some (more general) NFL thoughts

Anyway, about the whole "controversy" in the NFL this weekend, if I ruled the world, that wouldn't even be a "controversy", especially with China/Iran/North Korea/Russia/Venezuela/etc. all threatening the stability of either their own countries (Venezuelan hyperinflation), or others around them (Iran/North Korea constantly threatening to attack places like Israel/Japan/South Korea), or the world as a whole (China/Russia), and the continued destruction faced by citizens/residents down on the islands of the Caribbean, with some of them basically seemingly put back decades, just within the span of a few hours, across multiple "major" storms, and, meanwhile, the top story this past weekend was the most pathetic "controversy" ever in this country/media's history, if you ask me, personally, which is even more shameful when you consider some of the games that took place this past weekend, including another over in London (where, honestly, the NFL should remember its own history over there back in the 1990s/2000s, with the World League/NFL Europe, and just quit trying to expand there, and so, too, should the NHL over in China, since the KHL rules that part of the hockey landscape...) which, honestly, even with some rather loud idiots on social media claiming to "boycott" the NFL, on top of the million other things people have threatened to "boycott" just this year, and buried even below that whole "controversy" was the (L.A.) Chargers having yet another "home" game taken over by visiting fans, which, if you ask me, is entirely the team's fault, there, for moving into a soccer stadium temporarily...

As you very well know by now, the San Diego Chargers moved (back) to Los Angeles at the conclusion of last season (2016), after not having played there at all since 1960 ('61?)... Now, you could probably make the case the entire situation over there would've been different, if only the (former) St. Louis Rams hadn't moved back there first, after not having been there since (technically) 1995, and the Oakland Raiders hadn't "entertained the idea" themselves, before deciding to instead move to Las Vegas in a few years' time! That said, none of that came to pass, so, with the Rams having taken the L.A. Memorial Coliseum instead of the Rose Bowl stadium in (relatively) nearby Pasadena, CA, the Chargers made the, in my opinion, brutal mistake of moving into the "soccer-specific" StubHub Center, in Carson, CA (capacity: 27,000), instead of, as I believe I mentioned a few weeks ago, sharing the Coliseum for these next few years, since, after all, the Giants and Jets, at one point or another, shared: (late) Shea Stadium in Flushing, Queens (1973-75, along with both of the local MLB clubs in '75); (late) Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ (1983-2009), and, currently, MetLife Stadium, where both teams have a (reported) 100-year lease on the property, and (presumably) any events within, and there actually seems to be a precedent to that just within the history of the Coliseum itself, albeit at the college level, with UCLA and USC football having been there together for years...

Anyway, my overall thoughts on the situation are that the Chargers could've easily stayed down in San Diego, possibly even in a brand new stadium, to replace the one that only opened a few short years after the team's founding back in the 1960s, as part of the old AFL, but, instead, the club let the Spanos family (more like a "dynasty", if you ask me) jerk its fans and players, alike, around while putting forth these "empty promises" about "new stadium plans" (although the fans seem to be "self-defeating" at times, also, rejecting anything put forth by ownership, simply because of "grudges", or what have you...)... 

Putting the team in a soccer stadium, though, would basically be, to make an analogy to this part of the country, putting the Jets (the "younger" of the pair of teams here, with the Giants basically having been founded "alongside" the NFL way back when) in Red Bull Arena over in Harrison, NJ, or putting the Eagles/Temple football in Franklin Field just west of Center City Philly (although that wouldn't be entirely unprecedented...), if the NFL, with all its other difficulties in recent years, wouldn't face lawsuits, in the most extreme circumstances, obviously, as a result of such moves taking place, regardless of whether they were out of "necessity" or not (although, seeing this ongoing debacle now, I'm actually a bit disappointed, deep down, that neither of the "N.Y." teams will visit either the Chargers or Rams before they open their new "joint" stadium by the end of this decade, only to see just how many Giant/Jet fans would show up to either of those stadiums over there...)! Now, though, the Chargers will be stuck in front of crowds perilously close to becoming almost "visiting" crowds for them these next few years, at least through 2020 (in fact, just these past few weeks, we've already witnessed some very "even" crowds inside that stadium), while the Rams will have chances at playing in front of 70/80,000+ crowds, similar to USC, and the Raiders will have at least 35,000 in UNLV's stadium in Las Vegas, provided the Raiders either leave Oakland a bit earlier than expected (around 2020), or don't get the team's new stadium completely built in time for the move over to Vegas from Oakland, and, all the while, a college team will be drawing more fans than the Chargers (San Diego State U., which, coincidentally, plays in the Chargers' old home stadium, and recently upset Stanford in said stadium just about a pair of weekends back, very late night, and after a 20 minute or so power outage delay, which, having been in Philly just the previous night, I sort of half-joked about that the moment it happened, but, honestly, what's worse to you: playing in an outdated 70,000 seat stadium, or playing in a new/renovated stadium, yet one that only fits not even 30,000?)!

http://thebiglead.com/2017/09/24/los-angeles-chargers-welcomed-another-embarrassing-crowd-in-week-3/amp/

...speaking of the Chargers, I found something just like this in an East Village (N.Y.C.) thrift store this past weekend (size "L", $8, alongside a few other NFL unis for the same price, which I didn't go for):

​

...I'll be honest with you, though, and admit that I just always liked the "powder" blue that those unis happened to be, instead of the "navy" blue (almost black) of their primary tops, which we could honestly only use more of across the sports landscape, or, barring that, more "color v. color" matchups each season, provided teams' colors don't "clash", so, having found one of those for less than the price of a few subway trips around here ($2.75 each right now on the MTA, or $2/$2.50 on SEPTA, depending on tokens/all other fare types/"Key" cards), I immediately pounced, knowing, by now, the rather "shifty" nature of such places!

...also, while I'm at this, I might as well tell you that I've changed my mind about the middle of next month (October):

​(Western Ontario U. (London, Ont.) @ Princeton; Sat. night, 10/14, shortly after 7 P.M.)

...especially since, at this point, it looks like the entire Caribbean will effectively be "shuttered" for the entire rest of this year, putting plans like ours on hold for a while, so, albeit an "exhibition", having free entry to a top-level college hockey game, which almost never happens, short of rescheduling, would be much better than any other type of game in that "circuit"!

(also, an excerpt on the actual reasons for the NFL's ratings declines in recent seasons)

"There are reasons that the NFL’s ratings are down, and they don’t have anything to do with a few players refusing to stand for the National Anthem.

First of all, look at the ridiculous celebration penalties. Who really cares if a player dunks a football through the goalposts after scoring a touchdown or does an elaborate celebration dance with his teammates? Even if it is taunting the other team, is it really that big of a deal? This is football, for crying out loud.

Then we have the issue of domestic violence and criminal activity. Ray Rice knocked his wife out in an elevator and the NFL only suspended him after the surveillance footage came to light. He still got a shorter initial suspension than members of the New Orleans Saints team who were alleged to have targeted opposing players on the field.

We also have the issue of drug use. Players are turning to various drugs to treat their injuries, but smoking some weed is enough to get them multiple game suspensions. Concussions and brain damage are far worse than someone standing up for social issues like police brutality and racial profiling.

I still watch a few NFL games here and there, but the fun has been taken out of the game. Let the players express themselves and have a good time – or use it for a platform for the things they believe in. It’s the National Football League, not the No Fun League."