I made the horrible mistake of tuning in too late to catch the beginning of the Dallas-Cincinnati game (Curse you Mountain Time Zone), and missed the 8 minutes the starters played. As I struggle to watch the rest of the game, which closely resembles NCAA Division II football, my mind wanders and I think “What is the best analogy or marketing slogan for Preseason football?” Of course the standard is “It’s like kissing your sister,” but most of us don’t live in Alabama, so it may be hard to relate.
I believe it’s much more like the guy who operates the convenience store on the “other side” of the desert. He knows that your so deprived of essentials by the time you get there, that you’ll be happy to get anything, even a $5 bottle of water and a $3 stale Twinkie. Memories of my time in South Florida also pop up, remembering the trucks that would show up after a major hurricane loaded with $10 gallon water jugs and $20 packages of 2 “D” batteries. If we didn’t get pre-season football for free (kind of) I would claim price-gouging. Maybe “NFL Preseason: You get what you pay for!”
I also find it highly ironic and disappointing that the game is the culmination of the Hall of Fame Weekend ceremonies. You spend the previously hours watching all these clips of great players doing amazing things on the field, only to tune in and see the rookie from Southwest New Mexico State fumble a simple handoff and kick the ball down the field. Maybe the NFL could advertise like a going out of business sale “NFL Preseason: Get a chance to see these guys before they’re all gone!” I’d be much more excited about seeing inductees Russ Grimm and John Randle having a one-on-one drill at midfield wearing their new yellow jackets.
Of the course the media coverage doesn’t help. We get the usual sideline interview with Tony Romo, who’s smiling and looks like he just finished a hot dog, and of course instead of focusing on the current game, they’re asking him about Brett Favre and the likelihood of his fourteenth un-retirement. C’mon, at least act like we’re supposed to be interested in this game. The good thing is that Fawcett Stadium is only slightly larger than a large high school stadium, so they can usually scare up enough people to fill it, although I heard this year they were telling people it was a Lady Gaga concert and selling them non-refundable tickets. How about “NFL Preseason: We don’t care either!”
All in all, I think the NFL should simply be honest with the fans and call it the NFL Preseason “Lame of the Week”.
By Tim Ruddy, who played at the University of Notre Dame from 1990-1994 and also played center for the NFL's Miami Dolphins from 1994-2003. Read more about Tim here
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for checking in.