RU Ready 4 Sum FootBAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!

[salmonhorse]

Congratulations 'football' DU sheeple! The numbers are in = corporate, spoonfed football beat the rank-fucking-dog-piss out of the Demo Debates without a single word as to the heinous whore'ing of The Mall in Wash, DC as a fecal dump for 'watch the birdie' capitalism.

God only knows what is going on inside the vaunted, hallowed bedsheets of the 'lincoln bedroom'

[oldshoe]

1. Salmon, more info please

Did they schedule this corportate extravaganza opposite the Democratic candidate debates? (I live in Europe, so have no idea).

I heard the NPR report on ATC about how NFL abused the Mall, tied in with the military, employed Bush as spokesman, scheduled NY to play Washington, the two cities hit on 9/11.

If ever I doubted Molly Ivin's reminder how Benito Mussolinni called facism the conflation of big business with government, the NFL kickoff cemented the claim. But if scheduled to drown out the debate, I'm simply disgusted, and that threshhold has been getting tougher and tough to achieve for years.

[salmonhorse]

2. Agreed ~

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22855-2003Sep3.html

Sadly, it wouldn't have mattered that they were to have been scheduled 'across' from the Dem Debates in that these affairs take up days and sometimes weeks on end diverting attentions from these and others; indeed if not all matters far more serious.

The media 'share' numbers were not long ago published on C-SPAN and while I was only listening over my shoulder they are nevertheless telling as well.

:hi:

[KG]

3. um, football games are scheduled many months in advance

not sure the few DUers, me amonst them, that watch the game skewed the rating. in fact, i would venture to say more DUers watched the debates.

and while i find the commercial orgy on the mall distasteful, i didn't watch it. but i did watch the game coz i'm a lifelong redskin and pro football fan.

i wouldn't watch debates coz everything i'd want to know about the candidates i can find here on DU. in the next 14 months, i'll get more 'candidate war' stuff on DU than i'll need, that's fer shure.

[oldshoe]

4. I'm still disgusted

at the conflation of the NFL with PATRIOTISM and vice verse.

[trumad]

5. Football Sheeple?

Then count me in... Do you know what a relief it is for me to click on the net in the morning and head for the football news instead of the political news? Oh...I get to the political news after awhile, but for god sakes, let me entertain myself for a bit before I do!

ooohhh...but but you er..non-sports fans want us to wallow in this fucked up political world 24x7.... No thanks...

[fishnfla]

7. BAAAAAAHUMBUG

You know, hatred causes more violence and animosity than sports on any given day. In the past few days I've seen 2 threads on sports with the word "hate" in the title, I must confess I rarely see that harsh sentiment expressed here....

Tens of millions of Americans participate in athletics in some form or another, it keeps people healthy, active. It brings families, friends and communties together. Commercialize it? Hell, its a worthwhile sell, and I'm buying in.

Trumad your thread on the Cane/Gator game was a hoot and a half. They'll be talking about that one for ages. Gators choke. I feel sorry for Zook this morning.....

ON EDIT for clarification, the "hate" threads were directed at sports in general, not one fan towards anothers team.

[trumad]

8. Thanks

Now on to NFL gameday and preps for the Phins kickoff at 1pm...

[salmonhorse]

9. Well said...

The world is sucking copius volumes of buttermilk therefore fuck the news @ 11p kickoff is @ 1pm ~

[leesa]

20. It keeps people's minds deadened to what is going on in their

country. It is like non-stop shopping in 'Merika...it's avoidance of adult things. Enjoy sports a little bit but devote at least as much time to exploring what is happening in your own country and the world. Most sport's fans that I know are completely out of touch with reality...they are sport's zombies.

[KG]

6. as much as i dislike it, too

the NFL isn't doing anything different than most of corporate america in trying to capitalize on the notions of patriotism and flag waving, and war cheerleading and fear mongering. :(

[sexybomber]

10. you're not the only one who's disgusted.

and you know what the solution is? If it's intended to be patriotic, change the channel. My friends and I wanted to watch the game but not the patriotic bullshit, therefore we didn't watch the pregame show, didn't watch the national anthem, and played cards during the commercials.

