April 18, 20169 yr ^ I think they should move the Bills to Toronto. The Ralph is old and outdated, and Buffalo is a small and shrinking metro, with little economic clout. Meanwhile, Toronto is busting at the seems, and is still close enough to Buffalo that long time fans could still attend games. The NFL could make a lot of money from that move, I'd think.
April 18, 20169 yr They already play a couple games there every year, I believe. EDIT: They stopped doing this in 2013. I was in Toronto and saw signs for the series a few years ago, and just assumed it was still happening.
April 18, 20169 yr ^ I think they should move the Bills to Toronto. The Ralph is old and outdated, and Buffalo is a small and shrinking metro, with little economic clout. Meanwhile, Toronto is busting at the seems, and is still close enough to Buffalo that long time fans could still attend games. The NFL could make a lot of money from that move, I'd think. If you've ever been to a Bills game, you might change your mind. They draw from a pretty large geographic area and their fans are about as devout as ours.
April 18, 20169 yr ^ I think they should move the Bills to Toronto. The Ralph is old and outdated, and Buffalo is a small and shrinking metro, with little economic clout. Meanwhile, Toronto is busting at the seems, and is still close enough to Buffalo that long time fans could still attend games. The NFL could make a lot of money from that move, I'd think. The Toronto series was cancelled because the financial model wasn't working. It took them actually doing it to prove what their market research could have told them: A large part of the Bills Ontario fanbase is Southern Ontarians. It was easy for them to pop across the Peace Bridge for a game in Orchard Park. But none of them (and most of the USA fan base) wanted to deal with going to Toronto, only to arrive at a stadium with no tailgaiting surrounded by office buildings and overpriced bars. They stayed home, and the Rogers Center ended up giving away lots of tickets to those games.
April 18, 20169 yr For logistical reasons, I don't think the NFL will ever put a team in Europe. They are playing these games to grow support abroad, but they aren't going to do it. If they ever did, they would need to add bye weeks for any time a team has to cross the Ocean to play. Teams already complain about playing games on Mondays or Thursdays because of the lack of a break between weeks. Toronto and Mexico City make way more sense than London or mainland Europe. I expect them to continue to push for more games overseas, but not a permanent team. I went to the Bills-Jags game last year in Wembley. In a VIP lounge I struck up a conversation with a guy connected to the London series. He told me the logistics go beyond what you might imagine. Most teams sign players every Monday to the practice squad ,etc. These players don't make much money and literally they have local pools of journeymen that crash on couches or drive in from wherever they live. For the NFL to move a team there, they would likely be an east coast based team, who would fly over only for games, returning for the week of practice conducting business as usual here in the states. If they did base there, they would likely have to pay players to sit over there in London to be available for this use. The NHL is currently realigning much of it's farm team structure for a similar reason--they have to by rules have so many players waiting in reserve. Many teams would have to fly minor league team members in and put them up with hotels, meals, etc. So now you see Buffalo has realigned with Rochester, Winnipeg is moving theirs to Thunder Bay, etc....
April 18, 20169 yr For logistical reasons, I don't think the NFL will ever put a team in Europe. They are playing these games to grow support abroad, but they aren't going to do it. If they ever did, they would need to add bye weeks for any time a team has to cross the Ocean to play. Teams already complain about playing games on Mondays or Thursdays because of the lack of a break between weeks. Toronto and Mexico City make way more sense than London or mainland Europe. I expect them to continue to push for more games overseas, but not a permanent team. I went to the Bills-Jags game last year in Wembley. In a VIP lounge I struck up a conversation with a guy connected to the London series. He told me the logistics go beyond what you might imagine. Most teams sign players every Monday to the practice squad ,etc. These players don't make much money and literally they have local pools of journeymen that crash on couches or drive in from wherever they live. For the NFL to move a team there, they would likely be an east coast based team, who would fly over only for games, returning for the week of practice conducting business as usual here in the states. If they did base there, they would likely have to pay players to sit over there in London to be available for this use. The NHL is currently realigning much of it's farm team structure for a similar reason--they have to by rules have so many players waiting in reserve. Many teams would have to fly minor league team members in and put them up with hotels, meals, etc. So now you see Buffalo has realigned with Rochester, Winnipeg is moving theirs to Thunder Bay, etc.... Baseball's been doing the same thing. Not that long ago the Captains were in Georgia and they had a team in Kinston. Now it's Columbus, Akron, Eastlake, and Youngstown, with a team in the Carolina League as well.
