I wish everyone had the Sunday Ticket

[dollars 2 donuts]

Look, we suffered. We have suffered hard for a long time and probably will continue to do so for a little while longer, but I have hope..

 

 

Why I make the statement above is because regardless of some droning on about the watered down nature of the NFL, I think there many great moments and fun to be had if you are a fan of the game.

 

...as opposed to the opinion of some of those in the local media, radio and print.

 

I got a little tired of the, "there are 7 or 8 good teams in the NFL, and everyone else is mediocre" line being rolled out. Sorry, but if that is true, I think it applies to every sport. Somebody tell me of that 9th, 10th, or 12th best baseball or basketball team that just set their leagues on fire and you just couldn't miss?

 

For the first time I wasn't a season ticket holder for the Bills, but I caught all their games...albeit later on through the DVR, b/c there were just a lot of great things to see in the NFL.

 

Like the Bengals finally rebounding (even amidst tragedy for coach and players alike) to where there should have been a few years ago before Palmer's injury.

 

And by the way, hats off to Wade Phillips; the guy who was always imminently going to be fired in Dallas, but has 3 straight winning seasons, two division titles and a 33-15 record as Cowboys head coach.

 

Is it possible to be envious over 3 and 4 win teams? Yes. Freeman for TB pulled out a couple of great games for them this year and I loved watching them play their hearts out and beat the Saints. Additionally, even though we beat them, KC seemed to play EVERYBODY tough, besides us. Let me throw in Cleveland and Harris' game against KC(?) where he ran for I believe, the 3rd highest total in NFL history.

 

I can't believe I am saying this, but hats off also to Miami who started slow, had a rash of injuries but was really in it right to the end. They should have beat NO, they got robbed against the Titans, and what the hell were they doing against us? Two games fall their way and they are in the playoffs.

 

Even one rips on Denver for their collapse. I'll be honest with you; before the season I thought they were going to be one of the worst teams in the league in the neighborhood of 3-13. Early on, even Mario Haggen looked great for them.

 

Everybody has their opinion and I would never deny anyone theirs, but I just think that beyond the above, regardless of how disappointing our team was, the NFL product is still very enjoyable, with a lot of great moments and it is about to get better with what I believe is going to be a great post season.

 

Clear your weekend schedules, everybody, and enjoy, b/c its about to get really good.

[CodeMonkey]

My problem with the NFL product is the over the top commercialization. Consider the sequence of events during a game:

Touchdown

TV timeout

Extra point

TV timeout

Kickoff

TV timeout

 

Then every quarter break, when teams call timeout, and even every punt or turnover there is a TV timeout.

It has gotten beyond ridiculous in my opinion. It all stems from the crazy player salaries. Lee Evans, 9 million dollars a year for a 16 game season. That's $562,500.00 a game just for that one player! In order to (over)pay the players and generally everyone else involved they need high TV revenue and they can only get that with lots of artificial timeouts for commercials. It has gotten to the point that I cannot just watch a game. I need to be doing something else as well or all of the dead time would drive me crazy. I certainly don't see player salaries decreasing, so I'm stuck with the way it is. I rarely watch football now except for the Bills for this reason. Fortunately I live in the Rochester area and get the games on cable. The Sunday Ticket would be an extreme waste of money for me. In fact if I didn't live around here I probably would not watch much football at all.

 

Of course I respect your opinion as well and can appreciate your love of the game. I have had the Ticket in the past and it is a nice package. The love of football has just been driven out of me, not by the Bills ineptitude the past decade, but by the monotony of how the games are broadcast.

[freeagentqb]

agree - and what about all the ads on the radio even during the game itself - this tackle brought to you by, kick of the day brought to you by, interception brought to you by etc etc etc.........So over commercialized..

[C.Biscuit97]

My problem with the NFL product is the over the top commercialization. Consider the sequence of events during a game:

Touchdown

TV timeout

Extra point

TV timeout

Kickoff

TV timeout

 

Then every quarter break, when teams call timeout, and even every punt or turnover there is a TV timeout.

It has gotten beyond ridiculous in my opinion. It all stems from the crazy player salaries. Lee Evans, 9 million dollars a year for a 16 game season. That's $562,500.00 a game just for that one player! In order to (over)pay the players and generally everyone else involved they need high TV revenue and they can only get that with lots of artificial timeouts for commercials. It has gotten to the point that I cannot just watch a game. I need to be doing something else as well or all of the dead time would drive me crazy. I certainly don't see player salaries decreasing, so I'm stuck with the way it is. I rarely watch football now except for the Bills for this reason. Fortunately I live in the Rochester area and get the games on cable. The Sunday Ticket would be an extreme waste of money for me. In fact if I didn't live around here I probably would not watch much football at all.

 

Of course I respect your opinion as well and can appreciate your love of the game. I have had the Ticket in the past and it is a nice package. The love of football has just been driven out of me, not by the Bills ineptitude the past decade, but by the monotony of how the games are broadcast.

