NFL rant about CBS scheduling

The BBQ Pit
1

I have never liked the fact that CBS took over the AFC games’ broadcasting several years ago, after they had such a long-standing deal for the NFC games previously. I find their announcers to be somewhat biased against the Steelers, based upon their level of excitement when the opposing team is doing well- many of them seem to approach orgasm praising the virtues of any player who does well against the Steelers.

Now, they make decisions about the scheduling of playoff games. Because New York has a bigger possible audience, they get to play their game on Sunday, even though they played on Saturday this week. This increases CBS’ ratings, and makes the network happy.

However, the Steelers, a smaller market team (according to demographics), gets to play on Saturday- regardless of the fact that they just played on Sunday.

Now, if you would want a somewhat unbiased schedule for the playoffs, wouldn’t you allow at least a full week for each team to recover and prepare? Look at this:

The four teams in the AFC playing this weekend are the Titans, the Raiders, the Jets and the Steelers. The Raiders last played two weeks ago, same as the Titans. The Jets played on Saturday, and since they play on Sunday now, that gives them 8 days to prepare. The Steelers played on Sunday, and have until Saturday to get ready- a mere 6 fucking days!

So, CBS, in your greed for demographics, you screw over one team for another. What the Fuck? You must have a hardon for the Jets. You won’t have to leave town to do your silly little human-interest stories you fill your overblown pre-game coverage with, you won’t have to find something interesting around Pittsburgh to talk about, you can just get the local affiliates to do all your work for you!

CBS, you can take all your shitty shows and shove them up your ass! I hope the Steelers wreck your carefully-laid plan to screw them over so you can cry about your low ratings. I would love to never have to listen to Greg Gumbel and Phil Simms ever again. ( I usually turn the sound down to listen to Myron, but my satellite TV is seldom in sync with the radio.)

2

Apparently, it was the NFL’s call. According to this article,

So, according to the NFL, 4 extra hours on a plane warrants 2 extra days rest. I don’t need to point out the absurdity of this. Perhaps the NFL thinks teams travel by steam locomotive.

3

LateComer, you’re from Homer City? I’m in Clymer, but I’m originally from the lovely village of Graceton.

Fedko blamed it all on CBS. I should have known, NBC is still bitter about losing the AFC.

4

No shit. We moved here 2 years ago to work at IUP.

Well, Fedko, Stan and Guy . . . all the sports guys are livid, as they should be, and state that this is purely an economic issue for the networks, as did the guys on Pardon the Interruption on ESPN. I didn’t say that the travel thing was the truth, that’s just what the NFL’s saying. Maybe Cowher can use this to motivate the troops he has semi-healthy.

Who knows. If they keep it close anything could happen but I’m afraid that Tennessee will push around the O-line.

5

Guys, wait until you lose to the Titans before you start making excuses, OK? Doing otherwise is bad form.

6

:rolleyes:

When you see him, ask Brian Billick if the greens are firm or slick. I might want to get in a round in February.

Until then my weekends are booked.

7

Get this…

Fedko just reported (that’s John Fedko of WPXI-TV) that they are planning, or have already had, a parade in Nashville as a rally for the Titans. Said rally features a Tommy Maddox impersonator, dressed in a Steelers jersey, being wheeled around on a gurney with IV tubes and such added.

WTF???

Cowher thinks it’s in bad taste, but he refused to comment further.

What is it about Steeler bashing? In the thread about those idiots who beat up and killed a man in Tom’s Diner, claiming it was about the Steelers even though the victim had no interest in sports, one of the posters wished me dead, just because of my choice of a favorite football team.

World Eater wishes that the team die in an air crash, because he can’t stand his ex-girlfriend. (Wonder why she’s an ex?)

I know some Steeler fans are excessive in their zeal, but so are Browns fans (the beer-bottle throwing incident), Eagles fans (see the threads about the Vet), Raiders fans and every other team’s fans.

