NFL Adopts new blackout policy

[Just in Atlanta]

I disagree with this statemt 100%. By raising beer prices to such high levels it only adds to the drunken idiocy. Think about it. When you are tailgating you tell yourself "I'm just gonna make sure I'm good and lit now before I even walk into the gate, that way I don't have to buy any $10 beers inside the stadium"

this is the thinking of many. Especially those that fall into the 18-26 year old range. It's just the way it is. For a similar example, when I lived in Vegas, me and my boys refused to pay for $5-10 drinks at any clubs/casinos/hotels. We would simply pregame it at the Keno parlor in the Bellagio for an hour or 2 before we went out. Drinks were free while you were playing and you could lay a minimum of $1/game. If you played it right, you would walk away with 5-10 drinks and an extra $20 in your pocket every night. Just saying. Most younger individuals think that way. I could tell you how many times I've seem or tailgated with people at the games that could barely walk just getting in the door. IMO it males it worse.

You have a bit of a point. I am also more apt to drink a few more before a game, or a night on the town for that matter, when prices are high.

 

But then, you just have more people drinking at the game. So it kinda levels itself out. Tailgaters are going to drink period. Dropping the price down a couple bucks isn't going to make a big dent IMO.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

IMO, people who insist on getting hammered for football games are gonna be hammered by whatever means.

 

Lowering beer prices could possibly result in people spending more money in the stadium but I doubt there would be a discernible difference in the amount of stupid drunks in the stadium.

[BillsFan-4-Ever]

one would think that once you set the % the team would stay with it for every home game that season.

[Offside Number 76]

What the hell is going on here?

 

Echo that.

 

Anyway, I'll bet RW keeps the blackout percentage at 100. Not because he's cheap; because he's a traditionalist.

[CodeMonkey]

The NFL baffles me sometimes. Why jerk around with every team setting their own percentage and adjust the revenue sharing based on that percentage? Sounds like too many !@#$ing lawyers involved to me.

 

Take some percentage, even if it is 100%, of the stadium with the lowest seating capacity and use that number for every team.

How difficult is that to come up with?

Edited July 2, 2012 by CodeMonkey

[JÂy RÛßeÒ]

What if you set the percentage but bank any attendance over that, to be used to bring up any that are under. So if you set 95% as your percentage and you get a sellout, you only have to hit 90% for the next game.

[Orton's Arm]

thank you hplarrm for your calm detailed responses. you make some very good an interesting points

 

however, im afraid youre ignoring the white elephant in the room that a lot of black folks do, which is the full collection of reasons why black folks are profiled in this country. i dont mean to single you out personally, but i do feel like i have to address some of the assumptions youve made because i believe they arent entirely accurate and clarification is required so we can work to get past some of these difficult issues

 

sure, a great deal of profiling is just pure old fashioned racism. i grew up in that environment and battled it all the way, most of my early life i was disgusted by the behavior of the white majority, i am intimately familiar with entrenched white bias. weve come a long way to improve the prejudging of black folks for no good reason, and we still have some work to do on that

 

however that doesnt tell the whole story

 

profiling of black folks especially black males is also performed because black folks represent a massively disproportionate amount of the extreme violence that occurs in this country. thats a very tragic but very real truth we must always include in the discussion before we will be able to solve the problem of profiling. and it certainly isnt just white people profiling, you know as well as i do that black folks profile black folks all the time. ive been with my black friends who crossed the street when unfamiliar blacks were approaching or avoided driving through intersections with black youths on the sidewalks. black cabbies profile black fares because they have experienced that violence themselves. douchebag hispanic neighborhood watchmen profile young black males in hoodies because they commit the most burglaries in those neighborhoods. if the night watchman had been black he would have been out there doing exactly the same thing

 

and ironically, it appears that it was treyvon himself that initiated the actual physical violence in that case. certainly he himself doesnt deserve to be stalked by an over-zealous night watchman jerk off because hes black, but he also doesnt get a free pass to respond with extreme violence because someone is doing something he doesnt like. he responded the way a lot of young black males addicted to this ridiculous 'gangsta' culture do, that any perceived disrespect deserves swift and extreme violence. in this case, it was retaliation for a non-violent event, being stalked by a jerk. but if treyvon hadnt attacked that jerk treyvon wouldnt be dead. treyvon had ample chance to reach his destination and made the choice to alter his course and backtrack to go attack zimmerman. you do not have the right to brutally attack someone for doing something you dont like, and im afraid a lot of young blacks simply do not understand that right now