 

I agree that part of the game is beyond frustrating. That's why you DVR games to skip through that. Still even on it's absolutely worst day, the NFL and football in general is miles ahead of any other league. Besides football and perhaps college basketball, I struggle to watch full games of the NHL, NBA, and MLB. The greed of the league sucks a bit but it is still a great league where in theory, every team has an equal chance to win a title. When football season is over, I die a little bit.

[Fezmid]

My problem with the NFL product is the over the top commercialization. Consider the sequence of events during a game:

Touchdown

TV timeout

Extra point

TV timeout

Kickoff

TV timeout

Stop exaggerating - there's no TV timeout between a TD and a PAT.

[thewildrabbit]

The love of football has just been driven out of me, not by the Bills ineptitude the past decade, but by the monotony of how the games are broadcast.

I seem to have lost some passion about the game, I just choose to watch other things besides football on some days and I have the Sunday ticket and super fan pack.

 

For the life of me I just can't wrap my brain around the fact that Ralph Wilson owns a near billion dollar franchise and treats it like a dollar store in some aspects.

 

Why does he not get it....and realize that time is so limited on this earth and that you need to grab all you can while you can, he has wasted so many years with some really stupid coaches and personnel.

[drg2021]

Look, we suffered. We have suffered hard for a long time and probably will continue to do so for a little while longer, but I have hope..

 

 

Why I make the statement above is because regardless of some droning on about the watered down nature of the NFL, I think there many great moments and fun to be had if you are a fan of the game.

 

...as opposed to the opinion of some of those in the local media, radio and print.

 

I got a little tired of the, "there are 7 or 8 good teams in the NFL, and everyone else is mediocre" line being rolled out. Sorry, but if that is true, I think it applies to every sport. Somebody tell me of that 9th, 10th, or 12th best baseball or basketball team that just set their leagues on fire and you just couldn't miss?

 

For the first time I wasn't a season ticket holder for the Bills, but I caught all their games...albeit later on through the DVR, b/c there were just a lot of great things to see in the NFL.

 

Like the Bengals finally rebounding (even amidst tragedy for coach and players alike) to where there should have been a few years ago before Palmer's injury.

 

And by the way, hats off to Wade Phillips; the guy who was always imminently going to be fired in Dallas, but has 3 straight winning seasons, two division titles and a 33-15 record as Cowboys head coach.

 

Is it possible to be envious over 3 and 4 win teams? Yes. Freeman for TB pulled out a couple of great games for them this year and I loved watching them play their hearts out and beat the Saints. Additionally, even though we beat them, KC seemed to play EVERYBODY tough, besides us. Let me throw in Cleveland and Harris' game against KC(?) where he ran for I believe, the 3rd highest total in NFL history.

 

I can't believe I am saying this, but hats off also to Miami who started slow, had a rash of injuries but was really in it right to the end. They should have beat NO, they got robbed against the Titans, and what the hell were they doing against us? Two games fall their way and they are in the playoffs.

 

Even one rips on Denver for their collapse. I'll be honest with you; before the season I thought they were going to be one of the worst teams in the league in the neighborhood of 3-13. Early on, even Mario Haggen looked great for them.

 

Everybody has their opinion and I would never deny anyone theirs, but I just think that beyond the above, regardless of how disappointing our team was, the NFL product is still very enjoyable, with a lot of great moments and it is about to get better with what I believe is going to be a great post season.

 

Clear your weekend schedules, everybody, and enjoy, b/c its about to get really good.

The price tag of $349 plus another $100 for H-D and the fact that i sometimes have partys to go to on Sundays caused me to cancel my subscription.Paying close to $500 to watch football and not even being home to watch it was a deal breaker for me

[zow2]

I like the Ticket. I usually DVR the Bills game and jump in at about 1:25 or so so i can get things done and skip most of the 1st half commercials. If i am caught up or the Bills game is a late start, I usually watch the RedZone channel. It's much better than watching a single game since they jump all over the place and don't show commercials.

[C.Biscuit97]

I seem to have lost some passion about the game, I just choose to watch other things besides football on some days and I have the Sunday ticket and super fan pack.

 

For the life of me I just can't wrap my brain around the fact that Ralph Wilson owns a near billion dollar franchise and treats it like a dollar store in some aspects.

 

Why does he not get it....and realize that time is so limited on this earth and that you need to grab all you can while you can, he has wasted so many years with some really stupid coaches and personnel.

 

 

He's 90 year old and an old school business man. He got to be as wealthy as he is by trusting his gut. He believes in his instincts and is super stubborn. And if I was as rich as Ralph, I probably would be inclinced to keep trusting my gut too.

[CodeMonkey]

I struggle to watch full games of the NHL, NBA, and MLB.

I hear you. I love watching hockey though. I was a little frustrated when they first introduced TV Timeouts there as well. But they are few enough and I learned when I saw that little red light between the penalty boxes go on to make a break to get rid of some beer. That seems to work out well. I just hope they don't go overboard with that in hockey too.

