Saints' bounty program

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

Yeah, for me it's a no brainer, MLB > NFL.

Better contracts for the players. Less danger for the players. A ton more games, of course, is the trade off.

If given a choice between being an NFL player or a MLB player, I am curious what everyone would choose. MLB for me, undoubtedly.

[Jocephus]

I don't get the outrage. If you legitimately care about long term health of athletes, you can't possibly be an NFL fan.

Not to say it's wrong. The guys know what they're signing up for and get paid millions to do it, so it's not as if they're doing it for nothing. But...it's silly to act all indignant, imo, because a team was trying to hit guys on the other team super [expletive] hard instead of just super [expletive] hard.

i get what you are saying. but i do think there is a difference from making a hard tackle/hit and trying to incapacitate someone.

[Jocephus]

i think the live (at stadium/ballpark) experience is much better with MLB than NFL.

[Schlich]

I don't get the outrage. If you legitimately care about long term health of athletes, you can't possibly be an NFL fan.

Not to say it's wrong. The guys know what they're signing up for and get paid millions to do it, so it's not as if they're doing it for nothing. But...it's silly to act all indignant, imo, because a team was trying to hit guys on the other team super [expletive] hard instead of just super [expletive] hard.

i get what you are saying. but i do think there is a difference from making a hard tackle/hit and trying to incapacitate someone.

I'm not so sure, assuming we're talking about legal hits, I don't see much difference at all.

[Popeye_Card]

PEDs - Of course NFL is going to have more of an issue - because being a physical freak of nature is essential to success in football. With football and it's violent nature, it is more comparable to boxing with the lasting damage it can do to a person.
Anybody that plays the game knows this though.

In baseball, it is just some greedy peckers like Braun/McQwire/Clemens etc etc that have no business messing around with that [expletive]. It's [expletive] up the game itself. And MLB has stood by with it's thumb up its arse.

Other than that^ the MLB NFL comparison is apples vs. oranges I guess. Statement retracted.

Football is a gladiator sport, to be certain.

But there is a certain hypocricy surrounding player safety, both in regards to hits and PED's. Crack down on head shots and bounty programs, but be completely lax in regards to equipment requirements and concussion testing guidelines, and continue to glorify big hits and "toughness". On the PED front, for the NFL I don't feel it is as much about performance (their records aren't as sacred as baseball's), but the health of both players and the college/high school players aspiring to be NFL players. The "what about the children!?!?!!" argument is much more applicable to the NFL than MLB, yet the league was not drug through the mud nearly like MLB was. I guess because of the records.

So while I guess I'm on board with these pretty harsh penalties for the coaches involved as a warning shot, the NFL still has a long ways to go in other areas. Goddell does fine when he can play tough guy. Not as good when it comes to stickier situations.

[thrill]

Understood that the NFL is still extremely popular. But as an organization, I don't think the NFL is better-ran than MLB. Certainly profitable. But they have some major warts, and are decidedly less fan-friendly than MLB has been (which of course, they are not perfect).

Well I'm not sure what your subjective parameters for being better ran are. In terms of which sport I would prefer to own a franchise in if I had the money to purchase a team, it's a no-brainer. One is a much more sound investment with a more successful business model.

[Popeye_Card]

Yeah, for me it's a no brainer, MLB > NFL.

Better contracts for the players. Less danger for the players. A ton more games, of course, is the trade off.

If given a choice between being an NFL player or a MLB player, I am curious what everyone would choose. MLB for me, undoubtedly.

MLB without a doubt. Guaranteed contracts, the ability to walk relatively pain-free after 40, much less chance of being paralyzed on a game-to-game basis, etc. The grind of daily games is probably offset by practice not being as grueling.

The only real advantage the NFL offers is that young players get paid faster, and you go straight from being a glorified player in college to being a star in the NFL (no having to put in time in relative obscurity in the minors). I guess the other advantage is that you can earn near 6 figures for being a practice squad guy in the NFL, vs. peanuts to be a struggling AA player.

[Leroy]

I played football for five years. I was small, slow and terrible. I got sloberknocked in practice on a daily basis. But if either in a game or practice, if I had a chance to take a shot at a guy, I'd take it.

The bounty program is wrong. Period. But I have no idea how to draw the line at a 'too hard' of a hit.

[Spider John]

Don't worry fellas, the same group that saved us from steroids in the MLB is gonna save the NFL too:

WASHINGTON -- The Senate wants to grill the NFL about bounties. And the NBA, NHL, NCAA and Major League Baseball are invited, too.

Sen. Dick Durbin is setting up a Judiciary Committee hearing about bounties in professional football and other major sports in the wake of news that New Orleans Saints players received extra cash for hits that hurt particular opponents.

The assistant Senate majority leader, an Illinois Democrat, said Thursday he wants to examine whether federal law should make such bounty systems a crime.

"Let's be real basic about it here. If this activity were taking place off of a sporting field, away from a court, nobody would have a second thought (about whether it's wrong). 'You mean, someone paid you to go out and hurt someone?'" Durbin said in a telephone interview before raising the issue on the floor of the Senate.

"It goes way beyond the rules of any sporting contest, at least team contest, to intentionally inflict harm on another person for a financial reward," he said.

[cpebbles]

I hope the NFL just sends a few accountants there, and they continually turn every question around to lecture the Senate on economic and monetary policy.