 

one thing that bothered me immensely was the disingenuousness of some black folks regarding this hoodie issue. if you spend any time in the ghetto like i do performing volunteer work and visiting the churches and food joints that i love, you will undoubted know that most of the flyers promoting events in the hood say 'no hoodies' on them. ive asked several black folks why that is and they look at me like im a fool before saying because hoodies are used by black folks to shield their identity in the hood while they commit crimes, thus they are 'menacing'. thats the word everyone i asked used, menacing. and yet, after the treyvon martin incident i saw all kinds of black folks walking around in major neighborhoods defiantly sporting their hoodies. the average white person has no idea about hoodies being banned in the ghetto, but black folks sure do. they knew they couldnt get away with that in their own neighborhoods without getting profiled, but somehow white folks get condemned for the same exact behavior. not very cool

 

i will wrap this up by pointing out what i think it the source of some of these inappropriate views by black folks, which is this ridiculous idea that blacks cant be racist because they dont have the 'power'. if there is one green dude on the planet walking around saying how much he dislikes and distrusts non-greenies, what do we call that one green dude? racist. unless he has a big ass ray gun he has no power, but he certainly is racist. and yet tons of black folks still honestly believe they cant be racist, apparently because they feel they cant exert power or some such nonsense. of course this simply frees anyone holding this idea to be as biased and hateful as they want to be. after all, if i cant be racist then hallelujah im gonna prejudge everybody

 

so to summarize, we certainly need to continue to focus on the issue of white racism to finish the job of of ensuring civil rights for all. however, i sternly believe we need to spend more time focusing on black racism and acknowledge the negative elements in what is mostly a beautiful black culture in this county. right now we are only addressing at most half the problem, and until we address the other elements we are simply delaying the inevitable

Very good post!

 

I'd also like to thank hplarrm for having written from the heart.

 

Just to add to this discussion, it's interesting to see how the media has handled the shooting of Trevon Martin. The media clearly wants this to have been a white man shooting a black man, even though Zimmermann is Latino. The media wants Trevon Martin to have been a child, even though he'd reached physical maturity and had attained a much greater level of physical strength than most adult males. The media wanted Zimmermann to have been a racist, and in one instance selectively edited what he'd said to a 911 dispatcher to make his non-racist words appear racist. The media wants to use this incident to stir up trouble between the races, and to have self-defense rights taken away.

 

The real story here isn't about race, or Florida's "stand your ground law," or overzealous members of neighborhood watch. The real story is about the media, its credibility, and its bias. In the absence of a credible media, democracy cannot function. A media capable of lying to us for political gain in this instance is capable of lying for political gain in any instance.

Edited July 2, 2012 by Edwards' Arm

[KD in CA]

It is simply due to racism and stupid incorrect profiling that a black man cannot get a cab in NYC or a child is killed for the of walking around with Skittles and an iced tea in FL.

 

Sure the perpetrator was simply wrong in the conclusions he reached, but the important test right now is what does society do about the fact that a kid is dead. The important judgment yet to occur about incorrect decision-making and protecion of individual rights (did American citizen Trayvon Martin deserve the death penalities for going out for some Skittles.

 

I think FL is simply insane to want to live in a world where Tryvon Martin's Dad needed to arm up and accompany his son on a trip to 7-11 so he can stand his ground and shoot some idiot who was quite willing to shoot his son because the idiot made a mistake and went against a police order that society did not need him to get out of his SUV and follow this kid who turned out to have Skittles.

 

Actually, the evidence suggests that the 'perpetrator' was having his head smashed into the pavement by the 'child' at the time the shot was fired. But don't let that stop your ridiculous overuse of the 'skittles' characterization.

[BRAWNDO]

Echo that.

 

Anyway, I'll bet RW keeps the blackout percentage at 100. Not because he's cheap; because he's a traditionalist.

 

According to the Buffalo News Article this morning the Bills would have to accept less revenue sharing from the league. So I do not think the Bills will lower the 100% percentage.

 

The NFL should shorten the time from 72 to 24 hours prior to kickoff for a team to lift the blackout rule.

[eball]

One thing that hasn't been clarified (at least not that I've seen) is whether a team may implement looser restrictions selectively. If so, then the Bills could certainly keep the number at 100% for the early season games when they don't usually have a problem selling out, and "pick and choose" if they need/want to lower it for the late season games, depending upon how the team is doing and the projected ticket sales.

