2023 NFL Off-Season thread

[gunnar hendershow]

Nobody's picked up Flacco either. End of an era.

[Krabby]

I am ok with the Zadarius trade for Minnesota; yes we will miss the 10 sacks for sure but he seemed to disappear in big moments 

[Lineker]

James Washington to New Orleans.

[The Buscher]

Absolutely terrible.

[VerbalPuke]

3 hours ago, Krabby said:

I am ok with the Zadarius trade for Minnesota; yes we will miss the 10 sacks for sure but he seemed to disappear in big moments 

I'm ok with this move for the Vikings as well.

[gunnar hendershow]

6 minutes ago, I Think You Should Busch said:

Absolutely terrible.

Is it on the free version? I suspect local markets just broadcast it anyway, but obviously going to annoy sooo many people.

[The Buscher]

1 hour ago, damhausen said:

Is it on the free version? I suspect local markets just broadcast it anyway, but obviously going to annoy sooo many people.

No idea if it’s the free version.  But I’m already dreading the inevitable from my grandmother in the nursing home asking me how to use Roku for the 70th time.

[The Buscher]

The Pat McAfee Show is moving to ESPN in the fall, where it will be on ESPN, ESPN+, and ESPN YouTube.

I didn't listen to it every day, because sometimes it was a bit grating and sophomoric and I can see why it's not for everyone.  But at the end of the day it's a bunch of guys bullshitting about sports in an unscripted, uncensored environment.  That's obviously going to change, as will the guests they're likely going to be allowed to have on.  So regular listeners are understandably not happy about it.  Hearing McAfee explain it like "why would ESPN buy the rights to my show just to change it" made him seem really naive.  Of course it's going to be changed.  That's what happens when big corporations buy properties like this

That said I don't know if selling out is the right term here either.  He's leaving a FanDuel contract that paid $40 million annually for a deal that pays "only" $10 million a year.  Very much sounds like this was more of a "life" decision for him.  Apparently there was a lot of behind-the-scenes bullshit involved with continuing to run the operation as is, on top of being responsible for the livelihoods of a dozen or so staffers, many of whom contribute to the show on-air.  He's got a kid now and less time to deal with this stuff, so now they all become ESPN employees which takes a lot of the operational issues off their plates, plus possibly opens doors for his staffers to increase their exposure and move up within the ESPN ranks.

[gunnar hendershow]

Let's not forget that FanDuel is barely profitable and they're probably more than happy to have that expense gone. Would not be shocked if there was a lot of behind-the-scenes pressure to redo the deal, especially as Texas and California are no closer to legalizing sports betting.

[LL!]

I feel like you're right in pointing out that his response feels a bit naive, but, honestly, the landscape of media consumption is absolutely changing. I don't ever watch ESPN anymore outside of clips on their YouTube and what people want to see is actually people just shooting the shit about sports. Basically visual podcasts which is exactly what Pat McAfee's show is. Just like JJ Reddick's show is. While I'm sure some things will change, I'm sure it's going to be a lot of the same and it won't feel all that much different. 

[The Buscher]

In the course of them shooting the shit about sports, they probably average an F-bomb a minute.  Even their guests swear liberally, including people you wouldn't normally expect.  Everyone's just super loose and relaxed when they appear on his show.  Then you have other stuff to clean up like the dirty jokes, everyone shitting on Boston Connor, AJ Hawk making unhinged comments and openly smoking on camera, probably gotta get rid of a bunch of Ty Schmitt's impersonations etc.

I know stuff like this might be seen as eye-rolly to some and especially new viewers, but the regular viewers of the show eat this shit up.  The inevitable "sanitizing" of the show is gonna put a lot of people off who rallied behind it in the first place.

And today he opened his show by largely just criticizing his own audience, saying their concerns are misplaced and continuing to insist that ESPN wouldn't have bought the show if they wanted to change what people liked about it.  It's like he doesn't grasp why big corporations buy their competition in the first place.

[Maxx]

If they kill off Mad Mel Kiper then they might as well just cancel the show immediately.

[Slogger]

2 hours ago, Maxx said:

If they kill off Mad Mel Kiper then they might as well just cancel the show immediately.

