Thoughts on a 17 game season

RichardBak
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Re: Thoughts on a 17 game season

Post by RichardBak »

Brian wolf wrote:To me, the goal has always been for the NFL to try to monopolize the winter months and try to have play get closer to March ... harder for any spring competition to ever try to develop.

I believe if the NFL developed a 60 minute league, where players played on both sides of the ball, with running offenses, no forward passing, similiar to rugby or single-wing football, it could be successful. The league could have just two divisions of four teams, play just eight games with a championship game and start the season during week 13 or 14 of the NFL regular season, until the week between the Super Bowl, where it can play its ninth game, the championship game. I believe if properly thought out, with players willing to play hard-nosed, running football and trench style defense for 60 minutes, this small, "throwback" league could bring in fans.
The players could all drive down to the park in their Model Ts. And if they're gonna bring back pails of beer for a nickel each, count me in.
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TanksAndSpartans
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Re: Thoughts on a 17 game season

Post by TanksAndSpartans »

I think CTE has been driving them in the opposite direction - I don't think they would go back to the 1990s let alone the 1890s.
RichardBak
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Re: Thoughts on a 17 game season

Post by RichardBak »

TanksAndSpartans wrote:I think CTE has been driving them in the opposite direction - I don't think they would go back to the 1990s let alone the 1890s.
Well then, how about the 1790s? I can see it---powdered wigs instead of helmets, buckled shoes instead of cleats, vendors selling rum and the latest edition of Ben Franklin's Ye Olde Foot-Ball Guide. Nobody steal this idea!
racepug
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Re: Thoughts on a 17 game season

Post by racepug »

Reaser wrote:
NWebster wrote:Somehow an odd number of games is just . . . well, odd to me.

Obviously lots of records will be broken without any asterisk assigned.

How long till injuries get blamed on the longer season.
When is enough enough, will there be an 18 or 20 game season in 2030?
I don't think being an odd number is what is odd.
I think it is VERY odd. As an Australian I know put it a while back: "Who ever heard of a professional league having an odd number of games?" But, hey - the N.F.L.'s gonna do what it's gonna do.
racepug
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Re: Thoughts on a 17 game season

Post by racepug »

RichardBak wrote:I can see the league going to an 18-game regular season in just a few years. It's all about the Benjamin$$.
Yeah - Lord knows that without adding a 17th game to the regular season schedule it's almost a 100% certainty that the N.F.L. was going to file for bankruptcy in the near future. [eye roll]
racepug
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Re: Thoughts on a 17 game season

Post by racepug »

RichardBak wrote:
TanksAndSpartans wrote:I think CTE has been driving them in the opposite direction - I don't think they would go back to the 1990s let alone the 1890s.
Well then, how about the 1790s? I can see it---powdered wigs instead of helmets, buckled shoes instead of cleats, vendors selling rum and the latest edition of Ben Franklin's Ye Olde Foot-Ball Guide. Nobody steal this idea!
:lol:
JuggernautJ
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Re: Thoughts on a 17 game season

Post by JuggernautJ »

racepug wrote:
RichardBak wrote:
TanksAndSpartans wrote:I think CTE has been driving them in the opposite direction - I don't think they would go back to the 1990s let alone the 1890s.
Well then, how about the 1790s? I can see it---powdered wigs instead of helmets, buckled shoes instead of cleats, vendors selling rum and the latest edition of Ben Franklin's Ye Olde Foot-Ball Guide. Nobody steal this idea!
:lol:
Well, ole Ben passed in 1790... but I wouldn't put it past NFL merchandising...
"Poor Richard's Foot-Ball Almanack..."

I have/had (I loaned it to a friend who officiates HS football and it has yet to return) a rule book/officials' manual from the '30's or '40's that actually has football hyphenated as foot-ball on the cover.