 

Of course, if they are required to "pick a number" for the entire season and can't change it, that leads to a different analysis.

[PromoTheRobot]

Actually, the evidence suggests that the 'perpetrator' was having his head smashed into the pavement by the 'child' at the time the shot was fired. But don't let that stop your ridiculous overuse of the 'skittles' characterization.

Like you wouldn't respond to being assaulted by some nutjob with a gun?

 

PTR

[Meathead]

The real story here isn't about race, or Florida's "stand your ground law," or overzealous members of neighborhood watch. The real story is about the media, its credibility, and its bias. In the absence of a credible media, democracy cannot function. A media capable of lying to us for political gain in this instance is capable of lying for political gain in any instance.

well its not about race the way most of us are perceiving it, namely white racism persecuting innocent blacks, which simply did not happen here in any context. but it is indeed about race. and the media is also culpable, but they are only feeding us what most of us believe and want to hear anyway

 

this is about two critical things: white guilt and black rage. both of these things are understandable given our history, but both are bad and need to be overcome before we will move past the time wasting cathartic overreactions that plague our growth

 

white people wanting to make amends for past sins currently are bending over backwards to accept 'blackness', some of which is good, but unfortunately that includes going too far to find excuses for bad black behavior. professor henry gates, the harvard man who was arrested for giving the police a hard time when they wanted to ask him some questions after seeing him breaking into his own house, was really nothing more than a black man behaving very badly. we know the white officer was a diversity trainer, had a black partner, and was not racist. he was simply doing his job. but not only did we not hold mr gates accountable for his behavior, we allowed him to become a hero in the black community. that sends a horrible message to us all and reinforces completely the wrong things

 

george zimmerman was a dick and deserves to go to jail for manslaughter for being so irresponsible to chase someone through a neighborhood with a gun. however, treyvon martins own behavior was in fact the primary reason the situation turned deadly. it was he that decided to wear his hoodie up through an unfamiliar neighborhood when he knows that that up hoodie means (see my previous post). it was he that then decided he needed to go out of his way to punish his stalker - a foolish move when he had full opportunity to make it to his destination safely. it was he that decided to respond with extreme violence when he had not even been touched himself. the fact that most of us completely ignore this reality points directly where the main problem lies - white guilt and black rage. it is not appropriate to respond to something you dont like with sudden and extreme violence. its is not appropriate to provide lame excuses for people who decide to use violence as a response to something they dont like

 

lets look at a lame excuse example:

 

Like you wouldn't respond to being assaulted by some nutjob with a gun?

 

see how this observer goes out of their way to bend and break the facts to find rationalization? first off, treyvon was not assaulted, he was followed. it was treyvon that committed the assault, but this observer decides to completely switch that responsibility so that it fits his objective. and zimmerman was a total jerk, but he was not a 'nutjob', this observer using that phrase to intimate that some lunatic was chasing around treyvon with his smith and wesson cocked and looking for blood. that was clearly not the case, but that doesnt stop this observer from again changing the facts to fit his agenda

 

for sure its a tragedy that this kind of thing had to happen. but it highlights some very key lessons that we should not waste

- this was not about white/black racism. the fact that millions of people of all color got stuck on that and man STILL believe that it was shows how utterly screwed up we are on this topic. it we admit that to ourselves we can then have the humility that will allow us to learn and grow past it. so far it doesnt appear that has even happened

- sadly, too many black folks are tolerant of using extreme violence in response to perceived disrespect. note i certainly didnt say all, plenty of fine gentle black folks, but way too high a percentage of blacks respond with sudden and extreme violence to address all kinds of disputes. the frequency of blacks conducting beat downs at fast food joints and high school football games is beyond embarrassing at this point. i firmly believe it is the widespread addiction to this 'gangsta' mentality that is so entrenched in black culture that it feels to them like the 'norm' of blackness, when of course it certainly doesnt have to be

- too many white people are prone to enabling bad black behavior by making excuses. in a rush to show how non-racist they are, they embrace even negative elements of the black culture, and ignore real behavior problems. its good to want to extend ourselves to continue to fully integrate blackness into the american culture, but just like individuals every social strata has positive and negative aspects and we have to recognize where those differences are. we cant get past these problems if we dont all acknowledge that they exist

[CodeMonkey]

The NFL should shorten the time from 72 to 24 hours prior to kickoff for a team to lift the blackout rule.

