> >> Yes, Jason's obviously never heard of the NFL, etc. If you introduce
> >>something like a $100Mil budget to teams and have penalties that include
> >>being thrown out for the season and even multiple seasons for repeat
> >>offenders, then himan resources are preserved and the sport (and the key
> >>word here is indeed SPORT) is better as well.
> > As I said to Jason the other day, there are some of you guys who really
just
> > want to bring everything back to what it was when you were younger.
> The NFL now differs to what it was like when people were younger - point
> is it's better also.
Many things about the NFL are better now they ever were. The athletes are
better. Bigger, stronger, faster, and more athletic than ever, but the
league has certainly gone downhill somewhat int he past 10 + years. It's
gone downhill precisely because it's done to itself what Jason wants F1 to
avoid. The NFL has done everything it could to bring parity among it's
teams.
*Salary cap*.
High player turnover. Rental players, and barely recognizable rosters of
rivals makes for boring football. Without any effort, I used to know most of
the starting rosters of division rivals, and most other teams. Hasn't been
that way for about a dozen years now. No more teams with personality that
develops over time. Rivalries have faded. As soon as you come to know a
player, they are (usually) gone. I hate parity in the NFL. The Eagles are my
local team, so I hardly have much to complain about btw.
A perfect example is the current Eagles. They've won more games over the
past five years than any team except New England, but even they aren't a
team that wows you because *they are just a step above the forced parity* of
the rest of the league. Super Bowl last year. Four straight Championship
games. Boring as hell compared to the Eagles of the mid 80's to early 90's
(before parity was introduced). The latter team had a large group of star
players that were together for many years, and had a great team personality.
Their division rivals were ***, Super Bowl winning teams for a long
period of time, which made for awesome football games that people still talk
about today. It was Randall Cunningham vs. Lawrence Taylor. Reggie White vs.
Phil Simms. Awesome MNF games. Now?? The Giants have had how many starting
QB's in the past 5 years? Who are their linebackers? I still remember all
three of their linebackers from about 1990 (P. Johnson, Carson, Taylor).
There were exciting teams with recognizable rosters throughout the league
during that pre-parity/salary cap era. Now, the Eagles division rivals are
boring, unrecognizable teams who finish 6-10, 7-9, or 8-8 every year, and
the games are completely forgettable. This has been going on for 5 years
now. The Eagles don't win a SB though because they aren't really a ***
team either. Just a half step above the rest. Another team has managed to
squeeze past them each year. Then, those teams that defeated them become
just another 7-9/8-8 team the following years. Nothing memorable about them
at all. THey just fade away.
Everybody has a chance to make the playoffs until about week 13, and that's
what the NFL wants. Isn't parity wonderful?
Now we should make F1 so everbody has a chance to win? Just like NASCAR?
Take away the high priced cars and high priced drivers?
Ugh.
> I suppose your statement is intentionally provocative, since as a
I've been reading posts in this newsgroup since 1997 from older sim racers
who constantly say the same old boring thing. Basically, they say current F1
is boring, and the cars aren't *cars* like the cars from the late 60's and
70's were *cars*. Old F1/road racing good. Modern F1 bad. Who knows how
many times I've rolled my eyes when reading that "good 'ol days" nonsense.
Yes, that's what they are doing. I know that. The problem is, emotion and
nostalgia are clouding their judgment. It's like the old timer who thinks an
NFL player like Chuck Bednarik would shut down Terrell Owens, when in fact a
player like Owens would of embarrassed him.
--
David G Fisher