I think the 17 game season is just a stepping-stone to an 18 game season.
Talk about hypocrisy.... the NFL pretends to care about the health of their players but increases the chance for injury...
racepug
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Re: Thoughts on a 17 game season

Post by racepug »

JuggernautJ wrote: Well, ole Ben passed in 1790... but I wouldn't put it past NFL merchandising...
"Poor Richard's Foot-Ball Almanack..."

I have/had (I loaned it to a friend who officiates HS football and it has yet to return) a rule book/officials' manual from the '30's or '40's that actually has football hyphenated as foot-ball on the cover.
I'm pretty sure I've seen the word "baseball" hyphenated in literature from the 19th century. Not sure when that changed (for either name).
JuggernautJ wrote:I think the 17 game season is just a stepping-stone to an 18 game season.
You're probably correct.
JuggernautJ wrote:Talk about hypocrisy.... the NFL pretends to care about the health of their players but increases the chance for injury...
What richardbak posted.
RichardBak
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Re: Thoughts on a 17 game season

Post by RichardBak »

I agree about the greed, but I assume the players assn. has to sign on as well. I think owners/players will eventually agree to an 18-game sked on two conditions: the number of ex. games drops to two or maybe even one, and that there's an additional bye. From everybody's standpoint, including fans who hate ex. games, teams have been playing 20 games per season (ex. plus regular season) for years, so why not have as many as them as possible really count in the standings? More revenue and more interest all around.

At some point we're gonna be looking at a 40-team NFL and a 20-game regular season, with expanded playoffs. Might take another 30-40 years, and a lot of us on this board won't be around to see it, but I think ultimately that's where we're headed. And I assume some of those expansion teams will be in Europe, Canada, and Mexico. Sounds kind of wild, but just go back a couple generations to the mid-1950s, back when there was just 12 teams playing a 12-game regular season and a single postseason title game. Who could've realistically envisioned 32 teams playing a 16-game regular season followed by four rounds of playoffs? The pro sports universe just keeps expanding until one day it collapses in on itself. But it hasn't happened yet, so owners/TV/players are gonna keep pushing, pushing.

So my prediction for 2060 is: Mexico City beats Berlin in what is now the World Super Bowl. And the NFL (or is it now the World Football League?) has its first 8,000-yard passer that season. That's "only" 40 years from now---the same time span as 1960-2000, and look at how much everything changed on and off the field during that period. Or if you like, 1980-2020.

Oh, and the 2060 Lions still suck, becoming the first team to finish a season 0-20. They'll probably trade the #1 pick in the draft to acquire 84-year-old Tom Brady, who has just led the London Churchills to their 12th straight conference title.
rhickok1109
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Re: Thoughts on a 17 game season

Post by rhickok1109 »

racepug wrote:
RichardBak wrote:
TanksAndSpartans wrote:I think CTE has been driving them in the opposite direction - I don't think they would go back to the 1990s let alone the 1890s.
Well then, how about the 1790s? I can see it---powdered wigs instead of helmets, buckled shoes instead of cleats, vendors selling rum and the latest edition of Ben Franklin's Ye Olde Foot-Ball Guide. Nobody steal this idea!
:lol:
I was the chief copywriter for an advertising agency that represented the Norfolk County (MA) Tourism Development Council back the in 1970s and 1980s. Norfolk County was the birthplace of John Adams and John Quincy Adams and it's also the county in which Foxboro is located.

I joked around a lot with the director of the council, who was a fun guy to work with. One of the ideas I present to him with the help of our art department was a billboard proclaiming "Norfolk County: Home of the Patriots from John Adams to Julius Adams" (who was a pretty good defensive tackle), with illustrations showing John Adams in a Patriot helmet and Julius Adams in a powdered wig.

(Another mock idea I presented was a full-page ad with a photo of two young men walking hand in hand. Above the photo was the question, "What do Milton and Randolph have in common." Below the picture was the answer, "They're both in Norfolk County." (Milton and Randolph are Norfolk Count towns.)
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