Post by TheShadow on Sept 25, 2005 11:55:09 GMT -5
www.insidebayarea.com
LAST WEEK the Raiders sold out. Not on the field. In the stands. Well,
kinda, sorta.
The announced crowd for the Sunday night deflation was 62,273, give or take
three or four thousand. We were never given an explanation of just how this
game became a quasi-sellout, but apparently a lot of Toms, Dicks and Harrys
bought seats up on Mount Davis and then opted promptly to go bowling.
Which brings up a point.
Do ya think it's time to take this 30-year-old blackout policy the NFL has
foisted upon us and toss it in the nearest sewage treatment plant or what?
For three decades the NFL's stance has been "or what." They feared
Congressional reproach, to wit, getting zapped as monopolistic cretins. Of
course, we all know there are no monopolies in America today. Heh heh.
Besides, who would ever think of the NFL as a monopoly? Ridiculous. Why,
it's just a little fraternity of football-loving sportsmen, doing the best
they can to provide this nation with entertainment ... and a means by which
to apply the God-given right to dabble in a spot of gambling. In the spirit
of entertainment, of course.
At one time, there were Congressional wombats who would have brought the NFL
to task on such rude, baseless charges of dominating the marketplace ...
unless, of course, they could score season tickets to Redskins games.
Now, of course, that is a non-issue. There are enough seats in the team's
new stadium for all of our lawmakers and their families and mistresses to
savor the privilege of paying $20 to park, $10 for a beer and lord knows
what for a foam finger to brandish.
Besides, Congress no longer is as powerful as the National Football League
and probably never will be again. So much for representative democracy.
But, getting back to blackouts, we have Oakland "selling out" with enough
empty seats to choke a riot of politicians. Sellout, wink-wink, just don't
ask.
And furthermore, these pseudo-sellouts are getting to be somewhat less than
unusual around the little league that could. Take this weekend.
Dateline San Diego:
"The blackout was lifted for Sunday's 5:30 Giants-Chargers game after the
Native American Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, ESPN and KGTV-ABC in San
Diego jointly agreed to purchase the remaining unsold tickets - reportedly
about 800 - by game time. The three entities also purchased several hundred
tickets to be donated to Hurricane Katrina evacuees, the local military and
Hispanic community organizations." (Sports Business Daily).
Dateline Miami:
"The blackout for Sunday's Panthers-Dolphins game will be lifted, with Fox
affiliates expected to buy up the remaining tickets. The NFL had granted the
Dolphins a one-day extension until 5 p.m. (Friday) to sell the 'few
thousand' tickets remaining." (Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel).
Well, now. Thanks to San Diego, the past two Sunday night games went down to
the sellout wire. That may - or at least should - get the NFL's attention.
And it will ... about the time the networks come to them talking TV contract
renewal. Then, they will start trying to deduct the outlay they made to
achieve sellouts in order to sell advertising. Who knows, they may even
confess that the Kumeyaay Nation is none other than themselves.
What do you say we just skip the ruse. Despite Sports Illustrated's
blatantly
heinie-kissing cover story about the NFL's unflaggingly immense popularity
earlier this month, I think maybe the boys had better face some facts.
America's game is no longer football. It's poker. Why? Because it's on TV.
So it stands to reason that if a football game takes place in the forest and
no one is there to see it, maybe it never really happened. Or maybe a tree
fell on it.