Comments on: Jeff Fisher clarifies television timeout remarks, wanted game to end

By: natelan

natelan — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 19:22:23 +0000

The NFL and their broadcasters better watch out!
If they are truly altering the coarse of a game which is in process, for any reason at all, I promise to stop watching entirely. The sidelines should be completely free of outside influence during a game. Otherwise, the results are skewed and the entire league becomes tainted.
If Del Rio infact called a time out to give the broadcaster additional ad space, shame on him, and he got exactly what he deserved, which was an otherwise totally egregious CJ touchdown as well as being called out by Jeff Fisher, a division opponent.
I’ve got the NFL on probation now… One more slip up like this and I will impose a lifetime ban on these money grubbers. It’s bad enough that the league insists that I want 2 more regular-season games a year, which I don’t, and nor do any of my friends or family. You already make so much money, I implore you to stop fixing what ain’t broke.
But, I will tell you this; if more commercial time is what you’re after, simply increase the length of breaks which already occur naturally in a game. As a viewer who sits at the edge of his seat during every Chargers game, I can tell you that an extra commercial per break is a completely valid and legitimate thing to do. Maybe increase timeout lengths, I’m sure the teams won’t mind that as much as coercing them to take unnecessary timeouts.
Major props to Jeff Fisher… Homey don’t play that game.

By: chiefkief

chiefkief — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 12:56:25 +0000

@ Natelan
Increase the length of the commercial breaks !!!??? Are you kidding ??? that might be fine for a fan sitting in front of the TV or in warm & and sunny San Diego, but for us fans in the Northeast (I’m in Buffalo) freezing our backsides off, the breaks are already too long. In fact, get rid of replay while you’re at it.
As an aside: the best NFL game I’ve ever attended was where the power went out at the San Diego vs Buffalo game last year. No scoreboard, no commercials for TV or in-house, nothing but football (and cheerleaders).
Guess I’m old school

By: Opie

Opie — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 11:12:33 +0000

The curtain has been lifted on the great Oz!
I’m sure the NFL will explain that this has “no effect on the integrity of the game,” but it absolutely does.
More time on the clock = more scoring opportunities = direct effect on the integrity of the game.
Shameful. The networks have been in business for many years and they still can’t get it right to fulfill their obligations to their advertisers? So, the NFL, because they’ve been paid billions, bows to their wishes. Has conversations with the officials on how to fix these mistakes. They then talk to the coaches to influence their in game decisions……..
Rosenthal, since you’ve got Cornflorio’s ear, between the two of you and with his new “power ranking” better put some pressure on these folks. Look at some previous games and see if anything “suspicious” happened and hold their feet to the fire!
Wait, you guys are part of the peacock, nevermind…….

By: somesome

somesome — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 09:36:35 +0000

There was no plausible football reason for Del Rio to take the time out. Absolutely NONE.
Down 23-3 they took 8 minutes to drive down the field. Huddle before every snap, mostly hand offs to MJD, running down the clock. No hurry-up, no sense of urgency.
We now see they sign Bouman because Trent was hurt in like his first series?????? They wanted to get more reps for him?????
Down 23-3, under two minutes, you are not moving the ball at all, you did not even cross the 50 mark line all of the first half and under two minutes to go you take a TIME OUT?????
Either Del Rio is the dumbest play caller ever in professional sports or he did somebody a favor.
Sorry but this looks just like somebody is fixing the game, just as bad. Again what if MJD or CJ or somebody else has a season ending injury during this extended play??? Especially after Young and Garrard already ahd to leave the game.
How dumb do you have to be to extend a game when you are under 2 minutes, down 23-3 and inept to move the ball???? When you have Manning, Brees, Rivers, Rodgers, Brady at the helm and need to make the playoff, maybe you try to get three scores but the Jags with an already hurt backup QB who just joined your squad weeks earlier – this is not just a funky call – THIS IS INSANE – this is fixing the game.

By: iam3putz

iam3putz — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 08:48:20 +0000

PFT got us all hooked enough on the headline that we read this article. Kudos for successful fishing!

By: Patsfan1776

Patsfan1776 — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 08:45:43 +0000

Vegas is on the phone and needs a small change in the score because of the line must also be some of the “conversations” that occur at the 2 minute warning.
Enjoy the games but they seem to be heading to pure theatre. Reference interference call in KC game where the receiver pushes the defender as the defender is looking at the ball and that is all we need to know.

By: Lott42

Lott42 — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 08:32:10 +0000

Its obvious folks. Jeff hates Del Rio. That’s why No 28 scored a meaningless touchdown late in the game. Nothing like kicking an opponent when they’re down I say…not.

By: Tennessee_Tyrant

Tennessee_Tyrant — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 08:15:43 +0000

Jayman … in all fairness, there are plenty of people who won due to Johnson’s late run – so there are equally many people jovial about it . . . This isnt the first time Jeff has thrown the league’s “closet” out into the open , it makes you wonder how he has held the chair at the competition committee for so long ? ….

By: natelan

natelan — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 06:26:31 +0000

By: Auz

Auz — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 04:08:26 +0000

Fisher is really showing a side of him that is very ugly. Some of his comments seem to be poking fun at the Jaguars. It was good to see the Broncos hand them a loss.

