For God's sake, STFU. If you don't like the NFL, don't watch. If you're a fair weather fan who only cares when the Pats are good, that's fine, but spare me the sanctimonious bullshit. I like all of you guys, but this shit is insufferable.
You don't see me trolling the soccer thread talking about flopping and corruption when people who enjoy the sport are talking about an actual game.
Calling people "fair weather fans" because they have issues with how the NFL has been run and handled the past decade, and in particular the past few years, is absolutely ridiculous. I have watched the Patriots from about 1989-90 on, win or lose, religiously. In fact, I'm not even going to bother defending further myself against that suggestion because it's asinine.
I mean you realize Cam Newton was hit in the head multiple times
during the game, right? Bergs didn't come in here and say "I hate the NFL, fuck all of you fans!" out of the blue to "troll" people here. The other comments came
after the game, when the issue of headshots was the main topic of conversation. And headshots are a really fucking serious issue that we are far more cognizant of now than we were 3-5-10 years ago. We better understand the longer-term impact and take in the game differently than we did in the past, and I mean I thought we could have all agreed that's a good thing. Your coming in and shitting all over Berg's post and suggesting people who take umbrage with the league not doing all it can to address it--and in fact throwing their arms up and blaming the sideline doctors--is bullshit. Suggesting he and others are "sanctimonuous" and "fair weather fans" because they're not/no longer fired up over watching people get jacked up in the head the way they are because we have more education on the long-term impact is bullshit. And the NFL has many issues beyond just the concussion one...
The NFL product is addictive and a lot (most?) of us here are or have been addicts. Cold turkey just isn't an option. Personally, even though I kept up pretty closely with the Pats last year, I noticed my interest level for the league in general was beginning to wane. I didn't watch nearly as many non-Pats games as in the past and barely watched any of the off the field stuff on the other networks. Heading into this season, I have noticed that, even though I am still interested in the Pats succeeding, I am far less invested than I've been in a really long time and about a month ago I cancelled my ESPN and NFLN subscriptions. And to again address your "fair weather" comment, I think the Pats are going to be a really good team (depending on all these injuries). I did order Sunday Ticket for $99 as I am out of market and cannot cold turkey and like Bergs I am particularly invested in Brady and Belichick.
Now why am I less invested overall? I'm pretty sure part of it is a self-defense mechanism that has hit me with other sports like UFC, boxing, and even WWE. I love football itself, but it's becoming increasingly difficult to watch as we are becoming more educated on its impact on the human body. Obviously we've always watched the injuries, but the knowing the longer term impact makes it a real bummer at times, especially head contact like with Newton. The other issue is the giant off the field soap opera the NFL has become under Goodell. I've gotten myself caught up in that plenty, but honestly it's just exhausting. I am also legitimately upset about what I feel was a grave injustice to one of my 2-3 favorite athletes ever in part because it's another example of the league putting the soap opera over its product and in part because I think it's just plain wrong. You may disagree, which is fine, but that's my view and interpretation of what happened.
I could go on but I think I've probably said enough. There is plenty wrong with the league--both on the field and behind the scenes--to legitimately
want to not watch. There are also certainly legitimate reasons to watch. Things have also changed over the years and we have evolved as a society, so it's perfectly reasonable for one to change his/her views and actions on the subject without being a sanctimonious, fair-weather fan. It's also not an easy process for many to go through, so provided people aren't just wantonly posting "fuck the NFL" 12 times a day in the middle of threads, I think it's safe to classify the posts as outside the realm of "trolling." Especially when it's actually germane to things happening on the field at the time, like Cam Newton getting smashed in the head repeatedly and the NFL subsequently throwing its arms up and blaming the doctors as if there's just nothing more they can do.
Mauf you are one of the best posters here but you're off base on this one. Couching it as "I'll be done with football when BB and TB are gone" is ridiculous.
I honestly don't even agree with this. A lot of people are emotionally invested in BB and TB and I think it's reasonable to be conflicted about having a loyalty to them and all they feel the two have provided them as fans. Particularly when part of the reason many are turned off is that they feel TB has been completely railroaded and the best way they can stick it to the league is to support them. The obvious and simple response is to say that makes someone a fair weather fan, because they are both so fucking good, but I think it's fair to look at it outside that lens as well. These guys are legitimate sports heroes and will be forever. Boston fans tend to get attached to those people.