But there are non-Steeler fans who are not complete idiots, like Weirddave. He picked a team to support and stayed loyal to it, regardless of how bad they are. :wink:

So here’s a hearty FUCK YOU to those Titans fans who thought up the parade, and those who enjoy it. Your reckoning will come. No one can stay on top forever, right Dave?

As for wishing me dead, I’ll meet any of you online in Counterstrike, SFC, Quake 2, or anything else my cheap processor can run.

8

I am posting this simply as an FYI. The fact of the matter is that, pretty much except for the Steeler fans on these boards, almost every one I have met has been a thug. When Pittsburgh comes to town, the BCPD almost doubles the number of policemen in the stadium, and it isn’t because a different set of Ravens fans are going to be at the game this week. I’ve been punched for cheering for my team in our stadium. I had enough beer thrown at me to get a dozen bachelor parties drunker than lords, and countless yellow crying rags have been waved inches from my nose, hitting me in the face at times. Fights happen about every 3 minutes somewhere in the stands ( which is really dumb, because the idiot Steeler fans usually get pounded before the police can pull them out ). The entire attitude displayed is not 'I’m here to cheer for my team", it’s “I’m here to get drunk and cause trouble”. I have no reason believe that Baltimore is the only city in which this happens, either. Couple that with an attitude that the Steelers have some kind of devine destiny in every game that play ( even though they haven’t won jack in 23 years and tend to fold like paper bags in big games), and fans from other teams have little use for the pussies from Shitsburgh.

All of that is certainly not to condone violence done to Steeler fans in any setting, but it may give you some perspective on why most other NFL fans can’t stand them.

YMMV

9

FWIW, I was at the Steelers v Bucs game a few weeks ago, and the Steelers fans there, while annoying to me in their existence, were generally well behaved. Of course we had them out numbered about 99 to 1, but as depressed as we were over the outcome of things, I expect that they could have taken us. Party on Steelers. Good luck in against the Tennessee NASCARs or Gordons or whatever they are!*
*I kid because I love. Really.

10

Um, I’m here in Nashville, and haven’t heard a word about a parade. I think it’s a prank/firing up the fans kinda thing. Sad that they need it actually.

Ah, almost Saturday.

11

They clarified it a bit more on the 11:00 news. Apparently, a Nashville area radio station, which they did not name, is doing it as a stunt tomorrow- not a parade, but they are “parading” the Maddox impersonator around town.

If it’s not true, then WPXI and Cowher have been hoaxed. And so have I.

Dave, I had no idea about your experiences. I didn’t come down there and cause trouble, and I do not influnce anyone at all- I’m a private fan.

The Steelers were the successful local team when I was growing up, and I have been a loyal fan since. Through good and bad. But I have noticed an attitude I don’t like about some Steeler fans. Some are very racist, and they were perpetually unhappy with Kordell Stewart as quarterback, and the general racial makeup of the team- I just avoided watching the games with them. Others get very upset whenever a mistake is made; cursing, throwing things, and becoming all around assholes to be with. Still others hate the Steelers when they lose, but are the first back on the bandwagon when they win.

But there are fans of other teams in the area, and some of them like to stir up trouble with Steeler fans. Undoubtedly some of the fans at the Ravens games with Steeler garb who act like assholes may be local fans, stirring up trouble.

Oh well. It’s not my place to apologize for assholish behavior in other people. I know what I stand for, and I do not stand for that kind of immature bullshit. It just pisses me off to be lumped into a category of assholish behavior when I don’t subscibe to it.

I’m looking forward to all the playoff games. I’m also looking forward to Tommy Maddox pulling one more out of his ass and taking us to the Super Bowl and victory.

It’s another NFL legend in the making.

12

I was dismayed to hear on WDVE this morning during the morning show that a Titans coach actually poured coffee on one of our Stillrz.

Joey Porter says that Titan coach Steve Watterston poured the coffee on him after he went out of bounds on a play Nov. 17 and that the action was caught on tape - including the coach handing off the coffee cup to one of his players.