[SwampD]

D2D, if your not already, you should work for the NFL.

 

It's always amazing to me when I switch on other games how much better the product actually is.

 

One question though, why do the coaches have to be walking advertisements for NFL gear? Some of them look really dopey. I know they're "allowed" to wear a suit 2 games a year, but I miss the characters on the sideline. Love him or hate him, but Tom Landry just looked cool.

[CodeMonkey]

One question though, why do the coaches have to be walking advertisements for NFL gear?

It's all about the $$$ man.

[Chandler#81]

I like the Ticket. I usually DVR the Bills game and jump in at about 1:25 or so so i can get things done and skip most of the 1st half commercials. If i am caught up or the Bills game is a late start, I usually watch the RedZone channel. It's much better than watching a single game since they jump all over the place and don't show commercials.

 

 

Herein lies the answer to $$2doughnuts and CM. Yes, ST is very expensive, but the RedZone channel NEVER has commercials. I watch the Bills game with RZC on 'jump'. I never miss a moment and never see a commercial.

 

I understand RZC will be available next year on NFLN. If you've never seen it, I'm sure you'll love it immediately for reasons stated above.

[SwampD]

It's all about the $$$ man.

I know, but do they really think that fans seeing Wade Phillips wearing some dopey Cowboys hat is going to get them to buy it? Why not just go all the way then, like baseball, and make the coach wear a jersey? Honestly, that's how ridiculous I think some of them look in all that gear.

[C.Biscuit97]

D2D, if your not already, you should work for the NFL.

 

It's always amazing to me when I switch on other games how much better the product actually is.

 

One question though, why do the coaches have to be walking advertisements for NFL gear? Some of them look really dopey. I know they're "allowed" to wear a suit 2 games a year, but I miss the characters on the sideline. Love him or hate him, but Tom Landry just looked cool.

 

It's a QB league and we haven't had one for 10 years (though Bledsoe had his moments).

[Gordio]

The price tag of $349 plus another $100 for H-D and the fact that i sometimes have partys to go to on Sundays caused me to cancel my subscription.Paying close to $500 to watch football and not even being home to watch it was a deal breaker for me

 

 

Before the season started I took Skooby's advice & threatened to cancel & switch to Dish Network. It took some arguing but the guy ended up giving me the Ticket for $150, plus the HD for free, plus & here is the kicker. The guy also gave me a $20 credit per month for the next 12 months. So basically they ended up paying me $90 for the ticket($150 - $240 in credits for the year). it was a great deal & I could not believe my good fortune. Skooby took alot of ribbing, mostly by the arrogant way he handled himself in a few isolated posts, but I always thought the way he was treated here was unfortunate & he did not deserve it. I go to the games so the ticket really does not make sense to get for me since I am gone for 1/2 the season but with this offer I could not refuse. I also watched alot less bills games as the season progressed & more other games from around the league when the bills were on the road.

[CodeMonkey]

Before the season started I took Skooby's advice & threatened to cancel & switch to Dish Network. It took some arguing but the guy ended up giving me the Ticket for $150, plus the HD for free, plus & here is the kicker. The guy also gave me a $20 credit per month for the next 12 months. So basically they ended up paying me $90 for the ticket($150 - $240 in credits for the year). it was a great deal & I could not believe my good fortune.

So what's the plan for next season?

[dhg]

I like the Ticket. I usually DVR the Bills game and jump in at about 1:25 or so so i can get things done and skip most of the 1st half commercials. If i am caught up or the Bills game is a late start, I usually watch the RedZone channel. It's much better than watching a single game since they jump all over the place and don't show commercials.

 

Red Zone is great. A buddy of mine has Dish and it only costs $6 a month. I have invited myself over to his house quite a bit this season to watch.

[Gordio]

So what's the plan for next season?

 

 

I highly doubt I will get the same deal. A day or two later after I got my deal someone posted that DTV was starting to get wise to it & they were not offering as good of deals. I will try it again, hopefully they do not call my bluff & go tell me to f*ck myself & switch to dish. If they do that I will probably hangup on them & pretend like I never called. I drop over a grand on 2 season tickets so I am really not compelled to drop another $350 on something I will only use 6-7 sundays per year. I got to admit though, it is going to be tough to going back & only getting the regular network games next year.

[CodeMonkey]

I highly doubt I will get the same deal. A day or two later after I got my deal someone posted that DTV was starting to get wise to it & they were not offering as good of deals. I will try it again, hopefully they do not call my bluff & go tell me to f*ck myself & switch to dish. If they do that I will probably hangup on them & pretend like I never called. I drop over a grand on 2 season tickets so I am really not compelled to drop another $350 on something I will only use 6-7 sundays per year. I got to admit though, it is going to be tough to going back & only getting the regular network games next year.

Or, switch to dish and get the red zone channel without the sunday ticket!