By: all about greed

all about greed — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 00:06:40 +0000

Of course I believe it when I read reports that ESPN wants to draw out a game to increase revenue. Sports is ALL about greed. Not money. Every business is dedicated to earn money. But sports take it earnings further. It is ALL about the dollar and greed. Greed is why the World Series starts late, to be on during prime time, even though it means kids don’t see the games and games are often played in the cold. Greed is why their is a long gap between series so the playoffs can stretch out to 2 weekends. Greed is why games are not played quicker so more beer, food and crappy cheap junk can be sold. Everything in every professional sport, everything!, is decided on what will make that sport the most money. If it is bad for the players, tough! If it is bad for the fans, tough! If it’s bad for the cities that use public funds to build them stadiums and arenas, and then give them tax breaks, tough! This policy spans all sports. Until the day comes when the fans finally wake up and scream, “Enough!” and stop adding to the pockets of multi-millionaires, then ESPN and sport executives will continue to pick the pockets of the everyday fan.

By: JayMan

JayMan — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 23:16:53 +0000

For the life of me I couldn’t figure out why they were dragging the game out. I thought fisher was just trying to get johnson some stats to cover up the fact that he ypc was pretty bad until garbage time. I still think that has something to do with it as fisher demonstrated his willingness to do that last year.
And it really is short-sighted leaving CJ in the game at that point. In all fairness, he could have put in the backup so it wasnt just about commercials. What would have happened if CJ got hurt on that last run? Normally a coach doesnt over-work his best player AFTER the game has already been decided.
Dude in my fantasy league lost because of that CJ run too… man I would have been pissed if it were me!

By: tcco007

tcco007 — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 23:02:28 +0000

The simple answer here is to have NBC, CBS, Fox, ESPN, and anyone else broadcasting the NFL sponsor a section of the game. During that time, they will have their logo on the screen as part of the mini scoreboard or situation overlay on the screen. The announcers can make a statement like “this drive (next 5 minutes of play, etc.) is brought to you by (sponsor and present company tag line). Soccer did this for the World Cup and does this for other games now.
This eliminates the 2-3 minute delays on a change of possession, kickoff, etc. for the 70,000+ at the stadium and keeps the officials and coaches focused on the game and not the needs of the media.
Just a thought.

By: Mediahatesraiders

Mediahatesraiders — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 22:38:12 +0000

my dad is crazy, gota love him though
I cant wait for him to coach the raiders next year…..ooops did I let that out

By: mattlion

mattlion — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 22:37:43 +0000

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_on_television#Commercial_breaks There is some logic behind this, but wouldn't both coaches want to get the heck out out there when the game is out of hand?

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 22:34:21 +0000

@nittanyliono:
Actually, Andy Reid doesn’t use timeouts before the 2 minute warning–that’s old-fashioned. He just throws challenge flags at random times.

By: oldsouth

oldsouth — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 22:26:24 +0000

Imagine that PFT also censors comments. Shocker.

By: LAEaglefan

LAEaglefan — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 22:23:18 +0000

It seems like there is a “quota” for commercials during a game. If you’ll pay attention, you’ll see that at the beginning of each half there is a timeout after each change of possession. If extra timeouts are used because of injury or official timeouts for reviews, then they start not having timeouts on some changes of possession. Once they’ve reached their quota, they back off on the timeouts. On the other hand, if there are some long time consuming drives and they don’t get the necessary timeouts in, its entirely possible that they “create” some timeouts, if you know what I mean. The bottom line is that the advertisers pay for their spots and one way or another, they’re going to get the commercials in.

By: Maverick

Maverick — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 22:08:15 +0000

I didn’t see the game but I don’t believe a word that comes out of Jeff Fisher’s mouth….about ANYTHING!

By: Terrell Blowens

Terrell Blowens — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 21:59:32 +0000

@nittanyliono
So true. Haha. Andy Reid, clock management guru

By: JagMania65

JagMania65 — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 21:56:47 +0000

Must have been a signal from the local BW3 in order to let people drink more. I’m surprised the sprinklers didn’t come on to trip up Chris Johnson!

By: Unnamed Source

Unnamed Source — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 21:55:15 +0000

Really brings into question all those “judgement” calls by the refs every game. The outcome has been predetermined long before gametime.

By: DYNASTY

DYNASTY — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 21:54:49 +0000

Here’s one..NFL fixing games? Geeezz shall we go back to the Steelers/Colts playoff game laugher when both lines jumped but wait!!! Refs stated No foul was committed? This league has been funny for years if you look closely.

By: Spoonthis

Spoonthis — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 21:53:55 +0000

Didn’t Buffalo Wild Wilds do a commercial similar to this this situation?

By: Stone

Stone — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 21:49:19 +0000

Yeah, this is ridiculous. It doesn’t mean that it hasn’t happened in the past or might not in the future. Seems to me like we can start questioning the timeouts called at the end of NFL games. Listen, I’m a huge NFL/Pro Football fan but this is one of the huge issues I have with American sports. It seems like they are set up more to provide a platform for commercials than they are to showcase athletic competition.

By: PurplePeopleBeaters

PurplePeopleBeaters — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 21:48:35 +0000

So you mean you guys starting a controversy without knowing the facts? No way!!!

By: BasicInstinct

BasicInstinct — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 21:40:30 +0000

Holy Crap! The Intern inserted another picture in a headline. Must have gone to Virginia Tech.
What is the name of the intern in charge of finding stills for these headlines?
Rosenthal isn’t doing it himself , or is he?

By: wydok

wydok — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 21:38:15 +0000

LOL @nittanyliono

By: naskar

naskar — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 21:38:02 +0000

there’s no way in hell that the networks and the league should be influencing coaches decisions to use timeouts for the sake of commercial breaks…

By: smiley

smiley — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 21:36:31 +0000

Since we made the post, ESPN told us in a statement they “did not directly or indirectly ask the coaches to take a timeout during the game.”
So it’s a given that coaches will help ESPN or any other network with commercials? We’ll be watching. Hail!!