It's getting to so you have to have a pretty strong stomach...........
- Thread starter TankOwens
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I understand what you are saying here. I realized this more this year than ever. I love college football, and it will always be number 1. I think it will always remain number 1 for the reasons surrounding it. I think as you mature watching the game you realize that the competition on the field in the NFL is so much more evenly matched in every aspect.
Now the atmosphere of college football will never be matched, but if you invest more time, interest, (and money) you realize each NFL game is a true test for the other team, in most cases. College Football can be to lopsided. So many games become boring to quick.
Now the atmosphere of college football will never be matched, but if you invest more time, interest, (and money) you realize each NFL game is a true test for the other team, in most cases. College Football can be to lopsided. So many games become boring to quick.
The NFL will never have
The unpredictability that CFB has, and it's just not the same cheering for an NFL team as it is rooting for your beloved alma mater.
The unpredictability that CFB has, and it's just not the same cheering for an NFL team as it is rooting for your beloved alma mater.
Huh? The NFL is WAAAAAAAY more unpredictable than college football ever will be. The NFL is pretty much the definition of parity. Doormats can become contenders and vice versa. Hell the Rams, Bucs, Saints, Colts, Cardinals, Seahawks, and Eagles have all been to the Super Bowl in the last 10 years.
The extreme sketchiness and creepiness of college recruiting, combined with Mullen's lack of relentless effort, has turned me off to college football some. I'm sure by the summer, I'll be ready for the 2013 season, but right now, I don't miss it.
As someone else said, the NFL is the most unpredictable league week and week out. The Giants won both of their most recent SB's as major underdogs, and Favre left Green Bay and a relatively unknown at QB won them one. Who had Baltimore winning it this year?
How many people knew Alabama was winning the title this year? Everyone who's not an Irish fan.
I love going to State games, but I've been to what feels like hundreds. I only manage to go to a Saints game once a year it seems like but I get butterflies in my stomach every time I walk through Champions' Square and into the Dome. It's something I can't describe.
I love them both, but it's apples and oranges. My familiarity with MSU doesn't make it as special to me. The professional and national spotlight on New Orleans IS special to me. I enjoy both. If I could only be a fan of one it would be the NFL though.
You're right, and you hardly even mentioned the fabulous quality of play in the NFL. But if I had to pick a team, it'd be my one and only: State.
I can agree somewhat. I swear the NCAA is setting the groundwork and ESPN is pushing it till college football will be equivalent to minor league baseball. Recruiting has gotten completely out of hand. Everyone seems to be so eager to pay athletes but is that a game we really want to get into in Mississippi when we play in the same division as Bama, AU, LSU, TAMU and Arkansas. Each of these schools trump us as far as money available to their programs go. If we start paying athletes then we will end up in the Sunbelt or CUSA
unless there is a salary cap...
The NFL unpredictability is one of the reasons that makes college so much better actually. The Super Bowl is no different than any game you see on any given Sunday. When you have powerhouses like college that makes the upset so much sweeter. Saints beating the Falcons, meh. State taking down Bama or Florida. 17 yeah! Gimme a goalpost! The rivalries arent forced or fake like 'city pride' ******** it's seeing the enemy on a daily basis in state. I watched maybe 3 NFL games start to finish this year. I watch 3 college games start to finish every Saturday.
I guess you just never got on a team and rode them start to finish through a season. That's fine, I'm not trying to convince you to like the NFL. But for me, AS a college football fan, my hatred of a team and what I perceive as rivals also stem from colleges. The Carolina Panthers? A. I remember hating them as a child back when they dominated the division. B. There are few people in sports (maybe no one) I hate more than Cam Newton. Are there any Saints fans who feel the same way? I can assure you only the ones from Mississippi State.
Why do I hate the Falcons? Roddy White is the biggest thug I've ever witnessed, and unlike college where the worst insult thrown at a team before a game is "we're not afraid of them" and "they play old man football"... In the NFL you can say whatever you want, as proved by White numerous times. Plus I think Matt Ryan is a *****. "City pride" is gay, mostly because most fans aren't even from the respected cities and probably 0 players are from their city either. If there is a team the most like college in the NFL it's New Orelans. The fans are as crazy or worse, the rivalries are real, the QB looks like he's 19, and the Saints run a college offense.
It's a different kind of drama. Do I get as upset when the Saints lose as when MSU loses? No. But I can't say MSU has given me the satisfaction that watching Brees throw 5 TD's 0 INT's in a game against Tom Brady and getting a perfect passer rating gave me. Probably ever. That's not mentioning even winning the SB at the end of that season.
Pick a team, watch them every Sunday for 16 of 18 weeks. I'm sure you'll feel SOMETHING at the end of the season.
It goes beyond the game on the field.....