June 7, 20169 yr NFL Twitter account hacked, Roger Goodell isn't dead http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2016/06/nfl_twitter_account_hacked_rog.html#incart_river_home
September 7, 20168 yr The Minnesota Vikings lost their starting QB Teddy Bridgewater for the entire 2016 season with a severe knee injury he suffered in practice. Over the weekend, the Vikings acquired QB Sam Bradford in a trade with the Eagles. The Eagles will receive the Vikings' first-round draft pick in 2017 plus a conditional fourth-round pick in 2018. That conditional pick would become a third-round pick if the Vikings reach the NFC Championship Game this season, and a second-round pick if the Vikings win the Super Bowl. http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/17454929/minnesota-vikings-trade-philadelphia-eagles-qb-sam-bradford
September 7, 20168 yr Yep. Just terrible news about Teddy. His official statement (which was not done by the team's PR) was strong! I want to thank the Wilf Family and the entire Vikings organization, all of my teammates, friends, Eric Sugarman and the amazing Vikings athletic training staff and the fans who have sent me messages and wished me well. Your thoughts and prayers mean a lot to me and have helped me in this difficult time. There are great players and great leaders in our locker room who are going to fight to the end to reach the goals we set for 2016. I will be there mentally, physically and in spirit to support them accomplish those goals. In order to have a testimony, you have to have a test. I come from amazing DNA, I watched my mom fight and win against breast cancer. We will, as a team, attack my rehab with the same vigor and energy. My faith is strong, my faith is unwavering and my vision is clear. My purpose will not be denied.
September 26, 20168 yr With Tom Brady suspended for the first four games, many people thought that Bill Belichick and the Patriots would be lucky to go 2-2 with an untested Jimmy Garoppolo at QB. Instead, the Pats won their first two games. Then Garoppolo suffered a shoulder injury and couldn't play in last Thursday's game. So the Pats just start third-string rookie QB Jacoby Brissett and pound the Texans 27-0! Then Brissett suffered a thumb injury on his throwing hand and it looks like he's out for Week Four. This leaves former college QB and current WR Julian Edelman as the next QB on their roster! Would it surprise anyone if Belichick lines Edelman up in a single wing formation next Sunday and crushes the Bills?
October 4, 20168 yr ^ Apparently even Bill Belichick needs his third-string QB to be healthy enough (i.e. not have an injured thumb on the throwing hand) to win in the NFL. Even if his opponent is coached by Rex Ryan, arguably the worst head coach in the NFL. This is what happens when Belichick loses 16-0 to the Bills: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyhjUFcXgo0 So a p!ssed-off Bill Belichick will be get a p!ssed-off Tom Brady back from suspension for next Sunday's game. Whoa! I wouldn't want to be the team that has to face THAT! Who's that team? Oh my. Sorry Browns.
October 5, 20168 yr ^ what, you mean because they will be all fired up and the browns might lose again? meh.
October 10, 20168 yr ^ what, you mean because they will be all fired up and the browns might lose again? meh. At least it wasn't as bad as Michigan/Rutgers. #smallvictory
November 9, 20168 yr san diego stadium ballot initiative fails: Chargers stadium vote fails, opens door for move to Los Angeles: http://es.pn/2eCuzqF
November 9, 20168 yr san diego stadium ballot initiative fails: Chargers stadium vote fails, opens door for move to Los Angeles: http://es.pn/2eCuzqF I've been arguing with idiots here in SD all morning. People are still extremely mad at the ownership, who just six months ago was courting another city and offering to share a stadium with their hated rivals. I get that. The hate for the Spanos family combined with low information anti-tax voters, mistrust of political leaders and indifference from transplants was just too much of a hurdle. But when I hear people say they voted it down because "Downtown is getting too overpopulated" my blood pressure just can't handle it.
December 5, 20168 yr Patriot TE Rob Gronkowski had season-ending back surgery. So the only team he'll be playing on for the rest of this season is your Madden NFL 17 team:
December 14, 20168 yr F-UCK YOU NFL http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2016/12/cleveland_browns_to_host_in_lo.html#incart_most-commented_news Cleveland Browns to host Vikings in London in 2017 As terrible as the Browns are this year, it's completely unfair to the region that this tax subsidized, money and morale losing stadium is going to be used even less. Will the bonds be reduced by 12.5% as well? Between NFL Europe, Thursday Night football, and its endless support of women-beaters, this former "non-profit" is about as bad as FIFA.
