The NFL (The Not Fun League)

I gotta admit that I stole the title of this post from Max Kellerman over at ESPN...I like the guy and usually agree with him even though he's a total egomaniac (so am I)...see link in title and give him a look, join his army, or just listen to a real sports fan who still realizes that boxing is the most manly sport.

Anyway, it just seems that football which is the self proclaimed most popular sport in our great country has lost a lot of it's edge. As witnessed in the Giants humiliating loss to the Titans this weekend, guys don't even know if they can hit the QB anymore...even when he's still holding on to the ball? Yep, it's true and even though this is a football site and I am more of a baseball fan, I don't think anyone can argue this fact with me. Something has to give as it has become glaringly obvious that the league is crumbling from within and no one in charge now knows how to fix it. Where have you gone Paul Tagliabue?

Quarterbacks are now built like linemen. You see guys who are 6-5 plus with girth. And yet if you blow a kiss at them from ten feet away you might get flagged for unecessary and unwanted contact. Forget the fact that my personal QB, Chad Pennington, can't sustain a real hit without being sidelined for most of the season. Most of the game callers in the league can...and should have to the same way everyone else on the field does. Besides, what other position has as many guys paid just to protect them? Shouldn't that be a reason you CAN hit the QB? I'm not talking about hitting the QB ten seconds after the whistle blows. But isn't their a big difference between hitting a guy when a play is going on as opposed to when the play has been blown dead? I think there is but the NFL isn't sure...they should make up their mind once and for all. Remember this is a league that has made the ponderous decision to use instant replay taking away the human element, second guess itself into outlawing it, realize this might have been a bad decision and bring it back yet tweak the rules so it can be only used during certain points in the game...I guarantee they change it again. Only basketball has changed it's rules as many times as football.

Speaking of basketball, football mirrors it in many ways. I know the NFL has tried to cut down on excessive celebrating. They have gone to great lengths to be the epitome of class. Yet, I constantly still see guys after routine tackles flexing and guffawing. What would happen, if after a guy hit a game tying home run in baseball, ran around the bases, grabbed his bat, then went out and spiked the bat on the pitchers mound? The league would fine him but his teamates would also hate him, he'd get beaned in the head and his value would decrease to the point of being non existent. In the NFL guys get penalized 10-15 yards, they get hit with a fine and their teamates love them. Pretty classy eh? The NBA as well as the NFL has tried to tone down the thuggery. Why? If you dress a slut in a Sunday dress, she's still a slut. I say dressing street thugs in a suit is ridiculous. Telling them not to wear headphones in public is just naive. Asking them not to hide cell phones in the uprights is nonsense. Stop trying to be classy. Bring on the penalties and the fines. Encourage the reckless nature of the sport because that is the NASCAR mentality of the sport itself. Ebrace your inner thuggery. Be the fun league again.

Just some sidenotes:

1.) Why is it that baseball is accused of being some sort of front runner in the athlete enhancement drug taking culture...Am I supposed to forget how unnatural it is for guys to weigh 350 lbs. and run around on a field for three plus hours every weekend. Be honest, embrace your inner thuggery, football fans.

2.) How is it that a sport where coaches drive through fast food lanes naked has such good PR? I mean, have you seen the latest edition of SI? Why football rocks? I'm sorry but it is a little sickening to me that I have to see Brett Favre (Something About Mary still makes me laugh a little Brett) on the cover wearing a hoodie like he's Muhammed Ali. SI, the biggest sports magazine in the country...mid season, trying to convince it's readers why football is the greatest singular thing that has ever happened to this country. It's borderline confusing. It would be totally mind numbing if it weren't so obvious what it's really about in the long run. Like Wu Tang Clan once said, "Cream get the money, dollar dollar bill y'all." Embrace your inner thug.

3.) Sorry for the anti-football rant guys but baseball is still three months away. My St.Peter's Peacocks got raped by SHU the other night (I owe Fakehead some dollar dollar bills on that one) and if the Jets don't show some fire this weekend (against the above mentioned Brett Faaaaaa-Vraaaahhh) it could be a while before there are any good sports to watch. I might even have to start rooting for Georgetown basketball...the horror. But now that I have gotten it all off my chest I can honestly say:

J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS!

PS - Unruly, I can honestly side with you and say that I have always liked the Jets for being less thuggish than other teams. Besides Broadway Joe (who could back it up) and Keyshawn (who sometimes did), the Jets have never been a team to showboat. Go Jets, win this one with quiet dignity...like you knew you would all along!