Why baseball is improving and the NFL is getting worse

[chiefzilla1501]

Last night and this week said so much about why MLB leadership is kicking NFL leadership's ass.

To the NFL, the Royals would be a super bowl nightmare. Midwest city, not a national presence.

The MLB commissioner had a chance to boost ratings by eliminating defensive shifts. Getting rid of defense creates more offense which gets casual fans excited. He declined. The NFL, on the other hand, has chosen the past few years to emphasize defensive holding to open up an already advantaged passing game.

This defensive approach, by the way, favors small market. While the Yankees were loading up on power and pitching, the Royals countered with defense and bullpen. The Royals, in fact, beat a Blue Jays team that took that exact approach mid-season.

Even in the larger markets, this year FOUR out of eight playoff teams were teams that had a significant playoff drought -- Cubs, Toronto, Houston, Mets.

We saw a banned gambler and a justly punished PED in the studio. The NFL, on the other hand, is considering penalizing Johnny Manziel for an incident in which no charges were pressed and is dealing with a gambling site with integrity issues.


I love the NFL a hell of a lot more than I love MLB. It's just a shame to see the two very different directions the two leagues are moving in.

[RunKC]

These spread offense's make everyone look bad.

The OL don't use their hands as much or really pass block because the ball comes out so fast most of the time. Therefore they don't learn fundamentals. Then the NFL new CBA doesn't allow practice time to learn.
Notice that most OL don't look good in the league nowadays.

A lot of the WR's don't run a lot of the routing tree because the ball comes out so fast. Same thing. They don't learn to fully develop or sell a route.

Then, as we all know, the QB doesn't learn to read defenses because he's told where to throw. It's scripted and they have no clue what they are doing against significantly better competition.

It's ruining the game.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by mr. tegu

The difference is that in baseball it is plural. You have to have multiple good pitchers to compete so buying up 1 or 2 players at ridiculous salaries doesn't really win much. In football if you have just one great player and its your QB, you have nearly everyone else beat with just one player.

What's been great is the rise of pitching has created such low margin of error since games are more low scoring. You have to play defense and have a deep bullpen to succeed. We are watching some of the best team baseball in years.

[jason54858]

Originally Posted by KCTitus

I'm guessing you frequent mostly team owned or sanctioned forums then, because if you cannot see that this league is headed for a serious crash, you arent paying attention.

For decades there have always been forces that hated the sport for its barbaric nature, and while MMA and Boxing are far worse, the simple fact of the popularity of the sport is what drives many who hate its very essence. In many ways those who hate the sport have this schadenfreude about them that likes imposing their will on anything that brings someone else entertainment or enjoyment. But I digress...

Let's look at the leagues problems....

Head Trauma/CTE/kids dying playing HS football. This has gone from a side issue to a persistent boil as a problem. The settlement was rescinded and returned to the courts for further argument. I think this could be the single biggest issue to bring down the league. It's not going to kill the league itself, but it will create a situation where the game becomes a joke or a shadow of its former self. I have notice a number of stories, especially on the UK Daily Mail, that is keeping count of the number of HS students that have died due to contact on the field. You probably arent aware of this the number is up to 7 this year. It may have happened in the past, but now it's getting media attention and that will sway public opinion.

The league is not about the game but about the brand or 'The Shield'. The game has become an absolute joke. The officiating has become so inconsistent, it has begun to call into question the veracity of the game itself. Screwy definitions about what constitutes a 'Catch' has gone beyond absurd and can lead to inconsistent rulings.

The Shield's focus, instead of ON the field, has gone to off the field. Its owners have become involved in daily fantasy sports sites, The Shield aggressively goes after its own customers who post gifs or videos of a play or two. Of course we all are aware of the usage of the term 'Super Bowl' and the extent to which The Shield will come after even churches who use the word but dont pay The Shield for the 'right' to do so.

Lastly is the Commissioner and his aggressive desire to push all the right politically correct buttons. We got Pinktober and 'No More' and the Commissioner's exempt list in which the league can punish a player for off field conduct even when no legal court finds him guilty. Not only is it inconsistent as rulings about what is a catch or not, but several recent incidents have gone wholly ignored.

All of this leads to a bad product on the field to the point that people become apathetic about it. It's not going to happen overnight, but I do think the peak has come and gone and the decline has begun.

Oh no, don't get me wrong I see the issues (you addressed them very well in your post). I just don't see the "decline". TV ratings are up, stadiums are filled, and young kids appear to be very interested in the game. Can MLB make the claim? Do me a favor, (guess we can start tommorrow) compare the World Series TV ratings of Game 1, 2, 3, 4, and whatever other game that comes after that to any NFL regular season primetime game. I promise you the NFL will trumph the ratings of any World Series game this year.

Your points are all fixable issues (head trauma, officiating, the "commissioner issue"). Now granted, it won't come overnight, and some issues will (mainly the head trauma dilima) take a lot of PR to bring back the fans that were lost back into the fold. The league is a GOOD commissioner away of bringing this game back on track IMO.

What the NFL has over all of the other leagues IN THIS COUNTRY (not around the world of course) is the popularity it has within many of the different cultures across the county. Old white guys love it, young black kids love it, middle aged hispnic guys love it, the only league that MIGHT be able to make this claim is the NBA (with the kids anyway). Who will surpass the NFL in this county? the NBA? MLB? The NHL? European soccer?

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by jason54858

Oh no, don't get me wrong I see the issues (you addressed them very well in your post). I just don't see the "decline". TV ratings are up, stadiums are filled, and young kids appear to be very interested in the game. Can MLB make the claim? Do me a favor, (guess we can start tommorrow) compare the World Series TV ratings of Game 1, 2, 3, 4, and whatever other game that comes after that to any NFL regular season primetime game. I promise you the NFL will trumph the ratings of any World Series game this year.

Everybody knows the Super Bowl is a lot more popular than the MLB playoffs. The issue I have is your focus on "ratings." That is exactly the problem. Sure, the NFL has increased its popularity to a shitty fanbase that roots for their team for 3 hours but can't name more than 2 players on the team. Or fantasy football players. But at what expense?

Your points are all fixable issues (head trauma, officiating, the "commissioner issue"). Now granted, it won't come overnight, and some issues will (mainly the head trauma dilima) take a lot of PR to bring back the fans that were lost back into the fold. The league is a GOOD commissioner away of bringing this game back on track IMO.

I somewhat agree. But we're getting close to a tipping point where some of Goodell's damage could become irreparable. He keeps adding overseas games and is pushing for an overseas franchise. He wants even more playoff games. He's institutionalized that shitty, shitty decision to have Thursday night football. A new commissioner will have to convince owners to renege on these things which are destroying the game, but making them a lot of money. And the CTE issue is a dam waiting to burst. Just a matter of when.

What the NFL has over all of the other leagues IN THIS COUNTRY (not around the world of course) is the popularity it has within many of the different cultures across the county. Old white guys love it, young black kids love it, middle aged hispnic guys love it, the only league that MIGHT be able to make this claim is the NBA (with the kids anyway). Who will surpass the NFL in this county? the NBA? MLB? The NHL? European soccer?

Fair point. But I don't think anyone is predicting the NFL gets surpassed. I think the NFL will make a shit ton of money commercializing the game to a mass audience. The MLB on the other hand, so far is protecting the integrity of the game and making the game fun for authentic fans