December 14, 20168 yr The London games totally screw the home team, and specifically the tax payers who funded the stadiums the home teams play in. Hamilton County's contract with the Bengals permits them to play up to 2 "home" games per year in other stadiums - 25% of their homes games not in the stadium we paid for. Any of the alleged tax benefit that comes back to the city/county is lost during those games. Though I will say I like the 9 AM start time. You can watch the entire game and then still have a full Sunday left. I always feel like watching a game at 1PM ends up wasting my entire day.
December 15, 20168 yr Seriously ridiculous. That's the proverbial cherry on top of how terrible this season has been. At this point I wouldn't mind if the Browns left again and Cuyahoga County taxpayers got a refund.
December 15, 20168 yr I completely agree with the away games. The NFL should run back a refund of the local economic gain each game brings. The NFL is only doing it for themselves and their branding while the home city suffers as they continue to pay off the stadiums. Talking about stadiums, do they not build NFL stadiums as well as they used to? Old stadiums like Lambeau and Soldier, LA Memorial Coliseum, the Rose Bowl, Ohio Stadium, Michigan Stadium, Kinnick Stadium, etc. have stood the test of time, while others like San Diego, St. Louis, etc. are never good enough. I predict in 10-15 years the Brown family will be asking for a new Bengals stadium.
December 15, 20168 yr I completely agree with the away games. The NFL should run back a refund of the local economic gain each game brings. The NFL is only doing it for themselves and their branding while the home city suffers as they continue to pay off the stadiums. Talking about stadiums, do they not build NFL stadiums as well as they used to? Old stadiums like Lambeau and Soldier, LA Memorial Coliseum, the Rose Bowl, Ohio Stadium, Michigan Stadium, Kinnick Stadium, etc. have stood the test of time, while others like San Diego, St. Louis, etc. are never good enough. I predict in 10-15 years the Brown family will be asking for a new Bengals stadium. It comes down to tradition. Lambeau and Solder have been completely rebuilt (Soldier is basically a new stadium inside the old facade). The others have lots of improvements to keep them relevant, and enough tradition to keep the fans from wanting them bulldozed (LA Coliseum being the exception--it's actually a dump). Note also in your examples--a winning tradition makes for tradition! If the Browns had been perennial winners and never moved away, we could be watching games in a super-updated Municipal Stadium....
December 16, 20168 yr Note also in your examples--a winning tradition makes for tradition! If the Browns had been perennial winners and never moved away, we could be watching games in a super-updated Municipal Stadium.... Would be. Contrary to revisionist history, modell requested exactly that, not a new stadium, during the early 90s.
December 27, 20168 yr Here's a good visual of the playoff scenarios for this year. The biggest question mark is the NFC North. The Lions and Packers are playing for the division title. Depending on the scenario that plays out, Detroit could get anything from the #2 spot with a first round bye to missing the playoffs. Neither of them are guaranteed a playoff spot, though. All AFC teams have already been decided. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/26/upshot/week-17-nfl-playoff-picture-paths.html
January 13, 20178 yr The Chargers made official their move to L.A. yesterday: PRO: http://www.espn.com/blog/los-angeles-rams/post/_/id/32696/for-rams-chargers-move-to-l-a-could-be-beneficial CON: http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/18458717/san-diego-chargers-desperate-move-shot-nfl-vitality-2017
January 13, 20178 yr The Chargers made official their move to L.A. yesterday: PRO: http://www.espn.com/blog/los-angeles-rams/post/_/id/32696/for-rams-chargers-move-to-l-a-could-be-beneficial CON: http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/18458717/san-diego-chargers-desperate-move-shot-nfl-vitality-2017 LAme indeed. Los Angeles doesn't want the Chargers. There's only one person on earth who wanted the team to leave SD, and it happens to be the teams owner, Dean Spanos.
January 22, 20178 yr Fire alarm pulled on sleeping Steelers...how come nobody thought of this before?!!! http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2017/01/22/boston-hotel-steelers-fire-alarm/
January 23, 20178 yr boy i am stunned by this falcons-packers outcome. i was doing so well, this was the first playoff game i called wrong. i am watching and it is pitiful. matt ryan can do no wrong. now i wonder if pitts is going to trounce the pats.
February 6, 20178 yr SUPER BOWL 51: - First OT in Super Bowl history - Biggest comeback in Super Bowl history (NE was down 28-3 in the 3rd quarter) http://www.espn.com/nfl/game?gameId=400927752 http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/page/Barnwellx170206/anatomy-miracle-how-patriots-came-back-dead-super-bowl-li
February 6, 20178 yr Crazy game. The Falcons lost in the Brownsiest way. Although, the Browns would be so lucky to lose a Super Bowl. Interesting fact that Putin has one of Kraft's Super Bowl rings.
