News Archive for Roger Goodell

A Very Special Bah Humbug from Roger Goodell

Friday, December 25th, 2009
Goodell Sticks It To Fans Again

Goodell Sticks It To Fans Again

It’s the holiday season and NFL chief executive Roger Goodell is doing his best Ebenezer Scrooge impression.  So not everybody can afford cable and gets the NFL Network?  Stop complaining Bob Cratchitt and open your wallet.  This is the season about families and good tidings?  Tough luck, this is big business.  You can’t afford the price?  Don’t make me have to kick that crutch out from under you..you are nothing but faker Tiny Tim!

Once again, commissioner Goodell has disrespected NFL fans around the country by shifting the once free sports viewing of good ole American Football to his subscription-based, NFL-owned television channel that reaches just a handful of household at an outrageous premium price.  At a time of year when families come together and happiness should be in the air, Goodell has extended his hand and said “Pay Me” or you don’t get your gift.

This evening’s matchup is between the hungry comeback kids Tennessee Titans versus the hottest team in the NFL, the San Diego Chargers.  The Titans are in a must win situation, part of the 7-7 playoff logjam in the AFC while the Chargers are trying to lock up a first round bye for the playoffs.  Great football, interesting storyline, significant magnitude…but not available through your local cable provider.  Unfortunately, nobody is going to see a great game and Goodell could care less.  Providing free access to watch online with my crappy 15 inch screen and non-existent surround sound is not a solution.

The NFL Network has been a complete flop.  Not only can the NFL not get most cable providers to carry the channel on basic cable, even those providers that do carry it are not  generating enough viewership to shake a stick at it.  Last Saturday’s Dallas versus New Orleans matchup, which saw the Saints fall from the unbeaten ranks, generated just 10.48 million viewers.  A far cry from what the NFL generates on Sunday afternoons.  The fans simply don’t care to pay for the NFL Network even when it is available to them.

Since Goodell’s arrival in the top position at the NFL, he has begun to steer the NFL in a terrible direction.  He’s focused on penalties and fines versus helping troubled players with consultation and advisement.  He’s refused lifting blackout rules despite a struggling economy.  He’s allowed NBC to hand-pick games late in the season so that Sunday afternoon games feature the league’s bottom feeder teams not heading into the playoffs.  Finally, he has expanded football viewing into Thursday and Saturday nights, when nobody really cares to watch pro football.

Goodell has stripped a once great Sunday afternoon tradition that bonded fathers and sons in the family living room down to nothing.  Rather than preserve the importance that football has had in the American household, Goodell has sold out to the same monetary greed that has run the country into the current economic recession.  Football was the last pure sport out there, that was until Goodell came along and took our football games away from us.

We should look forward to Goodell’s next moves, allowing Budweiser to rename the Super Bowl to the Bud Bowl (for real, not just a commercial anymore) and replacing the Lombardi name on the championship trophy with DirectTV.   Nothing Goodell would do would surpise, as his behavior since taking over has been a consistent thumbing of the nose to the average NFL fan.

I’d love to report on tonight’s game, but unfortunately I have Time Warner.  Thank you Roger for make our holidays wishes come true.

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Posted in San Diego Chargers, Tennessee Titans, nfl | No Comments »

Does NFL Need To Do More For Troubled Players Like Chris Henry?

Friday, December 18th, 2009
Chris Henry, Dead at 26

Chris Henry, Dead at 26

Cincinnati Bengals’ troubled wide receiver Chris Henry died of injuries resulting from a motor vehicle accident.  Henry was thrown from the truck bed of a pickup trip on Wednesday and passed away hours later while in intensive care.  Reports of the incident are being pieced together as 911 tapes and police reports have been released.

The lowdown of the situation is that Henry and his fiance, mother of his three kids, got into a verbal altercation outside their home.  Henry was seen jumping on the truck bed by a neighbor and 911 reports suggest that Henry was attempting to enter the pickup truck’s cab while it was in motion.  Henry was thrown from the vehicle and was found unconscious roadside.

Bengals execs and teammates have voiced out their support and kind words for the trouble receiver.  Henry built a reputation as one of the NFL baddest of the bad boys, unleashing a one-man crime spree wherever he walked over a two and half year period. Henry was arrested for marijuana possession, concealment of a weapon, purchasing alcohol for minors, sexual assault (accused) and physical assault & battery charges.  But you wouldn’t believe Henry did any of this if you listen to his teammates.

Let’s get serious.  Chris Henry was a bad guy and his untimely death really doesn’t come as much of a surprise.  If you were placing bets on what NFL player would get killed, Chris Henry was at the top of your list.  But did he have to be?

The NFL is very much at fault here.  Commissioner Roger Goodell believes a rookie seminar prepares these young college kids for the lifestyle change when they make it to the NFL.  It just doesn’t work that way.  Personally having the opportunity to live in the same neighborhood of another fallen NFL player, Marquis Cooper, I’ve seen first hand how a player struggles to handle their stardom.  Fast times and little concern.

Then, to add fuel to the fire, the NFL believes that the best way to deal with these troubled individuals is to suspend them and ban them from practice.  This just worsens the problem in that they guys go out and get in more trouble due to the idle time.  The activities on the field is what keeps them out of trouble.  Send them away just unleashes then on the general public.  Suspensions and fines just don’t work.

What the NFL needs to do is start providing for its players are life coaches.   The game should not be all about Xs, Os, and victories.  By placing life coaches in the locker rooms, the NFL would not only reap the benefit of fewer bad press relations situations but also lengthen and improve the careers of talented athletes such as Chris Henry.

Proof positive example of how a life coach can help get a person grounded again can be seen in Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton.  Considered one of the best high school prospects ever, Hamilton fizzled in the minor leagues as he dealt with substance abuse and depression.  The Cincinnati Reds gave him a second chance, with his mentor life coach in tow named Johnny Narron.  His life coach goes everywhere with Hamilton, keeping him focused on appreciating his athletic talents and advising him on proper life course.  Hamilton credits Narron with all the success he has achieved since his revival.

Could things have been different if the NFL invested a little more care in people like Chris Henry.  Could a life coach changed his destructive path which the NFL profited off.  We’ll never know.  May he rest in peace.

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Posted in Cincinnati Bengals, nfl | No Comments »