THE OVER SATURATION OF THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE!!!!ACT YOUR AGE
Theory #1 has me guessing what all guys hate to hear, that we're growing up. I remember in middle school, high school, college, into young adulthood being so excited for Sundays in the fall. I remember not caring if it was preseason, regular season, or the Bengals, it was the NFL and I was watching it. Maybe it's my latent sloth-like tendencies that appealed to a Young Cheese, just laying in front of a TV set eating snacks for 8-10 hours on Sundays. I watched it all. Pregame, post game, weekday specials, Quarterback Challenges, etc.
I believe it probably has a little to do with getting older, having more responsibilities and many, many more commitments. Wives, kids, family, friends, work, playstation...how do you prioritize?(SIDE RANT) Now I can barely stand to watch most pregame and post game shows. It's more about who can yell the loudest, who can make the craziest statement, and who's 3D animated robots are more annoying...much less about substance. Everyone is just talking to talk. Making points to make a point, whether they believe it or not. I'd love if someone would keep track of every blowhard prediction and "bold statement" these talking heads make and compile a list of who is most credible. If you have a lower percentage than 80% correct, you're not allowed to be considered to have an "expert opinion" and therefore should be removed from the show. There are some good guys out there, they're just hard to hear when your up to your neck in b.s.(/END RANT)
***Bonus Features***
While looking for some you tube video's of Randall's Quarterback Challenge victories in 94 and 95, I came across these:
I'll save on the load time of the blog and just post some links of the rest:
- Byron Evans TD Dance
- R.I.P. Jerome
- Didn't find a Reggie White highlight package, but did find this strange Reggie White, Walter Payton and 2pac tribute, I mean...why not?
..stink together. Of course I'm referring to the theory that as an Eagles fan, maybe I'm less interested due to the lackluster performance of the Birds the last couple years. I don't even know if you can call it lackluster...it's not like they're the Raiders. Just under performing and difficult to watch at times.
I'm not even sure if this is a real reason, I'm just acknowledging that the Eagles' suckitude may be a tiny part of my diminished experience, but not enough to put a damper on the entire NFL experience. I mean, the Eagles had their lean years during my childhood. Rich Kotite doesn't exude excellence if you know what I mean, and I was still building Eagles shrines during game day.FINAL FANTASY
I've been playing fantasy football for over a decade and it's no secret that fantasy sports in general, let alone fantasy football, has exploded during that time. But even fantasy football (an activity that has long helped keep many Lions, Bengals and Raiders fans interested in the league past week 8) is losing it's luster for me. I'm trying not to look at things too nostalgic, but I loved the days when we would have to go buy a USA Today and scour the box scores to figure out our scores. It was essentially a Matt Damon movie waiting to happen, as we were part Will Hunting and part Mike McDermott.Don't get me wrong, computer sites and technology have been a huge advancement for fantasy, as it has helped keep all my friends in the same league even though we're spread across the country...okay, mostly the state. But with the technological ease of playing, came the Moms, and Grandmas and every Tom, Dick and Harry with at least three teams each. It's everywhere, all the time and just tooooo easy. Nothing that easy is ever satisfying. That's why nudist colonies don't appeal to me that much. No one wants to see it all the time...we have the instinct for the chase....and the yearn for the challenge. We just don't want to have to wear horse blinders for fear of seeing Jermaine's twigs and berries for the 13th time today.
Fantasy frustration #2, I feel that it's become a crap shoot more than ever. All luck, little skill. I don't like gambling when I have little control. To keep with the gambling theme...If fantasy football was a casino game, it would be more closely related to spinning the money wheel then a game of poker. You just don't have as much control over your destiny. (and your odds of winning are even worse)
I feel this has a lot to do with the inconsistent play out of the players from year to year. I remember when guys used to be studs for more than an year or two at a time. Now guys are monsters one year, and you don't hear from them again.
I know I sound like the confused old man at the deli counter. "This pastrami used to be cut thinner! Why's there cheese infused salami? I dropped my teeth in the pickle jar."
Full disclosure, I may be a little burnt out on fantasy football. I've been managing no less than three teams for quite a while now. It's difficult to keep track of, and you're always rooting for and against the same players. Also, it's a big investment. Not only in money, as friends keep trying to up the ante annually, but it's also a sizable investment in time. And the investment in time, probably correlates with the "growing up" angle too. I never seem to have enough anymore. If you look at all the time, effort and money you put into a typical fantasy season, what is the potential payout for your troubles if you break it down to an hourly rate? I bet it's well under $2/hour. And how does that make you feel, when the guy that hasn't made any moves and let his girlfriend draft his team is dominating your league?
I don't want it to sound like I'd like to play for m&m's either (or would I? hmmmm)...I don't think a league should be free. I'm dominating a free league this year and have little to no interest in my team. No one has even made a post on the league site since early October, and there may be five posts in all. It appears I'm not alone in my apathy.So what can I do to bring myself back into the fantasy fold? I'm cutting back to one league next year to see how it goes, and I'm going to try to remember my initial reasons for loving fantasy football:
- To talk trash to your buddies
- To have fun watching the sport of football instead of being worried that so and so isn't catching enough passes or breaking enough tackles
Your Cheatin’ Heart
Perhaps there's another sport that starts in Mid-October (which is too early and another article for another day) that is taking some of my interest away from the NFL. Those of you who know me, or who charitably undertake sifting through the rubbage that is this site on a monthly basis know what I'm talking about.
Of course I'm talking about the mighty puck. The NHL messed up bad a few years back and lost over a seasons worth of fans. Now it's under publicized, hard to find and a notch above co-ed extreme badminton as far as popularity in professional sports. And maybe that appeals to me. That I need to work a little to find it. It's not spewed all over the place and cross promoted to death. Or for an extreme example; it's that much more rewarding to find something that you like on your own instead of a barrage of advertisements telling you that you should like something. (not that the NHL wouldn't do what the NFL does if it could) (make sense?)All that said, I'm enjoying a mini-renaissance over in the NHL and maybe that's taking away some of my time, enthusiasm and passion for the NFL.
INTERMISSION
Just kidding, insert your own flicking the lights in the lobby joke and head back to your seats.
WAIT, AM I DUMBER FOR HAVING JUST SAT THROUGH ALL THIS
Well...duh. Look what blog you're reading. What did you expect? Moby Dick?
I suppose, the moral of the story is probably a combination of everything I stream of conscioused onto this page. I wish I had an iPhone, so that I could make an iPhone application like that one that helps you figure out where to go eat. I'd put all my hypothesis and ideas in it and shake it around to give me a potential answer. Of course my luck it would come out looking like this:The Cheese is losing interest in the NFL because....(shaking iPhone)....
He's just not crazy in love looking at Jermaine's twigs and berries while buying USA Today's and talking trash with a puck loving cheese infused Moby Dick.
...well, that probably made just about as much sense as I did anyhow.