No doubt the NFL has 10X more talent on the field and more closely matched players. The size and speed of NFL players makes it look like they are playing on a basketball court. No argument that the quality of play is superior but, the thing that drives college football popularity is not quality of play. A college football team represent a school, an institution of higher learning that is much more than the team itself. Its a place that takes young people at a very impressionable time of life and engenders a deep affection among those who attend there which is often passed on. Attending a college football game is a walk down memory lane and a chance in some respects to revisit your college days. The young men who play will in most cases spend their entire college career there and will forever be a bulldog or tiger or whatever. There is a greater sense of fan ownership because no one person can 'own' a college team.
NFL is an association of professional athletes who have team loyalty but their biggest loyalty is to themselves and whats' in it for them and rightfully so. Same with the team ownership. As a result many players play for four or five different teams. The guy who played for you last year may very well line up against you this year. Certainly teams represent the cities that they play for but the team does not belong to the city. It belongs to an owner and it is his business. The fact that the packers are owned by the town citizens is probably why it is unique among NFL franchises and has an atmosphere more like a college team. The NFL, while certainly having loyal and dedicated fans, is still just solely entertainment. I really like the Saints myself but I have no skin in the game for the team. When they start losing I quickly lose interest in watching them and won't agonize over it much. It is just entertainment. When MSU is doing bad I still might find it hard to watch them but it is personally distressing because I went to school there. I AM an MSU bulldog. I am just a fan of the NO Saints.
Now on the flip side all NFL teams have something that many CFB teams don't and that is hope. The NFL purposefully builds a level playing field into how they operate and all teams have an equal shot to win a championship. In CFB programs can build vast empires that become virtually impossible to compete with. If you are a 'have' it isn't so bad but if you are a 'have not' the combination of extreme loyalty and daunting hopelessness can make one feel trapped at times.
But there is no right or wrong way to go. It really just comes down to personal preference.
No doubt the NFL has 10X more talent on the field and more closely matched players. The size and speed of NFL players makes it look like they are playing on a basketball court. No argument that the quality of play is superior but, the thing that drives college football popularity is not quality of play. A college football team represent a school, an institution of higher learning that is much more than the team itself. Its a place that takes young people at a very impressionable time of life and engenders a deep affection among those who attend there which is often passed on. Attending a college football game is a walk down memory lane and a chance in some respects to revisit your college days. The young men who play will in most cases spend their entire college career there and will forever be a bulldog or tiger or whatever. There is a greater sense of fan ownership because no one person can 'own' a college team.
NFL is an association of professional athletes who have team loyalty but their biggest loyalty is to themselves and whats' in it for them and rightfully so. Same with the team ownership. As a result many players play for four or five different teams. The guy who played for you last year may very well line up against you this year. Certainly teams represent the cities that they play for but the team does not belong to the city. It belongs to an owner and it is his business. The fact that the packers are owned by the town citizens is probably why it is unique among NFL franchises and has an atmosphere more like a college team. The NFL, while certainly having loyal and dedicated fans, is still just solely entertainment. I really like the Saints myself but I have no skin in the game for the team. When they start losing I quickly lose interest in watching them and won't agonize over it much. It is just entertainment. When MSU is doing bad I still might find it hard to watch them but it is personally distressing because I went to school there. I AM an MSU bulldog. I am just a fan of the NO Saints.
Now on the flip side all NFL teams have something that many CFB teams don't and that is hope. The NFL purposefully builds a level playing field into how they operate and all teams have an equal shot to win a championship. In CFB programs can build vast empires that become virtually impossible to compete with. If you are a 'have' it isn't so bad but if you are a 'have not' the combination of extreme loyalty and daunting hopelessness can make one feel trapped at times.
But there is no right or wrong way to go. It really just comes down to personal preference.
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*Warning, not a post for young fans
I don't know if it is me getting older and having watched season after season of college football and the same teams winning the same games 95% of the time. Or if it is the gap that Alabama and LSU is creating from the have-nots, but college football is coming less and less appealing to me. In college, you know who is going to win most games, most of the time. It is only a matter of by how much. You know for certain there are a hand full of schools that have a chance at the SECCG and NC.
The NFL.....the higher level of play and paridy makes it interesting. However, even with what I said above, it still isn't as appealing to me as college is......for whatever reason. Back in the 80s, when players stuck with teams longer, I loved the Cowboys and hung on those games like I did with State in the 80s-00s. Now, if the Cowboys are on TV, I will watch if I have nothing else to do. With State, I will make sure to watch every game. However, I don't have the enthusiasm to drive to road games HOPING we win. I just watch on TV and wait for inevitable. Just my thoughts.
I don't know if it is me getting older and having watched season after season of college football and the same teams winning the same games 95% of the time. Or if it is the gap that Alabama and LSU is creating from the have-nots, but college football is coming less and less appealing to me. In college, you know who is going to win most games, most of the time. It is only a matter of by how much. You know for certain there are a hand full of schools that have a chance at the SECCG and NC.
The NFL.....the higher level of play and paridy makes it interesting. However, even with what I said above, it still isn't as appealing to me as college is......for whatever reason. Back in the 80s, when players stuck with teams longer, I loved the Cowboys and hung on those games like I did with State in the 80s-00s. Now, if the Cowboys are on TV, I will watch if I have nothing else to do. With State, I will make sure to watch every game. However, I don't have the enthusiasm to drive to road games HOPING we win. I just watch on TV and wait for inevitable. Just my thoughts.
