I've noticed myself watching less football, NFL and college, this year. I think it's for a number of reasons.

#1, I have more important things to do. Two small kids, plus one on the way, eat up pretty much all my free time. Hopefully someday they'll be into football too, and that will reignite my desire to watch. But right now, Bobcat football is about the only football I mark on my calendar.

#2, the NFL is boring and predictable, to the point where I have questioned whether the outcome is scripted. I realize that makes me sound like a tin-foiler, but the "plot lines" are just too convenient sometimes.

#3, I think oversaturation is a real thing. I stopped playing fantasy football because I got tired of the 24/7 analysis, but once I gave up the fantasy game, there wasn't a real reason to pay attention.

#4, I cut the cord, and too many of the games are on cable. I think putting Monday Night Football on ESPN was the worst decision the NFL has made through this ordeal. And I think the only NFL games that should be played on Thursday are the Thanksgiving games, and there should be only 2 of those. The evening should be for college football.

count me as one who hasn't watched the nfl since the 49er POS did his thing. he has every right to do it, but tim tebow had every right to take a knee and the no fun league and the liberal media lost their mind over it. when the nfl said no to the cowboys wanting to show support to the slain police - I WAS DONE. i'm a deplorble and the disdain some on this board show for us just shows some folks don't get it. we tend to be conservative, patriotic SOBs and don't care that some folks don't like us.

I'm not sure what you're referring to in terms of you not being able to persuade me, or me not being able to persuade you. As far as I know, we've never conversed on this site. I don't have an agenda. My son has not played football. I just have not seen reliable statistics that show a decline other than perception. It's the same group that has been telling me for decades that soccer is the next big thing. I'm still waiting on that decades later. I have no reason to believe that's the case. Our middle school soccer team has to remain co-ed because there are not enough play from each individual gender.

Interesting that the subject line is about NFL ratings suffering, which I'm part of the decline. However, it is now being reported that last night's Cowboys-Giants game had the largest viewing audience of any Week 14 game since 1989.

NASCAR was a few years ago the fastest rising sport and in the mid 2000's was the envy of rising fan bases of all the professional sports. Guess you can't answer the question then, why has this bastion of Americana fallen on hard times, because they are very patriotic, always have been.

Regardless, football is not going anywhere!

Not here to debate the issues of the NFL, but I'll call BS when I see it. I grew up in the Philadelphia area in the 1960's and early 70's. NASCAR was televised on ABC occasionally. Not weekly, but enough to make this suburban Philly kid a fan of stock car racing. In fact, NASCAR had an annual stop at the "D" in nearby Langhorne, PA.

You wrote: "NASCAR wasn't even seen on television outside of the south until CBS broadcasted their first race in 1979."

That is BS. You admit it in your response.

Medina Cat, I try to be respectful in my posts, but you aren't making it easy. You made a mistake and you can't own up to it. I remember seeing this a few times in my coaching days. Almost always the players called out their fellow teammate. This makes it all the more sad when a man in his 60s, if I am guessing your age correctly, can't simply say he made a mistake. To show clips and portions of a race is not showing a race. For example, I can't imagine a soccer fan saying I saw World Cup soccer on US television in the 1950s or 1960s, even though they may have shown portions of it Wide World of Sports or a local television sports show. I am going to go out on a limb and say you never took Logic while at our beloved alma mater.

This happens every year when we get that big gap between our last regular season game and a bowl game. And to think we have 10 or 11 more days of this. For once it's nice to be on the outside looking in on these battles of wits and words.

Just another clear reason not to move to South Carolina.

I've gone to 12 NFL games over the last four seasons. Each time, I've come away feeling... icky. I'll list why: Over-machoism, cult-like worshipping of the military, suppression of any expression of celebration or individuality in uniforms, boring coaches and playcalling, over-corporate sterile identical stadiums, yearly rules modifications, a general feeling that the league feels we can't survive without it, hollow public relations responses to domestic violence and head injuries, wondering if someone around me is going to get drunk and start a fight.

What do I like about the NFL? Good playoff system (far better than the NCAA. Does anyone get up in arms when a wildcard wins the Super Bowl?) watching elite athletes, good atmosphere (compared to games at Peden. I can stand and yell without feeling slightly embarassed).

Now, as for Kaep. I totally stand, I mean kneel, with Kaepernick. I don't want to derail the thread, but there is a systemic problem perpetuated by an appendage of government that has unfairly and unjustly targeted people of color. What's even more galling is the vitriolic response he has received. It seems everyone, including those on this board, avoids comment on the specific issue he is protesting. I don't view Kaep as one who disrespects the flag, the anthem, or the troops. The flag, the anthem, and the troops are either symbols or a force reflective of this country's fundamental ideals. When the country falls short of that ideal, it is an appropriate time to protest. And those who say he should take his protest to the locker room or some other time besides the game? What the hell good is that going to do? Don't like the protest impeding on your precious football? Protest doesn't work if it's not disruptive!

I'm disappointed white NFL players aren't protesting the same way. I'd like to think if I were an NFL player, as a white guy, I'd kneel too.

That being said, I lost a lot of respect for him when I learned that he didn't vote. Kneeling is a symbolic act that draws attention to a real issue. Voting is the most active way to bring about the change you want.

Yes, Alan, South Carolina is a backwater place that hasn't changed a bit since it was the Mother of Secession back in 1861 and was the catalyst for the Late Rebellion. Oh wait, in the last several years they elected the first female Indian-American for governor in U.S. history and are currently one of only two states with an African American U.S. senator. That senator, Tim Scott, by the way, won his election to the senate with over 65 percent of the vote -- about 10 percentage points more than senior senator Lindsey Graham. They were running at the same time because Scott was originally appointed by the governor to fill a vacant spot. So, yes, you are right. They are nothing but a bunch of racist, sexist, homophobic, rednecks and should be looked down on by all right-thinking (sorry, I should say "correct-thinking") people.

I don't agree with your position that there is a "systemic" problem with police unfairly and unjustly targeting people of color.

Does it happen,yes,but from what I've read and seen on the news,the percentage of these types of incidents nationwide is quite low.

It also seems,again based on news reports,that a number of black officers have the same "systemic" problem as white officers.

What I would like to know is why haven't people like Kaepernick been out protesting black on black crime,especially gang violence.
That results in a lot more deaths then unjustified shootings by the police.

I live near Paterson.
They have shootings all the time,including drive by shootings that kill innocent bystanders.

Lets also not forget the murder capital of the U.S.,Chicago.

These crimes are primarily black and black and gang/drug related.

I also find it ironic that groups like BLM are against violence by police officers,yet have no problem chanting for the killing of police officers (pigs in a blanket etc.).

Its also ironic that,when it turns put a police officer,who was initially condemned for taking a life,turns out to be justified,there is never an apology.

I also wonder how many people,including some on this board,who are so quick to criticize or condemn police, have ever worked with or eve spoken to an officer about what having to do what they do is like.

I have a friend who's a N.J. State Trooper.
He said try walking up to a car you pulled over for speeding on the Turnpike,a known highway for transporting drugs,at 3:00 am.The car has dark tinted windows.Driver rolls down the window and makes a sudden move into his jacket.
What do you do ?

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