What Made you Smile/What Ticked you off Today?

[Luke]

Smile: Falcons beat the Eagles

Ticked: Espn cares more about Vick's loss than the Falcon's win. I hate, absolutely hate, when espn does this, and they do it a lot (less than they used to since Favre is retired). I know the big names draw an audience, but at least acknowledge one team won more than you report on how the other team lost. Epic comebacks are great to watch and there are instances when you can say "this team lost the game", but jeez. No mention of Ryan's performance at all.

[Ziggy]

Smile: I don't have to go to work today!

Ticked: I don't have to go to work because I called in sick. I guess I really wore myself out with the wedding I posted about yesterday.

[Rurouni_Fencer]

Smile: Falcons beat the Eagles

Ticked: Espn cares more about Vick's loss than the Falcon's win. I hate, absolutely hate, when espn does this, and they do it a lot (less than they used to since Favre is retired). I know the big names draw an audience, but at least acknowledge one team won more than you report on how the other team lost. Epic comebacks are great to watch and there are instances when you can say "this team lost the game", but jeez. No mention of Ryan's performance at all.

I'm a huge Eagles fan, and while I hate seeing my team suffer any kind of defeat, the Falcons played a hell of a game and totally deserve the win! [Lemme know the next time you hear a Philly fan say THAT..! ]

Regarding the whole ESPN Vick thing, I couldn't agree more - let the winning team have their accolades! Granted, it makes for an interesting news story that it happened in Vick's old home, (and the fact that he made disparaging pre-game comments about it 'NOT being his house anymore' didn't detract from the sensationalism any,) ESPN has had a hard-on for Vick ever since he was picked up by the Eagles two seasons ago and he gifted the media with a GB controversy last year..

A shame, because Atlanta capitalized on nearly ever mistake Philly made last night and Ryan played a hard-fought game that he deserved to win, (even if I personally think he whined a bit too much than one starting QB should..)

[Luke]

I'm a huge Eagles fan, and while I hate seeing my team suffer any kind of defeat, the Falcons played a hell of a game and totally deserve the win! [Lemme know the next time you hear a Philly fan say THAT..! ]

Regarding the whole ESPN Vick thing, I couldn't agree more - let the winning team have their accolades! Granted, it makes for an interesting news story that it happened in Vick's old home, (and the fact that he made disparaging pre-game comments about it 'NOT being his house anymore' didn't detract from the sensationalism any,) ESPN has had a hard-on for Vick ever since he was picked up by the Eagles two seasons ago and he gifted the media with a GB controversy last year..

A shame, because Atlanta capitalized on nearly ever mistake Philly made last night and Ryan played a hard-fought game that he deserved to win, (even if I personally think he whined a bit too much than one starting QB should..)

Wow. I know Philly fans, and you Sir break the mold.

Yeah, for some reason, ESPN treats Vick like a God. He's had two great games, but against two lousy teams. Just last season several "analysts" on ESPN said "Vick is a lock for NFL MVP". Um, why? For beating up a sub par Redskins team? That said, this is nothing new to ESPN. That in mind, I do love The Sports Reporters, but since John Saunders has been out, it's been a Vick love fest. No mention of what Ryan has done, and had to replace, for the Falcons. To me, "Ryan's Redemption" is the story, not "Vick plays like Vick again and loses".

But, not much we can change about that; some people are so polar that they'll always be in the news even if they don't produce. Sadly, Cutler is also one of those guys. Jeez, did he give up, or is the O-Line THAT bad? Maybe a little of both, but (I can't believe I'm about to type this) but Orton and Grossman took a few sacks and stuck it out.

I'll end with this: Football just doesn't mean so much when you're not betting $20 on every game.

[mjmjr25]

^ Nothing in sports means anything to me anymore, primarily since Free Agency and Uber Salaries. I am/was? a huge Bears fan...to the point I painted my house Navy Blue and Orange...on the outside, in the Minnesota/Wisconsin border town of Superior, WI - 50/50 Packer / Viking split. My furniture had the bears logo, my "walls" in my room were made of 6pack beer boxes, I had a kegerator w/reserve kegs at the ready. The NFL ticket was pre-ordered every year, I had flush accounts at bodog, betus and sportsinteraction.

But a few things happened.

I sobered up. Wow, football is not nearly as interesting sober.
I stopped gambling. Wow, football is not nearly as interesting without money on the line.
The rules became more and more arbitrary. Jared Allen got a penalty for roughing the passer yesterday, per the referee, "the player lowered his shoulder into the quarterback" - 15 yards and a game changer. Really, he used his shoulder pads to hit the player? Really? No, i'm serious, really? Because we established you can't use your forearms, your fists, and your helmet, so, now no shoulderpads, eh? But the arbitrary holding, illegal contact, roughing the passer...I mean, have you seen the randomness of spotting the football, seriously - a billion dollar game that relies on one guy 30 yards away "marking the spot", then throwing the ball to a guy who eyeballs where he is standing, and thus marking the spot, then catching the ball from the official, then setting it down? Again, really? In "a game of inches" thats the marking system - oh and don't get me going on the high-school dropouts who move the chains up and down, again, an eyeball job. Then the center (Olen Kreutz is great at this) when he sets up to snap the ball, he moves it a good 8-10" ahead of where it was - again this billion dollar game of inches.

Oh, and the fact that these guys goof around together before the game, high five each other during the game, hug and rub after the game, tweet to each other during the week - yet WE CARE? Why? They don't.

