Quote:
Originally Posted by Dargone
The lady and I watched some NFL playoffs this weekend and she astutely observed that it's 10 seconds of action followed by 30 seconds of inaction and a lot of advertisements. I think football has jumped the shark for me  |
The NFL is one long commercial which is occasionally interrupted by a football game - and that game time is made up of lots of big dudes standing around with the monotony broken by the occasional, short, flare-up of action.
Seriously, I'm not sure if it really has gotten worse over the years or what, but I watched a copy of the 1981 "Epic in Miami" game (not an NFL Films feature, but the actual game with the commercial segments cut out) and it was really incredible. For one thing, there wasn't a lot of celebrating after a first down catch. Guys did their thing, got up, and went back to do it again. Today there is a spontaneous dance show that breaks out after every tackle. Too, the graphics were minimal and the announcers stuck to the game, spent less time dissertating on popular culture and off-the-field hijinks. It was a tight, dramatic, affair.
It makes me sound old and crotchety, but the for all the legitimate criticism about the "No Fun League", I think all the excess chest-thumping crap you get today is a real downer. It isn't as bad as the commercial-after-commercial, with commercial graphics throughout setup, but it's not far behind.