Around this time, I really start jonesing for some football, almost exclusively college football.

I consider that I lose sight of more impactful information during the months of August-February, as I pivot more to sports than politics.
This could be a bad play (no pun intended), but I also reconcile that the sport may be one of the last things a significant portion of the population can be excited and rally around.

Do you think football plays more of a distraction, or a common gathering in today's culture?

Mid read, NM.

Sid Farkas said:

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Aggie football just makes me depressed.

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More or less than current politics?!?

It was a type of gathering where those with common interests could come together...

Untill the DNC machine & political propagandists injected politics into sports.

NIL is also causing problems.

Sports used to be fun. Get politics out and they can be again.

My enthusiasm for football is directly proportional to these factors in order:

1) Aggie success
2) Gambling success - includes all leagues (fantasy football, pick-em), plus any sports book shenanigans
3) Dallas Cowboys success
4) Houston Texans success


6 or 7) KC Chiefs success - best friends are lifelong KC fans and great people. Additional support for Tech stepkids and their Mahomes fandom. The Netflix series "Quarterback" has done nothing to diminish this appreciation for Patrick.

C@LAg said:

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football is just a delivery mechanism for broadcasting woke commercials.

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I respect you as a poster.

But one liners like this is why myself and others realize we need to take a step back sometimes. Politics woven into the fabric of everything you do in life is unhealthy and not why I am here on f16.

I had an old coach tell me that football was a way that America substituted for a lust for violence and kept us in line, as we watched a brutal game of collisions and skill. We attached ourselves to a team and their performance let us blow off steam.
I almost agreed, however now , I see the increase in violence amongst us correlates with the wussification of football with penalties for blocking, hitting the QB, and targeting.

We are a nation of spectators, not participators.

So yeah a circus.

Andrew Dufresne said:

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I ain't uniting with sip and Eagles fans. Cowboys fans are trash too.

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Woah, we are so impressed by how hard core you are.

Sid Farkas said:

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Aggie football just makes me depressed.

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As Bogart told Bergman that "we'll always have Paris", I suppose we'll always have 2012.

Play it again, Sam Johnny.

Its bread and circus, nothing more. This country cannot be united again.

I always look forward to it to escape thinking about the collapse of the nation.

Then we struggle to beat FCS and division 2 teams in the first few games. I start to despair, but I'm told by the football experts that it's nothing to be concerned about. We are using vanilla playbook and base offense and defense. Calm down they say.

Then we do something like lose to App State where we can't move the football and the defense gets gashed like I can't quite recall. I'm assured that App State is a damn good football team and not to worry. Trust in Jimbo!

I then watch as we stumble to a 5-7 season with a QB that no one in their right mind would have recruited to play at a major university in the SEC.

I then return to despairing over the collapse of this nation.

I lost interest in the NFL years ago. After the Fox News debacle on election night 2020, I dropped cable and have barely watched college football. It's amazing how much time I've gotten back.

I don't give a sh** if football is uniting or not. I am completely selfish in my interests.

I genuinely love the game. I was good enough in HS to play D2 or maybe walk on D1. But I wanted to be an Aggie so I went that route.

My wife genuinely loves the game. Her dad was a HS football coach and then an athletic director. She grew up in a football family like I did. We watch football as a family every fall/winter. We talk about football as a family.

Both of my sons have played and my youngest may have a chance at D1. He's a beast. He wants to play for A&M so badly he can't stand it.

I never boycotted the NFL. I just stopped paying for any of their products. We still watch. Sunday Night, Thursday Night, and Monday Night Football is just what my wife and I do together (among other things). The NFL product on the field is top notch. Where the pro game has evolved to right now is fascinating to me. We don't watch anything but the game itself though.

Not giving up on football.

AndesAg92 said:

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C@LAg said:

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football is just a delivery mechanism for broadcasting woke commercials.

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I respect you as a poster.

But one liners like this is why myself and others realize we need to take a step back sometimes. Politics woven into the fabric of everything you do in life is unhealthy and not why I am here on f16.

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The reason I've lost a ton of interest in my favorite sport in football over the last 3-4 years.









?w=1280

Your Antifa types, the liberal media, urban hipsters, suburban karens, etc. ain't having a thing to do with football.

Unless it is through the lens of watching to see if "The sport is too violent" or "Owners are modern plantation owners"

Or maybe because they want to see how "The Star Spangled Banner is a problematic imperialistic colonizer anthem favored by Cis White Men to gaslight LGBTQ+ allies attempting to minimize cultural appropriation and crony capitalism through fighting systemic racism." Or something.

So no, it isn't uniting anything.

jc100 said:

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Around this time, I really start jonesing for some football, almost exclusively college football.

I consider that I lose sight of more impactful information during the months of August-February, as I pivot more to sports than politics.
This could be a bad play (no pun intended), but I also reconcile that the sport may be one of the last things a significant portion of the population can be excited and rally around.

Do you think football plays more of a distraction, or a common gathering in today's culture?

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Bread and Circus, as is all of the sports entertainment industry (segment of the larger Entertainment Industry). It is a distraction that ranges from simple amusement all the way to obsessiveness.

jc100 said:

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Do you think football plays more of a distraction, or a common gathering in today's culture?