I suspect a lot of that is for the networks to be able to adjust their plans and send people to different places depending upon blackouts.

[Meathead]

btw - i dont think its cool at all to lock the 'McNabb says he's likely to play this year' thread

 

there is NOTHING wrong with discussing these issues

 

in fact, they MUST be discussed so we can learn and grow and move past them

 

nobody was saying anything derogatory, well except for the comically ignorant insults thrown at me but i can handle that

 

that thread should be reopened and that discussion continued

[PromoTheRobot]

well its not about race the way most of us are perceiving it, namely white racism persecuting innocent blacks, which simply did not happen here in any context. but it is indeed about race. and the media is also culpable, but they are only feeding us what most of us believe and want to hear anyway

 

this is about two critical things: white guilt and black rage. both of these things are understandable given our history, but both are bad and need to be overcome before we will move past the time wasting cathartic overreactions that plague our growth

 

white people wanting to make amends for past sins currently are bending over backwards to accept 'blackness', some of which is good, but unfortunately that includes going too far to find excuses for bad black behavior. professor henry gates, the harvard man who was arrested for giving the police a hard time when they wanted to ask him some questions after seeing him breaking into his own house, was really nothing more than a black man behaving very badly. we know the white officer was a diversity trainer, had a black partner, and was not racist. he was simply doing his job. but not only did we not hold mr gates accountable for his behavior, we allowed him to become a hero in the black community. that sends a horrible message to us all and reinforces completely the wrong things

 

george zimmerman was a dick and deserves to go to jail for manslaughter for being so irresponsible to chase someone through a neighborhood with a gun. however, treyvon martins own behavior was in fact the primary reason the situation turned deadly. it was he that decided to wear his hoodie up through an unfamiliar neighborhood when he knows that that up hoodie means (see my previous post). it was he that then decided he needed to go out of his way to punish his stalker - a foolish move when he had full opportunity to make it to his destination safely. it was he that decided to respond with extreme violence when he had not even been touched himself. the fact that most of us completely ignore this reality points directly where the main problem lies - white guilt and black rage. it is not appropriate to respond to something you dont like with sudden and extreme violence. its is not appropriate to provide lame excuses for people who decide to use violence as a response to something they dont like

 

lets look at a lame excuse example:

 

 

 

see how this observer goes out of their way to bend and break the facts to find rationalization? first off, treyvon was not assaulted, he was followed. it was treyvon that committed the assault, but this observer decides to completely switch that responsibility so that it fits his objective. and zimmerman was a total jerk, but he was not a 'nutjob', this observer using that phrase to intimate that some lunatic was chasing around treyvon with his smith and wesson cocked and looking for blood. that was clearly not the case, but that doesnt stop this observer from again changing the facts to fit his agenda

 

for sure its a tragedy that this kind of thing had to happen. but it highlights some very key lessons that we should not waste

- this was not about white/black racism. the fact that millions of people of all color got stuck on that and man STILL believe that it was shows how utterly screwed up we are on this topic. it we admit that to ourselves we can then have the humility that will allow us to learn and grow past it. so far it doesnt appear that has even happened

- sadly, too many black folks are tolerant of using extreme violence in response to perceived disrespect. note i certainly didnt say all, plenty of fine gentle black folks, but way too high a percentage of blacks respond with sudden and extreme violence to address all kinds of disputes. the frequency of blacks conducting beat downs at fast food joints and high school football games is beyond embarrassing at this point. i firmly believe it is the widespread addiction to this 'gangsta' mentality that is so entrenched in black culture that it feels to them like the 'norm' of blackness, when of course it certainly doesnt have to be

- too many white people are prone to enabling bad black behavior by making excuses. in a rush to show how non-racist they are, they embrace even negative elements of the black culture, and ignore real behavior problems. its good to want to extend ourselves to continue to fully integrate blackness into the american culture, but just like individuals every social strata has positive and negative aspects and we have to recognize where those differences are. we cant get past these problems if we dont all acknowledge that they exist

Has the timeline of events been established yet? How did Zimmerman engage Martin? If he approached him brandishing a weapon in full view, if I were Martin, I would assume I was being assaulted. Zimmerman was not in a uniform, wore a badge, or displayed anything that would identify him as an authorized security person. Again, if I am approached in the night by some dick with a gun, my first impulse would be to fight back if I couldn't run away.

 

PTR