I think we did a pretty good job separating patriotism from the game.

on edit: in addition, my one Republican friend (was the first to say "turn that f***ing moron off" when Bush came on to plug the game, so that's saying something :D

[Blitz]

11. The real question is

Should I start Gannon or McNair this week on my fantasy football team?

More questions:

Is the preseason a sign of things to come or are the Raiders going to be OK?

Can Kurt Warner rebound?

Is Isaac Bruce an old man at 30?

Does Jerry Rice still have it at 40?

Will the sophomore jinx bite Portis?

Will Tim Couch get to play at all?

When will Michael Vick be back and how will he react to coming back from injury?

Will Parcells make Carter into a decent QB and turn the Cowboys around?

Will Garcia's back hold up?

And how the hell could Virginia blow it so badly against South Carolina??? The Wahoos need their starting quarterback back ASAP.

NFL Football, baseball pennant races, college football.

I love this time of year. Only March madness is better.

[salmonhorse]

12. Ronald Reagan aka Thee Gipper...

There is no other starter worthy of consideration in a world such as this one and you know it ~

[Blitz]

13. Actually, if we're talking presidents

Ford was a football stud. Not only did he play center (All-American) and linebacker at Michigan on a scholarship (on a team that won two national championships - in 1932 and '33), he was all city and all state in high school (in Grand Rapids, Michigan) and he was an assistant football coach at Yale.

Reagan was a good athlete and actually got a partial football scholarship to Eureka College but he was no Ford on the gridiron.

Of course, when it came to government officials who had played football, no one compares to Byron "Whizzer" White. Had he stuck with football, he would likely have been a hall of fame player and an all-time great. What a man.

[salmonhorse]

21. Then "Whizzer" it is ~

:hi:

[VolcanoJen]

14. I miss ESPN's NFL Sunday Countdown. :-(

Sigh... my fall Sunday ritual... make a big, sleep-inducing, fattening breakfast, cozy into the couch, put on ESPN and watch Countdown, get all excited...

Now I'm forced to watch NFL Today on CBS, and let me tell you, Jim Nantz is no Chris Berman.

Damn you, Rush. DAMN YOU TO HELL!!!

:-(
Jennifer

[Blitz]

15. I don't know if this will comfort you or not

But Rush seems to know his stuff when it comes to football (at least the very little I heard from him so far - he was talking about Holcomb vs. Couch). I hope that he doesn't bring his politics into his commentary (I think that he's a bit too smart to do that). Personally, I kind of like the FOX football crew.

So, Jen, McNair or Gannon this week?

And how do you think the Browns will do? How's their defense this year?

[VolcanoJen]

16. Gannon, baby! GANNON!

And I'm in Cincinnati, so I could give a rat's ass about the Browns defense. ;-)

If it's brown, flush it down!

And yes, I remember the Bengals went 2-14 last year. But a girl can dream, can't she??

Ducking for cover,
Jennifer :-)

[Blitz]

19. I've got Dillon

on my fantasy team, so I'll be rooting for the Bungles against the Broncos this week. I hope Corey hangs 300 on them (I think it was 278 last year).

The Bengals are supposed to be much better this year. If they can get a schedule where play the Texans ten times or more, they may be playoff-bound ;) .

[Lefty48197]

17. Just by showing his big fat lying face, Limbaugh has...

...injected his politics into NFL football. First, Baseball's Hall of Fame went Republican, now the NFL. Fu*k Limbaugh and fu*k whichever network choose to put his lying ass on TV. No, I'm not going to stop being a football fan, but I'm sure as hell not going to watch any network that injects Limbaugh into MY sport. The nerve of them. They can go to hell.

[Lefty48197]

18. Just by showing his big fat lying face, Limbaugh has...

...injected his politics into NFL football. First, Baseball's Hall of Fame went Republican, now the NFL. Fu*k Limbaugh and fu*k whichever network choose to put his lying ass on TV. No, I'm not going to stop being a football fan, but I'm sure as hell not going to watch any network that injects Limbaugh into MY sport. The nerve of them. They can go to hell.