I feel like the show peaked with Ty/Mad Mel reacting to the Jordan Love pick

[gunnar hendershow]

On 17/05/2023 at 14:33, I Think You Should Busch said:

In the course of them shooting the shit about sports, they probably average an F-bomb a minute.  Even their guests swear liberally, including people you wouldn't normally expect.  Everyone's just super loose and relaxed when they appear on his show.  Then you have other stuff to clean up like the dirty jokes, everyone shitting on Boston Connor, AJ Hawk making unhinged comments and openly smoking on camera, probably gotta get rid of a bunch of Ty Schmitt's impersonations etc.

I know stuff like this might be seen as eye-rolly to some and especially new viewers, but the regular viewers of the show eat this shit up.  The inevitable "sanitizing" of the show is gonna put a lot of people off who rallied behind it in the first place.

And today he opened his show by largely just criticizing his own audience, saying their concerns are misplaced and continuing to insist that ESPN wouldn't have bought the show if they wanted to change what people liked about it.  It's like he doesn't grasp why big corporations buy their competition in the first place.

Sounds like ESPN is very close to announcing/launching a full streaming service. In other words all of ESPN, available as you'd get on cable, for a subscription.

So I suspect he got this little tidbit in his negotiations but can't say it publicly. It would theoretically help ESPN avoid some of the issues with advertisers they'd have if they just let a show like his broadcast live on the air.

[Maxx]

1 hour ago, damhausen said:

Sounds like ESPN is very close to announcing/launching a full streaming service. In other words all of ESPN, available as you'd get on cable, for a subscription.

So I suspect he got this little tidbit in his negotiations but can't say it publicly. It would theoretically help ESPN avoid some of the issues with advertisers they'd have if they just let a show like his broadcast live on the air.

So Pat's show will go right back to normal once that ESPN streaming fails miserably.

[Lineker]

 

[The Buscher]

I feel like "greatest of all time" is somewhat subjective in a lot of sports, but especially football.  The eras are so vastly different from one another.  It's really hard to compare players from eras.

So with that said, Jim Brown was far and away the greatest of his own generation, and by extension puts him on the shortlist of GOATs.  Absolute legend.

[gunnar hendershow]

Jim Brown, off the playing field and away from his activism, has a litany of legal issues with treatment towards women. And I'm genuinely curious how the NFL squares this with what will very likely be a similar treatment to him with what the NBA has just given Bill Russell.

[Lineker]

Quote

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- At the NFL league meetings in March, the San Francisco 49ers were confident they would be bringing the Super Bowl back to Levi's Stadium.

Barring a sudden change of direction, that confidence will be rewarded at the spring owners meetings in Minneapolis next week. There, the 49ers' bid for Super Bowl 60 in 2026 is slated to be approved by the NFL, a league source said, confirming a report by Sports Business Journal.

"If the Bay Area has the opportunity, we would be honored to host Super Bowl LX," 49ers president Al Guido said in a statement.

Should the Bay Area bid be accepted, it would bring the Super Bowl back to Levi's Stadium for the first time since the Denver Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50 and be the third Super Bowl played in the Bay Area. The Niners beat the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl XIX, a game that was played at Stanford Stadium in 1985.

Niners executives have been confident about bringing the Super Bowl back to Levi's for the past few months. At the March league meetings in Phoenix, the Niners sought a $120 million loan from the NFL's stadium fund to make improvements to Levi's Stadium.

That money is slated to go toward premium seating and scoreboard upgrades at Levi's with an eye toward the 2026 World Cup and bolstering their position for future Super Bowls.

Niners chief executive officer Jed York was enthusiastic about the chances of another successful Super Bowl bid.

"My optimism is very high," York said on March 28. "I feel very confident that we're going to get a Super Bowl in the near future. And it would be great to get Super Bowl 60 after hosting Super Bowl 50. ... It would be fantastic to be able to bring that game, certainly after bringing the World Cup to Levi's Stadium and having the Super Bowl to follow that. Those are two truly the largest sporting events in the world, and having those back-to-back would be fantastic."

 

[Lint]