NFL 2009 season has started: random thoughts

The new 2009 season of the National Football League has started.  Sunday’s games are in the books (actually the Chicago vs. Green Bay game is still live as this post is written).  There are things we love about NFL Sundays, and things we can’t stand.

Things we love:

1. Fantasy Football.  Week 1 is when everyone is excited about seeing how their fantasy team will actually perform.  If you did well, remember that it’s only week 1.  If you didn’t do well, remember that it’s only week 1.
2. Drew Brees & the Saints offense.  Unless you’re a Lions fan, you gotta enjoy the high flying offense of Drew Brees and the Saints.  Remember, the Chargers were the ones who let Brees go years ago.  What were they thinking?
3. Football in HD.  Especially FOX’s broadcast of the NFL in HD.  Their high definition picture is “as smooth as glass”.

 

Things we can’t stand:

1. Stupid non-family friendly ads.  As a father myself, I cannot stand the stupid horror movie and scary TV commercial advertisements.  If the NFL wants to appeal to families, then why are horror movies and ads for TV shows like CSI or the Fringe allowed.  And it happens almost every commercial break!  This is a major annoyance for anyone who has little/young kids.  Somebody with some power needs to complain.
2. CBS’s blocky HD picture.  Is it just where I live, or does anyone else notice how blocky CBS’s HD picture becomes when there’s motion or zoom-ins.  FOX does not have this problem at all.  NBC is somewhere in between.  The blockiness of CBS’s High Def picture almost makes it unwatchable for me.  Yes, that’s harsh and picky, but why can’t CBS make it look as good as FOX’s?  You would think their owners or people in charge would care about the quality of their picture.
3. Where’d the funny commercials go?  Did I simply miss the funny commercials this Sunday?  (Perhaps due to changing the channel every other commercial break due to the non-family-friendly movie and TV ads…)  What happened to Peyton Manning’s Master Card commercials or the one that talks about the NFL season starting where the guy in the grocery store opens his register and says “I’m open” only to be pegged by a pineapple that was thrown by a customer.  That made me laugh everytime.  And I didn’t see these classic funny commercials this year or any new ones that made me laugh.  No, instead I keep seeing those stupid Coors commercials where they use former NFL coaches like Ditka and those 4 guys who ask questions that are followed by actual quotes from those former coaches.  They’re dumb and yet we get them year after year.

Overall, it doesn’t get much better for sports fans than NFL Sundays.  There were some upsets (like SF over ARI) and the refs in the games I watched seem to be fine.  There were great performances by Drew Brees, Adrian Peterson, and others.  Looking forward to the rest of the season, and maybe just maybe… someone who has the power to change things can do something about those things we can’t stand.  (I’m speaking to you owners and corporate big whigs!)

Paula Abdul no longer on American Idol

It appears that Paula Abdul will not be on American Idol.  She put out a tweet from her twitter page saying she’s decided not to come back.

FOX has confirmed it, making it sound like they are “saddened” to see her go.

So, do you believe that she really decided on her own to leave?  or was she fired or “encouraged” to leave?

Go figure, after we finally had a season of American Idol where her comments were coherent, now she’s not coming back.

At least we still have Simon and Randy.

 

source:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090805/ap_on_en_ot/us_tv_american_idol_abdul