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It has not been uniting for a very long time.

Some Junkie Cosmonaut said:

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AndesAg92 said:

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C@LAg said:

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football is just a delivery mechanism for broadcasting woke commercials.

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I respect you as a poster.

But one liners like this is why myself and others realize we need to take a step back sometimes. Politics woven into the fabric of everything you do in life is unhealthy and not why I am here on f16.

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The reason I've lost a ton of interest in my favorite sport in football over the last 3-4 years.

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Yep - Andres has the cart in front of the horse, here. C@LAG isn't advocating intentionally seeking out political subtext for the purpose of being angry - but rather saying it's there. And mindlessly consuming is NOT somehow healthier than having eyes wide open to be able to filter what makes it into your paradigm. When you need to cross a swamp - putting on a blindfold isn't a winning move.

If I have kids in the room during a game, I mute the tv. It's just not worth young ears hearing some BS that could take root in their psyche.

Ribeye-Rare said:

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Sid Farkas said:

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Aggie football just makes me depressed.

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As Bogart told Bergman that "we'll always have Paris", I suppose we'll always have 2012.

Play it again, Sam Johnny.

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We'll always have ... Appalachian State ?? ...

They had football as bread and circuses but when their plan was in trouble they kicked it up a notch and turned sports political too.

I used to live for CFB and MLB, I put up with the liberal political creep that happened to make its way into broadcasts, highlight reels and ESPN College Gameday for the decade prior to 2020. That year killed it for me as everything went off the rails and the politics surrounding the players, teams/schools, and fans became more dominant than the actual games being played. Since then my interest level is nearly zero and I will only watch it if it is forced on me at a bar/restaurant or a friend's house or if it is convenient at home and does not interfere with whatever else I am doing. The Saturdays of starting with College Game Day and ending after midnight watching the PAC after dark and College Football Final are over for me, as are the MLB triple headers. I missed a lot of afternoons in dove field, deer stand or fishing for college football both A&M and PSU when my son played there, now I am getting to enjoy my full weekends again.

cbr said:

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They had football as bread and circuses but when their plan was in trouble they kicked it up a notch and turned sports political too.

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I'm not sure it went like this. I think ESPN's capture was just harpies being harpies.

Men who aren't tuned into their programming elsewhere are an attractive target for these lefties. But moreso - Disney is a female brand. So what did a feminine brand do to ESPN? Left sports behind to focus on sports-drama talk shows. They used personalities to project their feelings and viewpoints. …And they lost a huge chunk of their audience as men who were there to watch sports chose to walk away from female nagging and lecturing.

AndesAg92 said:

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C@LAg said:

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football is just a delivery mechanism for broadcasting woke commercials.

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I respect you as a poster.

But one liners like this is why myself and others realize we need to take a step back sometimes. Politics woven into the fabric of everything you do in life is unhealthy and not why I am here on f16.

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This is definitely a Wendy's then.

He's also right...politics were blasted out into sports. It was stupid, and after what mond did, I'm sick of seeing political opinions thrown into the sports world.

College athletes have mostly been living with their parents their whole lives, and lack true perspective on the world around them. Professional athletes are just college kids (many of whom did not finish college), who also lack true perspective on the world around them. They're susceptible to manipulation, and I'm tired of hearing feom people like LeBron, or kapernick who support the party of the Klan.

Yah there's plenty of good ones...but where are they? Where are their calls to end political statements in sports?

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The Saturdays of starting with College Game Day and ending after midnight watching the PAC after dark and College Football Final are over for me

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This is where I'm at. I now spend that time outdoors like the rest of the year.

At least I can thank politics for curing me from my hopeless and degenerate college football addiction.

I love the atmosphere, culture , and passion that college football has injected into American life over my lifetime. For whatever reason the college level game has fascinated me since I was a pre-teen. I used to enjoy the NFL too but the wokeness has turned me off and I hate it when someone tries to drag the college game into that same gutter. I basically watch zero NFL any more. I'll watch 3-4 games a week of college football and I'll try to make at least a few games in person every year. Clearly then, it's not just about the game of football itself but rather specific and unique aspects of the college level game and the types of people it interests.

So to me the college game specifically is a Uniter for those that have a passion for it and I believe there are
Many. There are a lot of people that would be very, very disappointed if college football disappeared imo. That's not to say it isn't also a circus. That's part of the draw.

With the transfer portal and NIL, college football is officially the NFL farm system.

I mean, we always knew it was...but with NIL especially we are at a point where we cheer for the guys who have a only theoretical connection to our alma mater against those who have only a theoretical connection to other's.

Squadron7 said:

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With the transfer portal and NIL, college football is officially the NFL farm system.

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A FREE farm system subitized by the state.
Bernie Sanders could only add a few things to make NCAA government football socialist.

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I mean, we always knew it was...but with NIL especially we are at a point where we cheer for the guys who have a only theoretical connection to our alma mater against those who have only a theoretical connection to other's.

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Yep
Those days are gonzo.
We should feel sad about that.

I guess I'd argue that it's been like that for a long time with regard to many of the players , but that the culture and tradition of the college football experience still endures and is beloved by many. That separates it from the NFL imo.