Basic question, we watch sports for entertainment right? So if the answer to that question is yes (which I 100% think it is) then why would you take the fun out of a sport? Let them play the sport and have fun while doing it! Oh, and watch yourself rake in the money while doing so! What do we hear ALL about when it comes to sports lately? I'm talking NFL, MLB, NHL, Collegiate Sports, the whole works. Safety is a buzzword for sure, but I'm talking on the financial side... TV ratings and contracts. Just from my own experiences I can tell you that sports organizations/schools are making their money from tv. As a sport management major, a student at a university that rakes in cash from the SEC Network, and as a sports fan in general, it's blantantly obvious how important tv is in the sports world. What does this have to do with the NFL being no fun? A lot actually. Sports are entertaining. Sure you can watch sports to become educated about that specific sport, or maybe even a culture (Olympics), but sports are watched for entertainment mostly. Trust me, an amazing play, walk off home run, hail mary pass, half court shot, or hard hit, grab my attention just as much as they do the next sports lover, but I also love seeing personalities, team bonds, inside jokes, celebrations, even some trash talk! That stuff is entertaining!
"That's funny there's no fine for that. i could only imagine if I was the one to do it. Just bein honest."
What has been behind the most talked about moments in the NFL this season? Winning.. unpredictable success.. superstars shining.. yes all of those are true, but the other things that have been frequently talked about are the entertaining acts. OBJ's multiple episodes with the kicking net, Travis Kelce's celebrations (and pouting quite frankly), Marquette King's punting dances (yes, punting. I don't get it either.), and some player's lack of celebration. - Score a touchdown and celebrate.....? Nope! Lay the ball down nicely and don't get a flag or a fine, but be dramatic about it! - The combination of the celebrations and personalities make the highlight reels, the ESPN video tickers, and the social media posts. I think it's fair to say viewers LIKE these things! They find them entertaining! And now we're back to the start.. sports are supposed to be entertaining! Don't take that entertainment away! Don't limit it!
often credited for a large part in this), but the NFL taking out the fun and personality is a big factor. Take a look at how many views Travis Kelce throwing the flag at the ref got, or how many people tweeted about OBJ's kicking net proposal. There is a reason why CBS played the clip of Zeke jumping in and coming out of the Salvation Army bucket last night more than any other play of that game. It's entertaining and people enjoy it. If people are entertained, they'll watch. So why, NFL, do you insist on taking this fun and entertainment out of the game? You want viewers and ratings? You want to keep your TV contracts and make big money that way? Want to keep fans and keep them happy? Don't take the fun out of the game! Let the players show their personalities and celebrate. Stop being the No Fun League for fans, for players, and for yourself! No one wants you to be the No Fun League, you're doing it to yourself.
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Four teams, that's it. I know it's only the second year and starting small is usually a good idea, but there needs to be more teams in. I mean if Clemson or Washington would have lost this weekend there could have been a scenario where three Big 10 teams were in and one SEC team. I'm not saying "Oh every conference deserves a team so it's fair!", nope, I'm just saying that it would be nice to have more than four teams.. more games.. more opportunities.. So I have some thoughts & ideas, here they are: 1. an 8 team playoff would be the best fit. I mean don't get me wrong, a 10, 12, 20 team playoff would be great but with time constraints it just isn't realistic. 2. Give an automatic bid to each of the Power 5 conferences. SEC, Big 12, Big 10, ACC & Pac 12 automatically get someone in. Their conference champion would seem like the obvious choice, but then you have the situation like the Big 10 this year and, well it doesn't seem like just being the conference champ is always the best answer. So, do you give it to the conference champion or do you let the selection committee pick the team from each conference? Most of the time it'll be the champ, but at least having the selection committee pick the team would give them some wiggle room if an instance like the current Big 10 or even if they needed to think a little more about a team if, for instance, Washington would have lost to Colorado Friday. 3. Two "wild card" spots. Whatever conference, it could even be two from the same conference. The trick is how to rank them and decide? There is no way to play everyone so it's back to the strength of schedule and records. Unlike the MLB, NFL, NHL, etc. there is no way to play everyone or play people multiple times so these wild card teams would have to be selected similar to the current system. Yeah there is going to be room for error and doubt, but this current system has A LOT of doubt so it can't be worse right? 4. The name for this hasn't come to me yet, so for now we'll call it the ultimate wild card. There will almost always be that Cinderella team that is undefeated with a weaker scheduled or has a strong schedule but isn't in a Power 5 conference. Let's give them a chance to get in. Now I know that Western Michigan is undefeated this year and I know that their shot of beating a Bama or an Ohio State is really small, so even though their record is great they shouldn't be in the playoff. This spot is more geared toward a school like Houston (if they would have performed like they were expected to pre-season). Or what about a Notre Dame/BYU? There has to be a way for these teams to get in if the correct situation presented itself. If it is a year like this year, then this spot just rolls into the third wild card spot, or give Western Michigan a chance if you want! Look at what Cinderella's do in March Madness, heck Coastal Carolina won NCAA Baseball this past year. It can be done. Each of these games would be a "bowl game" that way your bowls still get their money. I don't know everything about the bowl set-up, but I know there is money there that the bowls don't want to lose and the NCAA/CFP doesn't want to lose, so they'll make it work I'm sure. There ya have it. My proposal for expanding the College Football Playoff. After this year and the selection committee clearly having no clear way of selecting, I think it is obvious it needs to be expanded and there need to be some rules.
Let the complaining about who is in and bowl game placement begin! |
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