So just what the fuck is with that shit, eh? The Titans say it wasn’t coffee, it was chicken broth, and that it was an accident, but I think the NFL maybe oh, shoulda looked at the damn tape?

What if it was intentional? The tape might show conclusively one way or the other. And if it was, the NFL oughta do something about it. If it was an accident, perhaps they need to get spill proof sippie cups so that when tackles go out of bounds, nobody gets burned by scalding liquid!

Now to get in gear for Saturday’s game: [pittsburghese accent]
Pittsburgh’s go-win tew da Super Bowl! Steelers, here we go![/pittsburghese accent]

13

Coffee? Coffee??? Oh come on now. Maybe he should sue McDonalds. :stuck_out_tongue:

Anyhow, SP, I excepted you from my statements as I’m sure you noticed. If I read what you posted right, you came down here for a game and didn’t email me? I am shocked. We coulda grabbed a bite or something.

14

I was worried about it too, but then I realized that after we beat the Titans, we get a longer rest than the winner of the Jets/Raiders game.

15

Yeah, i guess I’m preaching to the choir in a way. You did excerpt me in your statements; I should have made it clear that I was speaking to others.

No, I haven’t made it down your way for a game yet- I was speaking about local fans, both here and there. I’d like to visit, however. I know Harford County and the surroundings well because I worked out of New Castle DE selling meat from a truck. I plan to come by sometime in the spring or summer to go to the Ordance Museum and Conowingo Dam.

I saw the tape of the coffee throw, on WPXI and on NFL 2 Night. Sneaky bastard! It’s not just the throwing of coffee, which is rude, but the sniveling moron acted like he didn’t do it. “Where did this coffee come from?” “Wasn’t me.”

The Titans are giving the Steelers some serious issues to use to get themselves psyched for the game. Good.

A longer rest? Nice of it to work out in the end. Really, though, there is no rest until the Vince Lombardi comes home to its brothers.

16

Just a comment as I’m :confused:

Wierddate, just when was the last time you saw a Raider game?

17

Sorry that should have been Weirddave, not Wierddate.:frowning:

18

Philo, keep your love life out of this, please. :wink:

I heard about the radio station stunt on a different television station yesterday, and it sounds like typical radio station idiocy – i.e. let’s prove how cool we are by taking nothing at all seriously and seeing how many people we can offend.

I think one thing about the Steelers is they won their first four Super Bowls at a time when the steel industry was shutting down, jobs were vanishing and we didn’t have much else to cheer about. At the time, the Dallas Cowboys had been proclaimed America’s Team, while the Steelers were just the gritty, blue collar guys who got things done. The Cowboys got the glory, but the Steelers did the job.

Excuse me. The morning news has more on the radio station prank. The station was running a contest called “Push Tommy Maddox to the Hospital” for playoff tickets. They’ve now called off the contest. Here’s a link so you can make up your own minds. The contest has been cancelled and they’ll be using a different method to give away the playoff tickets.

I’m not going to get into which team has the best or worst fans. Yes, Steeler fans sometimes think their team is hard done to, then again so does every other team’s fans. I still can’t believe Plaxico Burress got thrown out of a game against the Ravens because he was on the field without his helmet when the reason he didn’t have his helmet on was because a Raven took it off his head while he was lying flat on his back. If we wanted more time off, we should have played better. Besides, speaking strictly as a fan, victory’s sweeter if you have more obstacles to overcome.

Go Steelers!
CJ

19

Well, my weird date with a Raider fan started when I answered the door and thought it was Gene Simmons standing there with a bouquet of roses…
Actually, at least around here, most Raider fans seem to spend all their energy on dressing outlandishly. It’s kinda cute.

20

And, stepped on his head.

Weirddave, maybe you should not sit in the Steeler section. :smiley:
Seriously, anybody who dumps beer on somebody’s head should be arrested and banned from the stadium and lose their season tickets (if applicable).

remember this incident where a Maryland legislator was so upset because after the playoff game last year because fans yelled at him and his son. Sometimes I think Ravens fans are thin skinned.