or reading what happened in the paper or online, and I'm guessing you will have a strong showing of hands. Maybe 35-45%. Then follow that with how many of you bet on sports and play fantasy football, and I am guessing you will have maybe a 5% response.

 

That's not exactly true.
The 1982 Super Bowl is the highest-rated ever. Followed by 1983.
http://www.askmen.com/top_10/fitness_100/144_fitness_list.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl

2008 holds the record for total US viewership, but the population for the US, according to Census Bureau stats is 301,139,947. Compared to 1979's 225,055,487.
Lots more people nowadays. Most US households also have more than one television for whatever that is worth.

 

1982 and 1983, right before the expansion of cable TV

 

Speeding is illegal in absolutely every state, but most people still do it. ... I don't know anyone personally who owns season tickets to a professional sports team. I know dozens who play fantasy sports and watch the games for that reason. It certainly drives the ratings.

People in and around Washington watch the Redskins at 1. How many of them give a shit about the games at 4, 8:30 and Monday night, outside of those with bets on those games or guys "in them"? There's a reason the networks want Yankees-Red Sox every year. It draws the biggest audience. And even then it's still not very big.

 

Guess I should have said "most-watched."

 

Well, if you're not watching, that just settles the whole argument. :

Seriously, just because you have lost your ability to just enjoy sports doesn't mean you are in the majority. When it comes to following baseball, I don't have a passionate rooting interest in one team any more. I follow my fantasy teams more closely than anything during the regular season. But I still watch games just to watch baseball and I am seeing as much of the playoffs as my schedule will allow. It's still one of the games I grew up loving, even though I can no longer bring myself to invest emotionally in the team I rooted for since I was a little boy. And that has nothing to do with "maturity." It has to do with that team lacking the resources, competence and interest in competing, thus turning a franchise with a great tradition into a disgrace.

If the only way you can watch a game is with a wager or a fantasy sports result on the line, that is very sad for you.

 

Adopt an AL team, OOP. It helps.