The NFL Is on the Brink
Townhall,
by
Victor Davis Hanson
Original Article
Posted By: ladydawgfan,
7/16/2020 12:37:03 PM
The National Football League celebrated its 100th anniversary last year. This should be a time of self-congratulation for the brutal sport, which has no similar counterpart outside the United States.
The NFL's megaprofits dwarf those of other professional sports in the U.S. The Super Bowl, not the World Series, is America's national sports event.
The league has survived all sorts of crises in the past. It was one of the first professional sports to integrate its teams, doing so in the 1920s. But the integration unfortunately ceased, and the NFL didn't reintegrate until the mid-'40s, becoming one of the last sports leagues to embrace fully a racially-blind meritocracy.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Safari Man 7/16/2020 12:57:06 PM (No. 480376)
I would be quite content if the NFL went bankrupt and out of business. I will never watch another play no matter what happens.
59 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
synchronicity 7/16/2020 1:04:09 PM (No. 480386)
Not a problem - like many folks I've had what is going on 5 months of being home with no sports to watch. Along the way I stopped watching anything politically unsettling on TV and have become a very avid reader. I've found I am much less anxious, more attuned to those I interact with and thankful for this opportunity to slow down and smell the roses. I don't plan on going back to watching TV as a habit nor to fandom of entities that put politics, virtue signaling and tribalism ahead of human and national interests.
55 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
earlybird 7/16/2020 1:04:13 PM (No. 480387)
What OP said. The NFL is toast. Suicided itself.
46 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
stablemoney 7/16/2020 1:05:43 PM (No. 480389)
The NFL was invented by descendants of white slave owners. The game should be canceled. It is the new plantation for black players with white slave owners, paying them a mere $10M a year, on average, with lifetime health benefits, representing total exploitation of the player millionaires. My view is the taxpayers that are paying for the stadiums are the ones getting exploited. Many people don't watch sports, but pay for the stadiums, and for overpriced tv packages, most of the charge for sports they don't watch.
31 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
seamusm 7/16/2020 1:15:24 PM (No. 480403)
Over the edge IMHO, I cancelled ESPN and TV sports are dead to me. NFL = No Freaking Longer.
34 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
Rather Read 7/16/2020 1:17:58 PM (No. 480408)
Since there's no baseball for me to watch, I have gone for a LONG time with no sports and I don't miss it at all. I quit watching TV a long time ago and now I can't stand it if I am in an office or waiting area where TV is on. I read a lot and I watch classic movies. I am much happier.
39 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
MickTurn 7/16/2020 1:18:53 PM (No. 480409)
The NFL is IN the round porcelain bowl swimming with the brown fish and THEY are pulling the Lever. See Ya!
16 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
droopydog 7/16/2020 1:22:38 PM (No. 480416)
It's over for me. I am resolved to never watch another play. I'm now down to the professional surfing tour and college wrestling, and in another month or two, I'll probably be rid of those too.
18 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
mc squared 7/16/2020 1:23:57 PM (No. 480420)
What's good for the goose...
Boycott the networks that DON'T cut the foreign national anthem. Write and call to express your outrage.
20 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
Dodge Boy 7/16/2020 1:35:40 PM (No. 480437)
The nfl could go away tomorrow for all I care. No problem for me. We divorced ourselves from the nfl long ago when Kaepie started acting up.
34 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
DVC 7/16/2020 1:48:57 PM (No. 480450)
I think they have gone over.
If they actually do play some "black national anthem" and have all their players disrespecting the flag and anthem, they will be done.
24 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
dwa 7/16/2020 1:52:38 PM (No. 480459)
What is funny to me is who will be hurt the most if professional sports dries up -- black athletes.
38 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
Jesuslover54 7/16/2020 1:53:51 PM (No. 480461)
Lesbian soccer is the only way to go.
26 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
MarkTwain 7/16/2020 2:17:17 PM (No. 480492)
The more politicized a sport becomes the less interested I become.
20 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
Skinnydip 7/16/2020 2:36:22 PM (No. 480502)
Didn’t the networks quit showing the National Anthem being played before games (pre-Kaepernick)? It will be interesting to see if they show the bLACK one. And will they play the real one too?
9 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
padiva 7/16/2020 2:38:24 PM (No. 480504)
My kids have season tickets for the Eagles games. This year they are happy. They declined to get tickets for this year. They won't lose their season ticket status.
6 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
Strike3 7/16/2020 3:02:36 PM (No. 480528)
The NFL lives large on our money and insulting the goose with the golden eggs is now their downfall. Rush Limbaugh, who knows many team owners, laid out the massive amounts that they used to haul in before they went nuts over the Kaepernick Kaper. Their marriage to Black Lives Matter is the final nail in the coffin. Now those rich, black, overfed behemoths will be lucky to find jobs at Burger King or in Amazon warehouses.
15 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
RCFLyer98 7/16/2020 3:22:24 PM (No. 480546)
VDH, like Clarice Feldman is a national treasurer. He is spot on about the NFL. That said, I wish that he along with all of the other writers, not refer Floyd's death at the hands of the police. The only thing for sure, is that Floyd was IN the custody of the police. It has not been proven that the police killed him. Also, it is pretty sure that the 4 police officers will not get a fair trial in this political climate. A sad state of affairs to be sure.
