vafinfan wrote:
I just watched Super Bowl VII, the full game on You Tube. I was 5 when the game was played and had only seen a few highlights. It amazed me that there were so few penalties and not one pass interference call, although there wasn't a lot of passing. It was also refreshing to see the players get up after a play and go to their huddle, no jawing, pushing, shoving or complaining to the refs.
Buddy, that ship has sailed, i.e., the NFL, AFL you and me grew up with. I was 17 when the Dolphins first played in '66, but I was already by then a diehard NFL fan watching top teams like the Packers, Browns, Rams, come to Miami in the early 60s when they played what was then called the "Playoff Bowl", which was nothing more than an exhibition game, with the second place teams in each of the two divisions of the NFL. The payout for the winning team was chump change, like a couple of thousand dollars, but they all played, all the stars of the day, and they didn't take a play off. They played to win, even though the game didn't mean anything. They weren't babied like they are today.
Like you, I was raptured by the players of the day and how the game was played, the Jimmy Browns, Deacon Jones, Paul Hornung, so today, for me, if it wasn't because I've had it engrained in me for over 60 years I wouldn't even care for it or watch it. The divas, the infantile celebrations after a 1 yard tackle for a loss, the penalties, the pecking away, little by little at how the game is played, is enough to turn me to the NHL and ice hockey, which is the closest thing to a throwback to an NFL of decades past. I watch these NHL playoffs, a game I've never played and understand very little of, but I get it, the incredible skating, the toughness, the no nonsense of these guys, their discipline, all about the game. And the game for TV is perfect, it allows very little dead time and thus much fewer commercials and stop of play, just constant action, fast paced, non stop.
Anyway, I'm harping on all the obvious, but no question today's game of football is passing me by and the loss is all mine. I hope there are fans left out there in 20 years for I have no idea what this game will look like by then.
Phinfever Chat
