NFL fans strike back

Earlier this month we tentatively sent a date of NFL draft weekend for the largest fan protest and tailgate party in pro sports history. Feedback from hundreds of fans, as well as developments over the past couple of weeks have led me to believe that pushing this back into the summer is a better decision.

There are number of reasons for this decision, however the bottom line is that our ultimate goal is to gain as much attention as possible to the fan movement while hopefully stopping the lockout in the process. Based on your input, we have decided to move this event to the time when most training camps are scheduled to open (Saturday July 30th) for the following reasons:

• Many fans remain optimistic that an agreement will be reached in the coming months; it is not until the scheduled start of training camps that the reality of a cancelled or seriously tainted season will start to set in. The excitement of the NFL draft will distract many fans from the reality of the labor dispute situation.
• We do have to give the parties a fair chance to resolve this; I don’t believe that the owners have any intention of serious negotiations, and both parties are completely out of touch with reality, however at this point nothing has been lost YET.
• A later date gives us much more time to organize, promote, and attract media attention. This event needs to be a huge success for the professional sports leagues to finally get the message and end their disrespect towards the fans.

We are still looking for fans interested in organizing or attending this event that will be held simultaneously in all 32 NFL cities (and at training camp sites as well if they are empty due to a lockout). The owners have the power to shut down the league, but fans are ultimately in charge if we will respect ourselves. The league has nothing without the revenue contributed voluntarily by loyal fans, and our loyalty continues to be tested and taken for granted. Visit our lockout site or e-mail me directly at timclaiborne@prosportsfansunion.com

Join the largest fan protest in history on NFL draft weekend

I have been overwhelmed by the positive response to a potential large-scale fan protest and tailgate party to save the 2011 NFL season. Our plan is for an event to be held in all 32 NFL cities simultaneously, and the date has now been set for Saturday April 30th. This is NFL draft weekend, and a perfect time for fans to take a stand. The sports world and media will be thinking NFL that weekend, and we gain maximum coverage as a result. This will be a great event, and a chance for fans to take the leadership role and stand up to the greed that threatens to wipe out the 2011 season. Visit our lockout site for more details. To help coordinate the fan protest and tailgate party in your NFL city contact me directly at: timclaiborne@prosportsfansunion.com

 

Fan revolt is only option to save NFL from self-destruction

I have spent alot of time trying to warn people over the past six months that an NFL lockout was inevitable. Most people have been unconvinced, and taken the understandable position that the two sides can’t possibly be stupid enough to sabotage the league at it’s height of popularity and economic value. The events of the past few days (including meetings between the owners and union being cancelled) have proven that they ARE that stupid. I have polled over 50 current and former NFL players and coaches over the past few months, and NOT ONE was optimistic about the chance of an agreement being reached in time to avoid a shutdown.

It is time for fans to remind the players and owners exactly who owns the money that they are fighting over. The disputes come down to the distribution of future revenue, and that future revenue is taken for granted, because the fans are taked for granted. It is time for fans to stop being willingly abused. In the event of cancellation of games this fall, fans must punish the billionaire owners and millionaire players who feel entitled to our dollars. Stadiums must be empty and televisions must be dark. We as fans must respect ourselves before the leagues will ever respect us. I hear from fans everyday who are willing to take a stand. E-mail at timclaiborne@prosportsfansunion.com to pledge your support. Together we will start a nationwide movement to take pro sports back for the fans!

An alternative to the 18 game regular season proposal in the NFL

An expansion of the NFL regular season from 16 to 18 games is one of the major issues at the center of the ongoing labor dispute between team owners and the players union that still threatens the 2011 season. The owners want more games, which will produce more revenue.  Fans are generally supportive of the change because it means more football, as well as a reduction in the number of pre-season games that season ticket holders have to purchase. The players are not so excited about the prospect, and have produced a counter proposal that includes an additional bye week, less off-season practices, and expanded rosters.

