- BBC reporter claims he spoke to high ranking official in Goodell's office that said according to the Commissioner, London will have an NFL franchise within 10 years. Goodell responds by saying, "Give me his name." The room erupts in laughter for 0.07 seconds.
- Doesn't sound like Los Angeles is getting a team anytime soon.
- The current Black-Out Policy will remain in effect. A Detroit whiny reporter asked if they would change it due to the economy. It's not the economy, son, it's your crappy team in your abandoned City!
- Same Detroit whiner wanted to know if the league was going to take the Thanksgiving game away from Detroit. Goodell says they are not doing that this year.
- Goodell says it's unfair to the fine upstanding individuals in the league that the NFL players get stereo-typed due to the bad behavior/attitudes of a small group, ala Pacman Jones, Michael Vick, etc. He also implied that he's wasted no time even thinking about Vick.
- The NFL is working with the unions to keep everything up and running.
- Commish says the league may rule on Plaxico Burress' suspension before any court decisions come down, which, if you do the math, means they expect to oust Burress from the league.
- Jennifer Hudson will sing the National Anthem so there might be some crying going on at the game. There's no crying in baseball, but there's plenty in football.
- Miami will be in rotation with Hawaii for the annual Pro-Bowl (more revenue for Ross).
Friday, January 30, 2009
The Commish, Season 2009
Some snippets from Goodell's press conference:
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Is that for real, are we really going to have the probowl in Miami?
ReplyDeleteThose Thanksgiving games should be rotated. Like anyone wants to watch detroit
Both the pro-bowl and the super-bowl are in Miami next year (2010). My understanding is that in 2011 it would be in Hawaii, then back to Miami in 2012 and so on.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you got your comment-power back!
Funny shit Tin. Who in their right mind wants to fly back in forth across the Atlantic before we develop shuttle technology (no offense UK, would love to visit unless I was a sports team in the middle of a schedule). I wouldn't mind seeing the Phins/cowboys on Turkey/Christmas Day. That way we would annually see Leon Lett sliding in the snow as the whole world let out a collective "doh"
ReplyDelete"That way we would annually see Leon Lett sliding in the snow as the whole world let out a collective "doh""
ReplyDeleteThat's my favorite dolphin-related moment of all time.
I'm not too keen on a London franchise either, but when you fly through NY to Europe; from the West Coast, you realize that the flight from the eastern seaboard to England is only slightly longer then the flight from the west coast to the east.
ReplyDeleteThat makes me realize that east coast teams flying to london is pretty viable, and London to the EC is pretty viable, so all they have to do is try not to put that team in the NFC/AFC West and it's doable.
I don't like the idea, but I get the motivation....that franchise will instantly become one of the best revenuing franchise in the (revenue sharing) NFL. It's like adding one more Dallas Cowboys to the mix.
I have to be honest with you, I lived in London for years and I don't think it would be a successful venture AT ALL. Maybe the brand has grown since then, but between the 30 football clubs, and the 8 million pubs, I don't see it faring well. London is not starved for things to do and has a very small American population but a very large middle eastern, south african, asian and australian population. They can manage one game a year, but I doubt they could sustain a whole season. Where would they play? How would you get visas for a lot of the troubled players with records? How would Channing Crowder find his way to the game? Also, your theory flies out the window in the playoffs, Jahndoh, eventually they will have to play a West Coast team. Also, wouldn't they have to change the NFL name to the IFL?
ReplyDeleteHmm...the IFL...I'm gonna go register that domain name right now...
Much as it pains me to admit this, I share Tin's reservations. Not because they are Tin's, but because an owner and the IFL may invest a lot of cash in the venture and it ultimately fails.
ReplyDeleteThe NFL had a huge surge of interest in the 80s when the Fridge becoming a household name AND a household appliance in lots of homes, but interest began to wane in the 90s. Bottom line is, there are just too many sports played and watched in the uk and soccer will always be #1, but rugby is getting more interest in terms of "odd-shaped-ball" alternatives and I'm just not sure that an IFL team in London would pay long term. Perhaps this ten year lead in allows the NFL to continue to monitor interest levels in the international fixture at Wembley each year and my gut feeling is it will drop over time and games will stop being sell-outs. Selfishly, I'd like to see a team here so I can see the Fins without paying for flights, hotels etc, but I'm not holding my breath.
And Walker - no offence taken. I loved the Lett moment too. All that dumb mass skidding out of control towards one of the best moments in sport. Wonderful.
Yeah rugby was starting to have a renaissance just before I moved back to the States. And I have to be honest, I got sucked into the 'soccer' vortex while I lived there and rarely thought of American Football. Out of sight out of mind.
ReplyDeleteIt's easy to get caught up in the soccer Premiership, as it's now widely regarded as the best league around in terms of entertainment and audience.
ReplyDeleteThe head of NFL UK was interviewed at 1/2 time in the SB and he said the league was seriously looking to shorten the pre-season to 2 games and extend the season to 18 games. This would give an opportunity to stage 2-4 games outside the US, with the UK currently being favourite to get the majority of those. This will take "years" to implement, even if owners agree on it.
Wow, I missed that interview. Was it before or after "Born To Run"?
ReplyDeleteThey should host on of the games in Spain or Italy. Those guys will show up to anything....
They had the interview on the beeb after b-t-r as put the fold-away stage back into it's box. The candidates are all the usual ones, Germany, London, Mexico, Canada, Australia and Japan. I read a Grisham book about the Italians love of gridiron. I'd go there or Spain to watch the fins at the drop of a hat!
ReplyDeleteI never read that book (not a grisham fan) but I do remember him going on a media tour to promote it. I remember it being fiction but loosely based on a real former NFL football player.
ReplyDelete