Observation ( Pet Peeves )

[WildCard]

Is it just me or does it seem that tackling in the NFL is, a lot of the time, terrible!
And then when a good tackle is made, a minor celebration commences.

Another gripe of mine is, why does the majority of the time, the first member of the punting team downfield, runs past the receiver.
Never lays a hand on him.

Anybody got some others ?

[guy]

pet peeves

I have plenty of other pet peeves but what difference would it make listing them? You're still going to see horrible coaching, poor execution of basic football techniques, ridiculous celebrating after making a simple play, and various other garbage that is being translated down to the lower levels of football. You can blame the media for how sorry the sport has become. If they didn't promote that nonsense and the players who partake in that garbage- you wouldn't see so much of it (thank you ESPN and the like).

To add one other thing- I can hardly listen to many of the game announcers because of how fan-like they are and most of the ridiculous nonsense that they spew throughout the games. You don't learn very much listening to them and sometimes I wonder if we're even watching the same game. It is almost unbelievable how much they talk without actually saying anything.

Thanks for this thread- venting sometimes is kind of healthy.

[WildCard]

Hey Guy,

Agree 100%.
Concerning announcers, who is Joe Buck and where did he come from?

[resteasy]

God the announcers. Buck and Aikman are frigging horrendous. So bland and aikman tends to go on and on and on and on with a single point like he's reading a compilation of mini essays even if it goes into and through the next play.
Mayok is bad too. Do not even like his voice.
Collinsworth and Gruden blow several players a game throughout the game. Weekly quotes like "well, this guy is simply the best in football", "he is amazing and what he's done is truly remarkable to no other" etc.

It's become too congratulatory, too fan like to a player rather than the game, too happy go lucky. too media-like.

Poor execution of tackling is something I've noticed too.
What's annoying about kickoffs and punts is 90% of the time (or feels like it) there's a block in the back call. A flag is thrown nearly immediately the ball is kicked. Frustrating.

I also hate when players celebrate going into the endzone. A lot of times it seems like they're taught to get to the goalline and not taught to run through it. Then they get tackled at the 2 or something. Worse is when they flip the ball as they enter (or in some cases before) the goalline. They do that after making a catch too and tackled then almost in the same motion toss the ball. It bites some of them.

This was fun.

[winnersbyt&b]

Agree 1000% if that's possible. (lol) . Put the closed caption on and when u read the inane garbage these announcers spew it will make u want to throw up. In the pro games every player is the greatest ever. And in both college and pro games these announcers do not even know some of rules. ugh! cannot understand how they keep their job.
P.S. My buddy and i who have gambled for years cannot understand how Alabama is a 9 pt fav . I despise ND and would love for them to get routed. When ND joins a conference for football i will then recgnize them as relevant. I'm in Big East country and a few years ago the Big East offered ND to keep all the tv money from their home games and all the money from their bowl games. ND thumbed their arrogant nose at the offer. Total institutional arrogance. Someone explain this line to me.

thanks

[widestrides]

Some of the bad tackling is a result of more effort being made to rip and strip the ball. Hold the runner up and let others rip and strip and even punch. Eventually, they will have to make some rule that you can't mug a guy.

[hart attack]

announcers/analysts that have no business on the air-

shannon sharpe- can't understand a word he says
chris berman- act has gotten stale for the last dozen years or so. thinks he is so clever, cute, and funny...he is just an obese annoying turd
gus johnson- literally screams about any play that gains over 5 yds
mikey "crack-pipe" irvin- how did this ghetto thug ever get hired? can't speak a lick of english, I am sure the english lit dept at "The U" is beaming with pride with each telecast.

and yes, tackling & other fundamentals are now a lost art. these days it's all about "look at me" when some goober makes a routine play.

[guy]

All replies thus far have been interesting and funny. Isn't this type response from sports followers something these media people should be paying attention to? You would think they would want some feedback to try to make their broadcasts better.

[cford1]

Just an observation from Australia - if an Aussie Rules/rugby/league player ever said anything along the lines of "I'd like to thank the Lord Jesus Christ", "in my heart, I'm the MVP", "my God-given talents", "I feel that there isn't a player in this league who can defend me" or "I want to be remembered as one of the greats", they would be beaten into a coma at the next practice session by their own teamates and vilified by the entire country.
Just sayin....

[WildCard]

Here's another dumb play ... lining up in the neutral zone resulting in offsides call !