Not really directed at anyone who has posted in this thread, I just clicked reply on the last topic posted. How much has Fantasy Football (for those of you who participate) helped sway your interest in the NFL from NCAAF? I know a few people who have never been big NFL fans who now have 2-3 teams they root for every weekend because they started following it more closely when they had to keep up with their Fantasy team.
I think the NFL has gained a larger audience due to the fact that so many people play FF, now no matter how popular the NFL becomes it will never be able to take the place of your alma mater's football team and most fans passion for that team. You have to consider the fact that there are 120 something NCAA Division 1 football programs now, and out of those 120, I would say only roughly 40-50 are relevant teams (and by relevant I simply mean have had a few good seasons over the years) and I can see where most fans of football would rather follow a NFL team where they know the talent put on the field every game is the best of the best.
I agree with most, ESPN and the other major networks are shoving recruiting down our throats and it is taking some of the nostalgia out of College Football. Rabiddawg is right, the NCAA is letting recruiting and the exploitation of these high school kids continue to get bigger and bigger each year, and it will soon become a minor league system for the NFL (it basically already is, but you get the point)
I think the NFL has gained a larger audience due to the fact that so many people play FF, now no matter how popular the NFL becomes it will never be able to take the place of your alma mater's football team and most fans passion for that team. You have to consider the fact that there are 120 something NCAA Division 1 football programs now, and out of those 120, I would say only roughly 40-50 are relevant teams (and by relevant I simply mean have had a few good seasons over the years) and I can see where most fans of football would rather follow a NFL team where they know the talent put on the field every game is the best of the best.
I agree with most, ESPN and the other major networks are shoving recruiting down our throats and it is taking some of the nostalgia out of College Football. Rabiddawg is right, the NCAA is letting recruiting and the exploitation of these high school kids continue to get bigger and bigger each year, and it will soon become a minor league system for the NFL (it basically already is, but you get the point)
I've followed recruiting for a bit, but moreso this year than any other. I was really creeped out, as well, especially by the Chris Jones saga. I'm glad it ended in our favor, but that whole storyline was everything that I dislike about football signing day.
What you said is exactly why the NFL is better. In college, you know who's gonna win most of the time. It's just a matter of by how much. Teams like Bama and LSU can just out-athlete teams like Kentucky. Half of the time, Oregon's games are over by halftime.
That's pretty much never the case in the NFL. The very worst team in the league can give a competitive game to the best team in the league any week. Not to mention the higher level of play in general.
The one thing that is so great is the regular season of college football. If a terrible team is beating a good team late Thursday night on the Nfl network I'm pretty disinterested if I don't care for either team. But if Duke is beating Florida State in the fourth, I will stay up until midnight to see the upset. Because its significant.
I love watching the Saints, and appropriately hate all their rivals. The problem with pro sports is the whole free agency thing. You can completely despise a particular player, mostly because he plays for your Rival, only to find out he's been traded or signed to your team the next year. And you might love one of your players, only to see him leave and go to your rival the next year. With college ball, they will always be a Bulldog--for life--even after they graduate or otherwise leave school. Great thread.
I'm not talking about unpredictability in who wins it all
I'm talking about how what can happen in one single game is crazy. The NFL doesn't have a ton of trick plays, insane 4th down decisions, and wild endings. The NFL is much more predictable and conservative when it comes to in-game decisions.
I'm talking about how what can happen in one single game is crazy. The NFL doesn't have a ton of trick plays, insane 4th down decisions, and wild endings. The NFL is much more predictable and conservative when it comes to in-game decisions.
Even week to week, the NFL is more unpredictable. There are very few blowouts (just go look at the betting lines) and almost no games are over at the half. They are much more predictable with decisions because the talent levels are relatively even and doing something stupid can lose a game for you. When you have huge talent gaps like you do in college, some of those teams HAVE to do that just to stay competitive (and it rarely works).. you only see a handful of real upsets during the season, even though there are over 100 schools competing.
Disagree on upsets
Because the talent levels are so similar team to team in the NFL, there really can't be any upsets that are too shocking. Some upsets in CFB are almost unbelievable, and are lasting memories. Does anyone really have fond memories of the year some random NFL team upset some other random NFL team in the regular season many years ago? Hell no. The regular season in CFB is meaningful, and every upset is a fan-base's cherished memory.
Because the talent levels are so similar team to team in the NFL, there really can't be any upsets that are too shocking. Some upsets in CFB are almost unbelievable, and are lasting memories. Does anyone really have fond memories of the year some random NFL team upset some other random NFL team in the regular season many years ago? Hell no. The regular season in CFB is meaningful, and every upset is a fan-base's cherished memory.
If it was your team maybe... I guarantee you nobody outside of Starkville and Gainesville remember us upsetting Florida either time we did it. Everybody knows Florida lost one game that one season with Tebow.. I guarantee you NOBODY knows it was TSUN that did it.. it's nothing more than a footnote in history.