Oh, yeah, free agency, its one thing to leave your team for more money and go to say, the team you loved as a kid, I can see that, I would cheer for that - but that doesn't happen. In one year Randy Moss played for 3 times, so, I cheer for him, I cheer against him, then I cheer for him in a 6 week span - how stupid are we.

Bernard Berrian loves Chicago, its his dream to be a bear. 3 years later, 6mil a year, nah son, Minnesota is offering 6.5mil - see ya. And WE CARE, Why? Good for him, more money, cool - but if he doesn't care about the team, why do we.

The Bears were in the Super Bowl in 2006 - there are 6 players of 53, that are still on the team 5 years later, one is the long snapper, one is the kicker. Yet, most of those guys are in the league.

So yeah, free agency took away the personal attachment to the players and the team.
Take out gambling and booze = borefest.

I'll tell you I am so much happier removing football from my life. I used to not sleep the night before, I would buy stupid shit I didn't need and looked asinine in hindsight. I would spend hours placing bets, playing fantasy football, I would spend money on Directv the rest of the year so I could have that damn ticket for 4 months. Man, what a waste of about 7 years of my life. Get out while you can people.

[sevin0seven]

^

[Luke]

Get out while you can people.

Awesome that you got sober. That takes a lot more than words can say.

That said, for the past few years I've been calling games at over 80%, and better than Vegas I may add, I'll take my free $3,000+ a year and enjoy my games at the same time.

Take the money and booze out, I still find it a great way to entertain myself and friends. And it's not always about the booze and money. It's entertainment. It's a way to bring friends and family...well it's almost an excuse to bring friends and family together, so I'm all for that. Football is not a borefest without booze; it's your own fault you conditioned yourself that way. That's not a diss, it's just stating the obvious.

One day you might watch a game (hopefully a Bears game) with your son and you'll share a binding moment when you explain what a touchback is, and how "So and so" couldn't hold a candle to "Sweetness". It's just a fun game man. Some people are smart enough to profit from it.

That said, yup. It's a business where most players are garbage as human beings, as is the staff, but money makes the world go round.

[mjmjr25]

^ I made money at it as well - but it wasn't "worth" the stomach aches, wasn't worth time away from family to watch blowout games for 11 hours on Sunday to see if Team X was gonna cover the spread, wasn't worth cheering for some player I believe to be a scumbag on a personal level, and I always considered the money dirty and essentially free, so spent it on stupid crap, usually $8 beers at Green Mill.

Yup, absolutely conditioned myself as you say, I call it "associated" booze to a number of things, and yup, Golf is no longer as fun (to play), Curling is no longer as fun (to play), and i've "ruined" some movies and other hobbies as well. One thing I didn't do while drinking, was play video games, which is a major reason this hobby is an important part of my life right now. Another way to look at is, maybe those things just aren't fun w/o booze - considering the vast majority of people I see doing those things...are drinking or drunk.

And yeah, right on again, I thought of it as a way to get my family and friends together, and I had 12-20 people over to my house and it was a great time I thought. Except for most people it wasn't, particularly my wife having to listen to guys shout, yell, and curse. And then have to cleanup, oh, and essentially throw away one of our 2 days together each week. Sure, I thought she was having fun, I thought my parents were having fun, I thought my friends were having fun, but in most cases, the fun was in the people not the actual game - like a super bowl party where no one watches the game, they all talk the whole time. So now, we get together and play board games, have bbq's, and the people actually do have fun...and no one yells...or pees the bed

[jfrost]

Oh, and the fact that these guys goof around together before the game, high five each other during the game, hug and rub after the game, tweet to each other during the week - yet WE CARE? Why? They don't.

Oh, yeah, free agency, its one thing to leave your team for more money and go to say, the team you loved as a kid, I can see that, I would cheer for that - but that doesn't happen. In one year Randy Moss played for 3 times, so, I cheer for him, I cheer against him, then I cheer for him in a 6 week span - how stupid are we.

Bernard Berrian loves Chicago, its his dream to be a bear. 3 years later, 6mil a year, nah son, Minnesota is offering 6.5mil - see ya. And WE CARE, Why? Good for him, more money, cool - but if he doesn't care about the team, why do we.

Wow, talk about a bogus reason not to get attached to a team.

I'm not a fan of football, but I'll say this because I'm quite obsessive about my soccer team: it's less about the players than about the institution and the fan community.

You want your team to succeed not because the players that carry the name of the club have any attachment to it, but because you have. It doesn't matter whether they're swayed by multimillion contracts.

(Oh, and free agency is awesome. Players deciding where the hell they want to play creates a much stronger bond between team and player than having a thousand of rules for transfer.)

[mjmjr25]

^ The players not caring is bogus? Ummm, ok. I guess we can agree to strongly disagree.

Oh, and these "teams" we care so much about, when the public won't pay for their stadiums, these teams, these hallowed institutions just leave anyways. They can afford to pay hundred-million dollar contracts, but can't afford to build a place to play? Really?

Seattle Supersonics, Cleveland Browns, Montreal Expos, Vancouver Grizzlies, Minnesota Northstars, Los Angeles Rams, Oakland/Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, on and on.

There are no institutions. There is no real attachment - its a contrived attachment in lieu of real attachments. Its a dillusion (and yes, i'm a hypocrite because I was deluded for way too long a time before I woke up).

If you want to enjoy it because they are amazing athletes, I absolutely get that, 100%. But for those who have a vested interest in a team, that is fooling oneself into a one-way relationship where you pay the financial and emotional cost. Now thats "bogus" friend.