February 6, 20178 yr what a game, i had predicted the falcons would be ahead initially and the pats would come back in the second half, i think a lot of people did, but who had any idea it would be by so much and would be so freakin dramatic? what an epic collapse. so at least the falcons took some more sting off the tribe meltdown. as for halftime, lady gaga looked like she was bored. i know i was.
February 7, 20178 yr what a game, i had predicted the falcons would be ahead initially and the pats would come back in the second half, i think a lot of people did, but who had any idea it would be by so much and would be so freakin dramatic? what an epic collapse. For the sake of humanity, Kyle Shanahan should give a TED Talk on his exact gameplan for the second half. I honestly think there's a common thread to such boneheaded, colossal failures, and they need to be studied.
February 7, 20178 yr Tennessee had a similar come from behind victory over Florida this year, then they lost the magic.
March 7, 20178 yr oakland and vegas battle over the raiders: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/bank-america-join-raiders-las-vegas-stadium-project-ap-article-1.2990533
March 7, 20178 yr oakland and vegas battle over the raiders: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/bank-america-join-raiders-las-vegas-stadium-project-ap-article-1.2990533 At this point I'd be really surprised if they stay in OAK.
March 27, 20178 yr Move to Vegas approved. Only the Miami Dolphins objected. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/raiders/2017/03/27/raiders-las-vegas-moved-oakland-relocation--approved-mark-davis/99678856/
March 27, 20178 yr I wonder why Miami objected? If I were to speculate, is visiting fans wanted to take an away game trip per year, Vegas now offers more stiff competition than Oakland. If more go to Vegas, maybe less go to miami
March 27, 20178 yr I wonder why Miami objected? If I were to speculate, is visiting fans wanted to take an away game trip per year, Vegas now offers more stiff competition than Oakland. If more go to Vegas, maybe less go to miami Could be--or they wanted all their AFC West competition all in outdoor venues?
March 27, 20178 yr “My position today was that we as owners and as a League owe it to the fans to do everything we can to stay in the communities that have supported us until all options have been exhausted. I want to wish Mark Davis and the Raiders organization the best in Las Vegas.” - Stephen Ross, Miami Dolphins
April 22, 20178 yr what a sad story, no doubt soon to be a movie or two -- was anyone really surprized hernandez was gay? http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/details-surface-aaron-hernandez-secret-bisexual-life-article-1.3087455
May 4, 20178 yr I know how much we urbanists love maps so here's a pretty cool one for you all.... A United States heat map of every 1st-round NFL draft pick for the last decade http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2017/5/3/15475062/first-round-nfl-draft-hometown-maps "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 4, 20178 yr ^ I saw that. Ohio led with 4 first rounders, 3 of those being from NE Ohio. Which is the same as the state of Texass.
July 25, 20177 yr Not good news: http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/07/25/boston-study-takes-deep-look-brain-disease-toll-football-players/nbIZoCfstF4FNwfslnwCPJ/story.html?s_campaign=breakingnews:newsletter
July 27, 20177 yr Ravens lineman retires at age 26 to avoid brain damage from concussions: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2724133-ravens-ol-john-urschel-retires-after-cte-study-will-pursue-mit-doctorate?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial If he made the NFL minimum and lived frugally (which by all accounts he did), he has at least $1 million in the bank right now. If he invests that conservatively he'll have about $10 million by the time he retires from whatever he does next.
July 27, 20177 yr ^^ I think concussion news would be taken more seriously if it weren't being reported between spots about the anticipation of Mayweather-McGregor.
July 27, 20177 yr ^And I have no idea why Tom Brady and others who have tons of money and nothing left to prove are still out there. Luckily, most guys get injured and can't play at the NFL level for more than five years, or else the problems would be that much more severe. In the future we might see the NFL limit careers to 5 years or even less.
July 27, 20177 yr ^And I have no idea why Tom Brady and others who have tons of money and nothing left to prove are still out there. Luckily, most guys get injured and can't play at the NFL level for more than five years, or else the problems would be that much more severe. In the future we might see the NFL limit careers to 5 years or even less. I agree about Tom. He's asking for something horrific to happen at his age. I think the Cult of Bill B. surrounds the Pats organization and is in Brady's head. Can't say I blame him for believing in it after the last Super Bowl. The only major sport that can really transcend the age 40 barrier effectively is baseball even though there are outliers in every sport like Gordie Howe.
Create an account or sign in to comment