18 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
DVC 7/16/2020 3:25:44 PM (No. 480552)
VDH summarizes things well.
"If the multibillion-dollar NFL decides that multimillionaire players have no obligation to stand to honor a collective national anthem, and that there will be separate anthems and politicized uniforms, then millions of Americans will quietly shrug and change the channel."
Yep. I enjoyed watching KC win the Super Bowl. And our team hasn't been much bothered by this insanity. Still, my wife and he brother are far bigger football fans than I ever was, even though I can enjoy a good game now and then.
VDH is right, people WILL turn it off. And how is it that 75% blacks isn't racism? He makes a good point that if they insist, maybe we need quotas for white players, and Asians, etc.
They are wiping out their sport. Killing the goose that laid the golden eggs.
12 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
ho72 7/16/2020 3:27:14 PM (No. 480555)
NASCAR, the NBA and the NFL are catering and pandering to those who are not their fans. Why does anyone care what leftists think about anything? Try to please them at your peril. All you'll get in return is a new list of demands along with plummeting TV, ticket and merchandise revenue.
17 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
SALady 7/16/2020 4:08:00 PM (No. 480582)
I would love to see all these spoiled boys lose their jobs playing a boy's game, and end up working a Wal-Mart or McDonald's (since that is about the best most of them are actually qualified to do).
And all because they were racist thugs that disrespected their country and their fans, and killed the goose that laid the golden egg (better known as the NFL).
And I would even love more to see all the owners lose their shirts when the league folded for not acting like owners and employers, and stopping all this racist thug insanity when it started!!!!
12 people like this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
bad-hair 7/16/2020 4:37:10 PM (No. 480609)
Maybe the NFL needs to decide what game it wants to play.
7 people like this.
Reply 23 - Posted by:
John Farson 7/16/2020 5:07:34 PM (No. 480632)
I’m finished with the NFL and NBA.
I don’t care for MLB so l’m left with European soccer and pro rugby.
That’s enough thank you.
5 people like this.
Reply 24 - Posted by:
doctorfixit 7/16/2020 5:10:13 PM (No. 480635)
NFL Go To Hell. NBA Go Away.
8 people like this.
Reply 25 - Posted by:
Italiano 7/16/2020 5:39:14 PM (No. 480657)
I've seen every Super Bowl, but that's it. I'm done. Go to Hell.
Let's see if NFL players have as much success in the meth business and beating the rap after domestic violence incidents after the NFL folds...
7 people like this.
Reply 26 - Posted by:
moonlightflip 7/16/2020 5:42:56 PM (No. 480660)
I no longer give a rip about what the nfl does...
4 people like this.
Reply 27 - Posted by:
Videodrone 7/16/2020 6:20:31 PM (No. 480684)
Ever since the transition to digital TV (ATSC 1.0) it has been an ongoing debate on when "OTA" (Over the Air) advertisement supported television will die.
The major ad revenue of local TV stations used to be local car dealers and local elections
For major market and Networks it has long been major sports and politics
Other than "the older folks" (some interesting stats from retirement villages internal CATV systems - still over 50% CRTs!) few folks I know does "appointment" viewing - why? if it's not "live" you can always stream it later - take away all the major sports and the entire system relies on ad buys from Car makers, T-mobile, the insurance companies, Sandals and My Pillow?
And with the advent of "ATSC 3.0" (it's not "broadcast" its a web browser with a lousy UI) and the spectrum repack (for those that still watch "OTA") the SF Bay Area is having all sorts of "issues"
Interesting times...
3 people like this.
Reply 28 - Posted by:
Videodrone 7/16/2020 6:48:54 PM (No. 480698)
Apologizes for 2nd post but my "handle" predates "drones" by more than 20 years - I can "drone" on and on for hours about "TV" technology
4 people like this.
Reply 29 - Posted by:
lakerman1 7/16/2020 8:23:06 PM (No. 480764)
i'm most familiar with Pittsburgh Steeler fans, and the fan base in Pittsburgh is composed of working class guys, many of them veterans.
If the Steelers choose to do the kneeling stunt, they will lose a substantial portion of their fans.
5 people like this.
Reply 30 - Posted by:
TCloud 7/16/2020 8:23:44 PM (No. 480765)
To heck with em. Sunday GunDay at the range instead with fam and friends for some real gun control!
3 people like this.
Reply 31 - Posted by:
or gate 7/17/2020 1:21:50 AM (No. 480965)
The gutter is the best place for the NFl.
Hate on suckers.
1 person likes this.
Reply 32 - Posted by:
ladydawgfan 7/17/2020 3:05:56 AM (No. 481008)
I've really been getting into Professional Bull Riding lately. Buncha hunky cowboys going for 8 seconds on the back of a massive beast who objects mightily!! And no politics whatsoever!! Just what the doctor ordered!!
3 people like this.
Reply 33 - Posted by:
Old Army Vet 7/17/2020 9:09:48 AM (No. 481231)
When they took a knee I stood up and changed the channel. I no longer watch and will not watch again.
2 people like this.
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I won't be watching. MY National Anthem is the Star Spangled Banner. The end!!