I believe that there is a better solution that would mean more money for players and owners, increase excitement for fans, and reduce the fluke element that is so common in the NFL playoffs.  We all know the old saying about anybody being able to beat anyone else on any given Sunday, and the playoffs is so exception. The one and done format means that rarely do we actually get the best teams in the Super Bowl, and a simple way to increase that likelihood would be to expand the playoffs into a double elimination format.  Double elimination playoffs would bring more revenue to players and owners, increase excitement for fans, and hopefully give us a better post-season product. This format would also help to offset the fact that in recent years the bye week leading up to the divisional playoff round has clearly hurt the top seeds that it was designed to give an advantage to. Every year we see teams that went into the playoffs on long winning streaks come out flat and rusty after a momentum-killing week off.

An 18-game regular season would be a win for fans and owners, however expanding the playoffs seems to be an alternative in which all parties come out as winners.

Seahawks make case for new seeding process in NFL playoffs

The Seattle Seahawks making the playoffs was incredibly improbable, and at 7-9 they became the first team with a losing record to do so. With all 9 losses coming by 15 points or more, they are without a doubt the worst team to ever make the NFL playoffs. Despite all of this, they are in a position where they could potentially host the NFC championship game next weekend. Division winners are automatically seeded 1-4, with the wildcards seeds 5-6, which is why Seattle hosted a Saints team with four more wins than them in the wildcard round. Should the Packers beat the Falcons and Seahawks win at Chicago (which they have already done this season) then the Seahawks will host the Packers in the title game. This embarrasment to the league and injustice to fans and players of much better teams could easily be avoided by adding some logic to the seeding process and ranking teams by record regardless of whether they are a wild card or division winner.

Could the Packers be the surprise team of NFL playoffs?

Every year we have a team that comes out of nowhere and makes an unexpected playoff run. Last year it was the Jets, and the year before it was the Cardinals. After an impressive road win today in Philly, it looks like maybe the Pack could be that team this year. I was thinking earlier this week that they were primed to sneak up on people. Green Bay was the pre-season Super Bowl pick of many experts, however a slow start and tons of injuries pushed them to the back of the NFL conversation. It took a close win in the final week for them to sneak into the playoffs as the 6th seed in the NFC. The season long talk of the NFC has been Michael Vick and Eagles, Matt Ryan and the Falcons, the surprising Bears, and the soap operas that played out in Minnesota, Dallas, and Washington. The Packers will have to pull off a huge upset in Atlanta, however they may just be ready to make an unexpected run deep into the playoffs.

The death of baseball as a national sport

Baseball is the national pastime right? Passed long ago by football as America’s favorite team sport, baseball faces a future as a sport of only regional interest unless the massive imbalance in the economics between franchises is addressed. The San Diego Padres had the second lowest payroll in all of baseball in 2010, yet was stilled forced to trade away their hometown star in the prime of his career, because they can’t afford to pay him. The New York Yankees payroll of over $200 million was roughly 5.5 times that of the Padres. Those not worried about the financial gap rightly point out the Padres, Rays, and Rangers were three of baseball’s best teams in 2010 despite ranking near the bottom in payroll. On the other side the Cubs, Mets, and Mariners were three of the worst despite ranking in the top 10. Year after year we see low payroll teams excel and high payroll teams underachieve, however the long-term trend does not favor the smaller market teams. Fans in cities like San Diego, Kansas City, Oakland, Pittsburgh, and Tampa are not showing up to see AAA talent on teams that have no realistic chance of competing on a yearly basis. The league is becoming a contest between the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies, Angels, Cubs and other big market teams to see who can steal the talent produced by the rest in order to make a World Series run.  No solution has been put forth, however having a league split between those who can afford to compete and those who can’t is not healthy for the league or fans. All fans pay the price for these bidding wars in inflated ticket, parking, concession prices as salaries spiral out of control. 20 years ago the top stars in baseball were becoming the first $3 million players; today the stars make $20-30 million annually. The Pittsburgh Pirates, once one of the premier franchises in MLB, have not had winning season since 1992, the longest drought in the history of pro sports. The bottom line is that they can’t afford to compete. The gap will only increase as small market fans show less and less interest in perennially uncompetitive teams.

