NFL 2011

[ghost]

Okay, let's start this thing out with a bang!

ESPN has a new power ranking for NFL helmets out. 


I personally like the Lions at #1, the Jets at #2 and the Eagles at #3.  I'm not a huge fan of the Browns or the Dolphins.  Then there's the obvious train wrecks of Cincinnati, Panthers and Jaguars.

[Ingmar]

Zero votes for the Niners? Seriously?

[ghost]

This one may be better. 

Retro uni helmets.  Old Tampa Bay was fucking spectacular.

[Ingmar]

Old TB is my favorite helmet of all time.

[ghost]

Old Pats were pretty good too.

[Paelos]

I liked the Oilers helmets myself.

[Sjofn]

wtf are the Raiders doing on that first power ranking. Their helmets are boring.

I miss the old Buccaneer helmets. <sniff>

[ghost]

I liked the Oilers helmets myself.

Ooh.  I forgot about those.  They were damned nice too.

[Fordel]

Aren't all the helmets just basic logos?

[Ingmar]

There's nothing basic about:

[01101010]

There's nothing basic about:

At my Browns are at the top of the list in SOMETHING. 

[Ingmar]

10 PRINT "I AM FABULOUS"
20 GOTO 10

[Sjofn]

Your picture is broken for me, Ingmar. :(

[ghost]

Yep, update the photo please.  I was excited to see it.

[Chimpy]

Helmet power rankings?

And you really called the thread NFL 2011 for that?

(also, shouldn't we just call it NFL 2012 and call it a day?)

[ghost]

Quit being a party pooper.  It's time to start talking football!   

[Paelos]

We'd need a lawyer in here to start talking football. Go wake up Ab.

[ghost]

A CPA is as good as a lawyer, I mean attorney.   

[Sjofn]

Ohh, Ingmar had posted this:

[Paelos]

Since we have to address it, here's a recap of what we know about the lockout.

We're seven weeks into the lockout. The first legal battle went to the players when Judge Susan Nelson ruled to end the lockout. The owners then filed an appeal, and the courts granted them a stay of the lockout until they can fully rule on the issue. The full appeal is on June 3rd. Both parties are not negotiating at this time. The owners feel confident they can win in court. The players feel confident THEY can win in court. The stupid thing is that they are arguing in court instead of negotiating an actual deal.

Now for my view as a financial guy. If you believe for a second that the owners are struggling to make ends meet due to player salaries, you are criminally stupid. The NFL absolutely could not be in higher demand than it is right now. It has become so popular that NFL Super Bowl consistently draws over 100 million viewers. Regular season games draw 25 million viewers consistently. The average ticket price to an NFL game is $90. 26 out of 32 markets operated at 90%+ capacity last year. Assuming 99% and above as a sellout, 33% of the markets completely sold out their stadiums all season long.

The average NFL franchise made $50M on ticket revenues alone last year by my estimates. They are making $94M per team due to the TV deals per year. Based on numbers from the Cardinals in 2009, I'm estimating that they make $10M in revenue per year on concessions. Top franchises can make $300M in merchandizing, but I'll only assume a quarter of that for the regular franchise, $75M. Without even taking into account advertising, that's $229M in revenue a year. Average payroll is $106M. Gross profit is $123M. Even assuming a 70% costs margin on that gross, you're looking at $37M in profits a year.

$37,000,000 going directly to the owners a year. Even in the crappy markets. Yeah, I'm not crying for them.

[ghost]

Yeah, I'm not buying owner distress on this one.  In the NBA?  Maybe so.  And in the NBA the deal is grossly weighted to the players.  I'm firmly in the camp of the players in this fight.  I'm not sure that the players are going about it right though. 

[K9]

How (and Why) Athletes Go Broke

A really good piece from Sports Illustrated, and the numbers are really depressing. 78% of NFL players are bankrupt or in financial difficulty within two years of retiring, for a range of reasons.

[ghost]

That piece is a very strong argument for having a "football" major for high level players at major D1 schools.  Of course most of those guys don't go do class anyway, so it doesn't matter..... 

[Paelos]

It's only depressing because it really reminds you how big of a leech colleges are on these kids. They don't teach them anything. There's no reason for an football player to be attending science or history or liberal arts classes, but they damn well should be attending communications, financial, and journalism classes.

Also, this is a racial/cultural problem as well. Note the list of atheletes in that room with rocket Ismail. It's seven black guys and one white guy. The pressures of the black community to trust your friends and family, bring people up from the hood with you, and the obsession to be flashy with tangible shit get them in massive trouble.

The white guys in that article are MLB players who invested with a powerbroker that committed massive fraud. That's a little different than pissing it all away on your dumbass friends and cars. Also, note that in the article that they give the percentages of players going broke as 78% and 60% in the black dominated NFL and NBA, but they don't bother to give the percentages in the white-dominated MLB. The reason is because it's much much lower.

[ghost]

It looks like Plaxico Burress is out of jail.   I wonder who he'll end up with?  He's a helluva talent.  My bet is Cowboys or Bengals. 

[HaemishM]

Cowboys don't really need him, and the Bengals are trying to get younger at wideout. A lot of the usual suspects are places where they either don't need him or he's totally not what they are looking for. My bet? Chicago, Baltimore or Philly.

[Ingmar]

Don't count out the Raiders.

[HaemishM]

Normally, they'd have been first on the list for any ex-con football player, but I don't think they are quite that stupid right now.

[ghost]

Cowboys don't really need him, and the Bengals are trying to get younger at wideout. A lot of the usual suspects are places where they either don't need him or he's totally not what they are looking for. My bet? Chicago, Baltimore or Philly.

That was a snarky comment for the two aforementioned clubs' tendencies to bring in "damaged goods".  I really could see Jerry Jones ponying up for him though.  I suspect that the Eagles might even fit for that as well.

As for reality?  I have no fucking clue except probably not the Giants.  

[Paelos]

My bet is that the Panthers make a play at him. Outside of Steve Smith, their receiving core is a joke. Now with the new QB talent, I'd think they have more to offer an aging vet looking to make his way back into the league.

[HaemishM]

I think the Panthers are focused on a youth move. They know they won't win shit this year whether their starting QB is Moore, Claussen or Cam Newton. Burress won't help Steve Smith enough and he'll take reps from a young guy that could grow with whichever franchise QB they go with.

[ghost]

My thought is that it will be a semi-contender to go after Burress.  He's got enough baggage that a shitty team that is rebuilding may not want to risk the money on him.  But a team like the Pats, Cowboys, Eagles, or even the Colts could drop the cash and take a risk because they're already good.  Pats may be a decent bet, now that I think about it.  They dealt with Moss pretty well for a while.  Belichick seems to do okay with egos and baggage.

[HaemishM]

I could see the Pats, but not the Colts. Manning got them to the playoffs throwing to hobos off the street last year. Why pay for old, damaged goods?

[ghost]

I could see the Pats, but not the Colts. Manning got them to the playoffs throwing to hobos off the street last year. Why pay for old, damaged goods?

Because they are old and seem to be on the downhilll slide?  They've only got so many years of Manning left to work with. 

[01101010]

I know my Colt would not mind a big receiver to throw to...