[hart attack]

and what about how an offensive player can molest the face mask of a defender trying to tackle him without penalty? and there should be an unsportsmanlike penalty on any player that throws his hands in the air to beg for any kind of call like a PI or holding. reminds me of the soccer sissies that lay on the ground like they are on death's doorstep trying to draw a red card.

[The Boys]

Brian Billick says "obviously" in almost every sentence. What's that about?

[resteasy]

and what about how an offensive player can molest the face mask of a defender trying to tackle him without penalty? and there should be an unsportsmanlike penalty on any player that throws his hands in the air to beg for any kind of call like a PI or holding. reminds me of the soccer sissies that lay on the ground like they are on death's doorstep trying to raw a red card.

Oh man I can't stand when players do the 'flag motion'. Half the team does it every play.

I actually like Gus Johnson. At least he doesn't sound dead and demoralized like half the announcers.

[bret3518]

Mike Mayock is terrible. I think he is terrible no matter what he is doing. I watch the NFL combine on mute just so I dont have to hear what he says. I dont think I got through a whole Thursday night game because of him. I really cant stand anyone on the NFL network. The combination of Deion, Irvin, and Faulk makes my ears bleed. Marshall Faulk comes into my work several times a year and I cannot stand him. He is even worse in person then on TV.
I dont mind Joe Buck he is an ok play by play guy. But I think the combination of him and aikman is not very entertaining.
I really like Mike Tirico but when u put guys like Gruden and Jaworski next to him it gets old.
I am just tired of all these former players and coaches getting jobs in broadcasting. Just because they played they game or coached it doesnt mean they do a good job talking about it. There are some former players that are good but the majority of them suck.
I wish Gruden would just go back to coaching cause he is actually good at that.

[normcash]

Pet peeves

Laughin out loud at some of these, I wouldnt be surprised if 70-80 per cent of the viewers could get
together and decide in about thirty minutes how to make all of this stuff a lot better or at least less
annoying. My two cents:

Brent Mussberger-I may be dating myself but from day one on the NFL today this guy pioneered (pardon me)
suckass sports journalism. Fawning over whatever jock was in front of him with the most kissass patronizing
fake enthusiasm possible. Finally, he and his agent brother when his contract ran out with CBS, they decided that
they needed tens of millions of dollars to re up for a few years. Somebody at CBS finally woke up out of whatever
binge they were on and cut the guy loose. I thought I was rid of him until ABC brought him back for a lot less
dough. The only good news is that I think that ABC management likes to shaft Brent with little league baseball,
gymnastics, lumber jack championships and demolition derby just to rub his nose in it.

Who is Joe Buck? He's Jack Buck's kid and in 21st century America that's all you need to know. At least he's
better than Luke Russert who can't even figure out how to get a decent haircut but will have a forty year gig
because his old man was such an amazing talent (not)

Truth be told, I dvr most NFL games. It isnt possible to sit through commercial time outs, injuries, quarter breaks
half time etc. playoff games, super bowl gets live coverage everything else, dvr it. I cannot conceive how
anyone could sit through that Aaron Rodgers insurance company campaign commercial alone. It is insufferable.

Pre game, half time, post game, forget it. It is like watching a bunch of middle school students breaking into the
liquor cabinet for the first time. Terry Bradshaw=horrible. And these guys picking games not against the spread
My grandmother can do that. Oh, I forgot there is no gambling on the NFL because the league says so. It is just
about the only reason anybody pays close attention to this stuff.

Don't get me wrong, I love the NFL, but there are three things about the game that have made it completely
arbitrary. There is obviously holding on every play but now you literally have hands to the face on every
play. I watch replay after replay where clearly this occurs right in front of a ref and he calls nothing and five
plays later the same ref will negate a big gain or crucial play. What is pass interference? It has become completely
arbitrary. I totally agree that vicious helmet to helmet hits should be called and if the league was serious it would
be a mandatory game suspension and major fine but now merely hard hits are routinely being called merely
because they are hard punishing hits. Let's face it, this is really happening because the NFL wants less liability
in the years to come when the inevitable lawsuits are filed. Until recently, they didnt give a damn if a guy like
Jim Otto or Mike Webster wound up a vegetable.

Of course, the weekend after the Super Bowl I'll be writhing on the living room rug wondering how Ill make it
to another NFL season...