A simple rule change that would make the NFL more exciting

 

Week 10 of the NFL season inspired two thoughts about something that football fans don’t think about much; extra point kicks. First of all, the NFL has some really weird and dumb rules, but why were the Jaguars and Texans forced to go back out for an extra point try after the Jags had scored a touchdown to take a 30-24 lead with no time remaining? Of course what it will take is a freak injury that ends a guy’s season on a completely meaningless play in order for the rule to be changed.

The second question is why do we even have extra point kicks? They are converted over 99% of the time in the NFL, and despite an occasional missed kick, there is very little drama connected with the point after touchdown try. The NFL has been very open to rule changes, and this is an area where rules changes could make the NFL product more exciting for fans. Forcing teams to go for the two-point conversion would be interesting, however I think that a better solution would be to simply make the kick more challenging. Back them up and make an extra point kick the equivalent of a 40 yard field goal instead of the ridiculous 19 yard kick that it is today. This would add an extra layer of strategy for coaches and would lead to more two point conversion attempts as well.

Why the NFL needs a developmental league

I read a recent article on Yahoo that asked the question “Is Bills linebacker Aaron Maybin the worst player in the NFL?”. That would be impossible to answer, however the 2009 first-round pick was given a $15 million signing bonus and in 1 1/2 seasons has barely set foot on the field, despite playing for the worst team in the league. This is one of the major reasons that a potential work stoppage is looming next season. Rookies drafted in the first round expect huge contracts similar to what others have received. If they don’t get them then they hold out, like Maybin and many others have. These are athletes who never have, and in many cases never will do ANYTHING at the NFL level. Often proven NFL stars make much less than rookies with contracts awarded based on pure speculation that they may someday be good players.

The NFL should establish a developmental league as soon as possible, and the reasons are many. I have included just a few below:

• Most rookies come to the NFL unprepared to jump into the pro game and would benefit from experience. Maybin is a great example, and honestly are guys like Tim Tebow better served sitting on the bench or playing full-time in a pro style offense in the football equivalent of baseball’s AAA?
• Guaranteed rookie contracts are not good for teams, fans, or other players. Send draft picks to the developmental league at a lower salary and don’t make the money guaranteed until they are called up to the NFL.
• Very few quarterbacks come to the NFL ready to contribute, and most don’t play in a pro style offense in college. Teams rush high priced QB’s who are not ready onto the field, and fans suffer the most.
• The quality of play in the NFL is declining. 2010 has been the worst season that I have ever. Much of this is due to young players who aren’t ready being pushed into service, combined with the fact that teams can’t afford to bring back solid veterans as all of their cap space is tied up in unproven rookies.
• The NFL is by far the most popular team sport in America. There are millions of fans in dozens of medium sized cities that would love to support a local pro football team. These fans would benefit as well.
• The NFL would benefit from a marketing perspective by having a presence in these new cities.

The huge problem the NFL refuses to deal with

 

It is no secret that I am not a Brad Childress fan, and have often called him one of the worst coaches in the NFL. However, it is now time to stand up for Childress. The Vikings head coach is the latest person to be poorer for having the nerve to point out how dreadful the officiating in the NFL is. He was fined $35,000 for his comments following the Viking loss to the Packers. Part of the reason that he was fined was for publicly disclosing that the league admitted to him that they blew the call on a touchdown catch by Visanthe Shiancoe. As an NFL fan I continue to be saddened and frustrated by the fact that the league is much more concerned with silencing and punishing those who state the obvious than actually fixing the problem of amateur officials ruining the integrity of the league. Childress didn’t say anything extreme or unprofessional, he did not make personal attacks, he was not profane. He simply expressed the truth that the officials were awful in that Monday night game against the Packers, and likely cost them a victory. The livelihood of people like Childress depends on wins and losses, and he has a right to be mad when poor officiating has a such an impact in the result. The NFL needs full-time professional officials, and it needs to stop pretending that there is not a major quality problem with the officiating.