I wasn't going to write about football again until next football season, but an article I just read in the Washington Post begs to be commented on.
In the article, sportswriter Sally Jennings basically says "no mas" to the NFL and the Super Bowl. Jennings doesn't have any problem with the game itself, which she thought was a decent one to watch. Her problem is with the ridiculous excess that this annual event has become - especially the one played in Dallas Sunday night.
She points out that if you wanted to enjoy a Margarita at the game it would cost you $19.00. For $19.00 I want the margarita to have jet black hair, beautiful brown eyes, an amazing body and an attitude. You don't do margaritas - okay, then how about forking over $10.00 for a beer? No, you don't get a six-pack of Bud Lite or a nice microyuppie brew - you get one fucking plastic cup of cheap suds. At Big Tommy's beer store, that same $10.00 will probably get you a case of Milwaukee's Best. Of course, if that's Milwaukee's best offering, I'd hate to be the schmuck who has to taste their worst. It's probably a good thing that I don't drink beer.
Can't afford the price of a ticket? For $200.00 you can stand outside the stadium and see the game on a screen. Oh, and if you need to park your car and want to be close to the stadium - it'll cost you $900.00. Nine hundred fucking dollars to park your ride! Obscene doesn't even begin to describe it. Just think how pissed you would be to get in your car after the game only to discover that some asshole had sideswiped your rear fender and didn't leave you his/her name and insurance information. For this, you paid 9 Benjamins.
It gets better. They sold over 100,000 tickets to the game, but that wasn't enough. Some NFL exec decided that erecting temporary seats would make the event even better. They sold somewhere around 1,200 of those seats only to be told by the fire marshal that they weren't safe and couldn't be used. Those 1,200 people came to Dallas expecting to see the game and were turned away. No effort had been made to save them the expense of the trip or the aggravation of the airport security routine. The people found out about it when they showed up for the game. That would be enough for me to go postal. The next day, the league offered these folks a refund of three times the cost of the seats, and tickets to next year's game. I smell litigation with this one.
As is customary at these kind of events, the Navy did a fly-by over the stadium at a cost of $450,000. When asked about this, the Navy said that this was good for recruiting. So much for cutting the military budgets. Oh, and did I tell you that the roof was closed so the only place you could see the fly-by was on the big screen that Jerry is so proud of?
Sally Jennings is 100% right-on in her opinion that the NFL has finally gone over the top. The whole thing has gotten out of hand and, in my opinion, some people should be shot.
Roger Goodell gave an interview on Sunday where he spoke of the necessity of the owners getting more revenue so that the league can continue to grow. Huh? Does that mean $1,000 to park next year? Roger Goodell and the 32 owners just don't have a clue.
As for the product, the games are mostly boring and this long suffering fan can just about get through most of the puke they show on TV. The networks do a lousy job of covering the games and it is getting harder and harder to distinguish one announcing trio from another.
My message to the NFL is simple: $19.00 margaritas, $10.00 beers, $900.00 parking fees, $15.00 hot dogs -P.T. Barnum was right. Watching the game on the sofa with real friends and great homemade mac & cheese - PRICELESS!
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