I maintain if you are a true fan of any NFL team you can always find a rooting interest that helps your team no matter what other two teams are playing.

 

If that was true, I'd never do anything else because I'd be watching sports all the time.

 

But that's fair enough, the Vikings are certainly pretty far down any ranking of the list of teams I watch regularly that I'd like to win a championship, if that's the measure for how much of a fan I am.

 

At some point, you just have to cut it off because there are other things to do.

If that was true, I'd never do anything else because I'd be watching sports all the time.

 

But that's fair enough, the Vikings are certainly pretty far down any ranking of the list of teams I watch regularly that I'd like to win a championship, if that's the measure for how much of a fan I am.

 

At some point, you just have to cut it off because there are other things to do.

 

I am not trying to be negative and claim that my level of interest is "superior" to others, I am making the point if you are a diehard fan of a sport (as I am with the NFL) every game matters. And yes it takes a lot of time and effort to be a diehard.

I am not trying to be negative and claim that my level of interest is "superior" to others, I am making the point if you are a diehard fan of a sport (as I am with the NFL) every game matters. And yes it takes a lot of time and effort to be a diehard.

 

No doubt about it; in that respect, you're absolutely right. The only sports I even come close to that level of commitment are college basketball and international soccer.

I will add it is more than just the games, you have to follow all the off-season fodder too if you want to get the most out of the NFL experience.

I am not trying to be negative and claim that my level of interest is "superior" to others, I am making the point if you are a diehard fan of a sport (as I am with the NFL) every game matters. And yes it takes a lot of time and effort to be a diehard.

 

I will freely admit that you are a superior NFL fan to me.

I don't see how it's watering the product down. The product isn't changing' date=' just because there are more games on tv, the quality of play isn't affected. In fact I think the Thursday games helps teams a little. While you play on a short week, the extra days off after the game are kind of a second bye, giving teams a chance to recharge and get healthy one other time during the season. Sure there might be some bad games on TV now, but that chance always existed, and at least with more games, there is a better chance to see a good game. With fantasy football, people enjoy the chance to see their players perform, and with more nights of football, the less restricted you are by your local schedule...the Bengals only play so many teams. More chances to see the best players and teams. Just think about a time not too long ago when the Bengals were terrible....you were stuck watching bad football most of the time. If you don't want to watch games on Thursday or Saturday, no one is forcing you to do so. But if you're a football fan, and there is a great matchup on a Thursday night, I'll bet you're watching it and not complaining about too much football. If it get's terrible ratings, the networks will get rid of it.[/quote']

 

I disagree. Many of the Thursday games I have seen were awful. I think it had to do with the teams playing on short weeks.

I disagree. Many of the Thursday games I have seen were awful. I think it had to do with the teams playing on short weeks.

 

Let's take a look at the actual game results to see how "awful" Thursday night games really are. We'll compare them to Monday night games just for giggles.

 

Thursday night results (includes thanksgiving day games)

10 were decided by a touchdown or less.

4 more decided by less than 2 touchdowns

3 games were decided by more than 2 touchdowns.

 

Monday night results

8 games decided by less than a touchdown

3 more decided by less than 2 touchdowns

6 games decided by more than 2 touchdowns

 

Looking at the numbers, Thursday games were more competitive, with more close games and half the number of blowouts compared to Monday night games. Looking at the numbers, do you think Monday games are watering down the product too?? Why do you think there were more blowouts on Monday night, since the short week reason isn't valid??

 

Granted this doesn't take thing into account such as turnovers, penalties, (or other measures of how "well" a game is played), but ultimately in the end, it comes down to score. Are there bad Thursday night games?? Absolutely. But there are plenty of bad Sunday and Monday games too. Your more likely to get a competitive Thursday game (and Monday, and Sunday as well) than a bad game. Now you may see more of Teams you don't really care about, but that's not a quality of play issue. But Thursday games also just about guarantee your favorite team will get at least a couple prime time games during the season.

Edited April 13, 201412 yr by rjs4470

While your post looks nice and all it doesn't change my opinion that many of the Thursday games I've seen looked sloppy. Monday night football has nothing to do with my opinion either.

While your post looks nice and all it doesn't change my opinion that many of the Thursday games I've seen looked sloppy. Monday night football has nothing to do with my opinion either.

 

Fair enough. My only point was that from a competitive standpoint, looking at the scores and final outcomes, Thursday night games were for the most part competitive, and more so than Monday night games, a night no one is complaining about. I only checked outcomes because your opinion raised an interesting point about sloppy play, and I was curious if the game results reflected that when compared to other days. Competitively, 14 of 17 Thursday night games were at least close. Usually sloppy play from one team equates to blowouts. Regardless of the day of the week though, you're more likely to see a decent NFL game. Blowouts and sloppy play are just as likely to happen on Sunday or Monday. Again, you raised an interesting point, that makes complete sense. And over time, we may find this to be true. But based on last years sample, the outcomes don't exactly support that opinion.

Since every team has to have a Thursday night game how much better can the first half of the Thursday night games be versus the seconds half?

I am not trying to be negative and claim that my level of interest is "superior" to others, I am making the point if you are a diehard fan of a sport (as I am with the NFL) every game matters. And yes it takes a lot of time and effort to be a diehard.

 

I am an NFL junkie and I know all too well how every game matters. That's why it's problematic to me how the quality of play on Thursday games is generally not very good because of the quick turnaround from Sunday to Thursday for the teams participating.

 

If the NFL made efforts to remedy this by preventing short-week turnarounds, I would have no problem with it. However, I see no effort being made in the way of rigged scheduling or expanded rosters, both of which could fix this. This problem will only be exacerbated if they go to an 18-game schedule.

Since every team has to have a Thursday night game how much better can the first half of the Thursday night games be versus the seconds half?

 

Seriously?

I am an NFL junkie and I know all too well how every game matters. That's why it's problematic to me how the quality of play on Thursday games is generally not very good because of the quick turnaround from Sunday to Thursday for the teams participating.

 

If the NFL made efforts to remedy this by preventing short-week turnarounds, I would have no problem with it. However, I see no effort being made in the way of rigged scheduling or expanded rosters, both of which could fix this. This problem will only be exacerbated if they go to an 18-game schedule.

 

My thinking is different. Most of us at one time or the other have had really tough jobs, maybe you had to pull double shifts, work two jobs to support your family, are forced to cover more sports teams than you have time for, had to work while sick, injured, mentally exhausted, etc.

 

Just because the NFL is "a game" doesn't mean it should be immune from hardship and adversity where everything is packaged neatly seven days apart. If you ask me, how teams handle and come through Thursday night games says a lot about them. And from a fan's perspective, it makes the NFL much more interesting.

Anyone on my above post? I am really interested in hearing other opinions based on my perspective.

Anyone on my above post? I am really interested in hearing other opinions based on my perspective.

 

It's an interesting, valid point. Again, I think the whole point of Thursday games being sloppy/unwatchable is a bit overblown, as most of the games were pretty close and competitive. Football is a game that is partially about being able to overcome adversity. And I think trading one short week for getting an additional 10 day stretch off after a Thursday game is a reward the most teams can live with.