Week 16
----The NFL----
Pretend to moon the crowd? Try to throw a party? Please make the check out to 'The National Football League'.
Are you ready for some football????? Well I have to admit, Pro Football isn't my favorite sport to watch, but when I was in Vegas this past weekend I rallied, hangover and all, to watch both playoff games beginning to end (I know, I'm a trooper). Now I couldn't have cared less who won the Atlanta-Phili game (no offense to any fans of either team, I just didn't have a favorite) and I was of course all about the Pats winning their game because over the past few years I've had to endure all the joy AND pain that goes along with their wins and losses due to my best friend here in AZ being the die-hard Pats fan that she is. So, why would I bother to watch the Atlanta-Phili game if I didn't care? Well, because I like the whole 'football watching atmosphere’...especially in Vegas where there are tons of people focused on the games, drinking, talking, and just having fun in general. This is also a big reason why I like watching the Superbowl...well, that, and the commercials (my dream job is after all to be the Creative Dir of a big ad agency...;-)
So imagine how my day would be ruined if I wasn't allowed to watch the game with a big group of
people and share in the atmosphere...I mean really, I doubt I'd even go out of my way to bother
watching (again, NFL is not my pro sport of choice). Well it's a good thing I won't be in
Vegas
for the Superbowl because most likely, I'd be SOL. That's right, in recent weeks, Vegas hotels
had to send refunds and apologetic letters to thousands of people who had been planning to come
to Vegas to watch the Superbowl. Why you ask? Well, because the NFL won't allow it. Yes, you
heard me right...the NFL won't allow the hotels to have any sort of 'Superbowl' party. Now this
isn't the first time this has happened, last year the NFL made the exact same threats to the
hotels and threatened legal action if they didn't comply. According to NFL spokesman Brian
McCarthy, "These establishments were attempting to charge admission for something we are
offering for free, and we believe that's a violation of a long-standing NFL policy that
specifically prohibits mass out-of-home broadcasts." Of course the 'admission' price included
food and drinks and the ability to watch the game in that 'football-watching atmosphere' that so
many of us enjoy.
Gee! I had no idea the NFL was so concerned about us (the viewer)! I mean there I was thinking that the NFL was just another example of corporate greed but this whole time they’ve just been looking out for us! Wait...this whole time? How many years has the NFL and Super Bowl been around? Is this the first year? Or perhaps this is just the first year that there have been these so-called ‘Super Bowl parties’...Nope, that’s not it either...hmmmm...
Oh....and for those of you who have those nice big screen TV's that you plan on watching the game on, you may very well be in violation....According to the AP, 'In determining whether an event violated the NFL's copyrights, the league considered the location's size, whether TV screens were larger than 55 inches...'
Now here’s my two cents on this issue... First of all it seems obvious to me and to the hotels and promoters involved, that the NFL is greedy and pissed that someone else is making money. I mean there is no doubt that the NFL would like to consider themselves part of the American culture...and last time I checked no one had a copyright on that, so then it seems to me pretty ironic that when it DOES become part of American culture then they’re mad... Isn’t there something about having a cake and eating it too? And on another note, I wonder if the Vegas hotels gave them a portion of the money, if they’d shut their mouths... Well obviously yes they would, I mean there are plenty of people who watch the Super Bowl for the commercials and could care less who wins the game...but you don’t see the NFL getting pissy about that? I mean look at all the advertisers getting business because people tune in to watch the game and happen to see their commercials as well. Please, the NFL and networks get paid more than any other televised event so I’d like to send out a collective F&*K YOU to the NFL for that one.
Now look, I can appreciate good spin, but the NFL isn’t even TRYING here...I mean how stupid do they think people are? I recall in the past, certain NFL games being blacked out (for broadcast) because there weren’t enough seats sold at the stadium...why? Because they weren’t going to let people watch the game for free! So it seems pretty ironic that now they are ‘fighting’ to make sure that we can indeed, watch it for free. Give me a break...
But wait....not only do they care about making sure we, the viewers, can watch
for 'free', but the NFL is also very concerned about what horrible filth we, the fans, have
to endure when watching the games... What filth you ask? The violence? No. The ‘bad words’ that
are easily lip-read? No. Mooning? No. Pretending to moon? Yes. HUH? Yup...apparently pretending
to moon the Greenbay Packers crowd (fully clothed mind you) after a touchdown is worth $10,000
in fines. Just ask Randy Moss.
Wow...gee...fake mooning on television?! ..On FOX, no less (home of such clean moon-free
entertainment as 'The Simple Life' and 'Forever Eden'). Give me a break...again... Even Moss
scoffed at the fine saying,
"''Ain't nothing but 10 grand. What's 10 grand to me?''... He then jokingly
suggests he might perform a more vulgar celebration next time..." Well, I for one am sorry the
Vikings didn't make it to the Superbowl because THAT'S a wardrobe malfunction I'd actually
find most amusing...
Oh......and Go Pats.....:)
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