My Conspiracy Theory Rant

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(02-12-2016, 02:22 PM)YoungThundercat Wrote: To your actual points: Yes, it is incredibly unfair that Vontaze is the one who is being made an example of, but it is because he was the most agregious offender in a game that was marred with ridiculous play and an over the top, out for blood crowd.

Now it's important that after reading that last line, you really comprehend the next one.

I personally had 0 issue with how physical the game was, nor how emotional the crowd was. In my opinion, that was good, hard, old fashioned AFC North division football between two blood rivals. I wish more games were that hotly contested, but...

The NFL is obsessed with the "casual fan". For right or wrong, they want to indoctrine people who aren't die hards into NFL fans, whether globally or domestically, generally at the downfall of the experience for the die hards. Look no further than the ridiculously imbalanced rulebook between offense and defense, the shot sighted way they handle breast cancer awareness  (we care about women, but only for this one month, please buy our vast supply of ladies replica jerseys in pink!)

So when you have a guy like Vontaze, with his history which gets brought up ad nauseum by the announce team (usually with a "highlight" package) everytime he is shown on camera, who then goes out and "brutally" (not my term, heard it from a casual) concusses another player, it's a problem. Then, when the media runs with that story all night and the next few days, overshadowing other playoff games, it's a huge problem. So Goodell does what he always has, he goes overboard to show people that he's a tough Commish and these things won't happen on his watch.

They dirty not-so-little secret being, of course, these things CONSTANTLY happen on his watch. He is an absolute disgrace and if not for Gary Bettman and his 3 work stoppages, Roger would be the absolute worst commision in sports.

The punishments are a joke, the over complicated rulebook is a joke, the fact that Joe Bob and Ace down at the hardware store can be NFL officials and still have their full 40hrs during the week is a joke, PR is a nightmare. But they are printing more money than both the damn mints. So why would it change?

Agree so damn much, it's not even funny, wish I could rep this 100 times over.

Being a gearhead and general tinkerer, I am into motorsports of all sorts.  I saw this EXACT same scenario play out with Brian France and NA$CAR.  The sport boomed in the late 90s and early 00s.  Tracks everywhere were adding seats, and everywhere else, new tracks were going in.  Some venues had waiting lists for tickets that were several years out. You wanted to go to Bristol?  Wait five years for a seat to open.

Soon, they too became obsessed with the casual fan and the Johnny Come Latelys.  So much so, that they begin closing up storied venues, changing rules seemingly at a whim, and constantly pushing out the old guard drivers with character for fresh faces and corporate spokesmen robots.  They completely alienated the hardcore fans like myself.  Now?  You can buy a ticket to the famed Bristol night race at the gate.  Daytona International Speedway, and Richmond International Raceway are removing tens of thousands of seats.  Everywhere you look, seats are becoming emptier and emptier, except for the old traditional venues like Darlington Raceway and Martinsville Speedway where hard core fans still gather in support of the hallowed grounds.  I hope the NFL doesn't succumb to this fate, but I see the parallels, and they are eerily similar.