NFL (pronounced Niffle) Thread.

[An Enemy Spy]

So yet again the preseason is upon us, and the Playground is abuzz with football talk (one of these two statements is true). I know how much you D&D enthusiasts love your football!
This is your one stop shop for all NFL(trademark) talk and banter, with the added benefit that it's completely free. And therefore not a shop. Maybe I should have used a different analogy.
Anyway, talk about your favorite team, and how much every team that isn't your favorite team sucks (except for MY favorite team, you heathen), or really anything else.

[Absol197]

Hello fellow Playgrounders! How about that...Local Sports Team!

Around here, people have been in quite the tizzy. Apparently the Denver Stallions won their tennis match against the Chicago Bareskins. I've heard they scored 31 home runs, and reached the slam-dunk point three times!

And apparently there's this Peton Manfred guy on our team now, who's kind of a big deal ? I don't really get all of it, but it sure sounds exciting!

[polity4life]

After the 2011 draft class of the Lions posts bail, I would watch out. This is a team that will challenge the Packers for the division. And no, neither Chicago nor Minnesota will as Chicago is highly overrated and Minnesota doesn't have anything going for it offensively for at least the first eight weeks of the season.

And question Absol197. What's with Broncos fans? Being a Lions fan, I know what it's like to over-appreciate an objectively and ontologically bad (Tim Tebow) or presently overrated (A neckless Peyton Manning) player but what has been going on in Denver the past year or so is just zany. Give me an insider's perspective, please.

[An Enemy Spy]

After the 2011 draft class of the Lions posts bail, I would watch out. This is a team that will challenge the Packers for the division. And no, neither Chicago nor Minnesota will as Chicago is highly overrated and Minnesota doesn't have anything going for it offensively for at least the first eight weeks of the season.

And question Absol197. What's with Broncos fans? Being a Lions fan, I know what it's like to over-appreciate an objectively and ontologically bad (Tim Tebow) or presently overrated (A neckless Peyton Manning) player but what has been going on in Denver the past year or so is just zany. Give me an insider's perspective, please.

I'm not a Broncos fan, but as far as Tebow goes, I think it's the fact that despite being a terrible quarterback by all conventional standards, the guy just kept winning and winning and winning, sometimes in bizarrely improbable fashion. Add the fact that he really is an extremely likeable person, and it's hard not to enjoy watching him win. As for Manning, well he's Peyton freaking Manning. Even if he isn't at full strength(which we don't really know yet) it's still cool to have one of the greatest to ever play the game as your quarterback.

[Wyntonian]

I really just watch my hometown OSU Beavers. OHHHHH ESSSSSS YOUUUUU.

I don't really watch the NFL, except for when I'm with friends, and in that case it's really not about the foohbahh.

[Absol197]

And question Absol197. What's with Broncos fans? Being a Lions fan, I know what it's like to over-appreciate an objectively and ontologically bad (Tim Tebow) or presently overrated (A neckless Peyton Manning) player but what has been going on in Denver the past year or so is just zany. Give me an insider's perspective, please.

I honestly wouldn't know. I'm not really all that into competitive sports. I know (most of) the rules of football, but I only really watch it when my family is doing so and hogging the TV in the process. Oh, and the Superbowl, but that's because my best friend's family always throws a massive Superbowl party, so I go more for the socializing than the game-watching. I actually found the Tebow-mania to be quite annoying .

Oh, and seeing as I'm originally from Indiana (so when the Colts and Broncos play, I just cheer for the horses ), and a lot of my family that I visit regularly still lives there, I've always had a soft spot for Peyton. He was good at winning, which made my family happy (even though I didn't understand exactly why), and that made me happy. So now that he's with my other supposed "team," well...I dunno. But it's certainly funny .

[polity4life]

I actually found the Tebow-mania to be quite annoying

You have earned yourself 10 polity points, redeemable...somewhere for...something...all to be named later of course.

In all honesty, my interest in the NHL has dwindled significantly over the past three seasons. I see it as very lucrative WWE wrestling now with a very bored media over sensationalizing everything.

"Foxsports NFL insider Turd Ferguson reported earlier today that Mark Sanchez had french dressing with his spinach salad, eschewing his regular light ranch. Blabb-a-dee-bloo!"

"Irrelevant wide receiver [any of which over the age of 35 and not locked in a long-term contract] tweeted today, 'skip-skap-sala-dee! gimmie attention!1!' #loser"

I'll still watch because anything that provides meaningful distraction in Detroit is a good thing for the region. Oh, and to re-validate my irrational hatred for all things Pennsylvania.

[An Enemy Spy]

Well yeah, Tebowmania was annoying as hell, but I blame the media for that, not Tebow.

What I'm looking forward to on Saturday is seeing Matt Hasselbeck and Jake Locker coming back to Seattle to play my 'Hawks.

[Ravens_cry]

Really, it's pronounced 'Niffle'?
I just say the letters, en ef el.
I hope this isn't flame bait, but I don't think I mind being wrong here.

[ForzaFiori]

I'm really hoping that the Panthers can finally have a good season again. With Cam Newton and decent draft picks, it might actually happen.

[polity4life]

Really, it's pronounced 'Niffle'?
I just say the letters, en ef el.
I hope this isn't flame bait, but I don't think I mind being wrong here.

You're right. It is pronounced as an acronym rather than a word without vowels. I think OP was just having some fun with the title.

[Farix]

I'm really hoping that the Panthers can finally have a good season again. With Cam Newton and decent draft picks, it might actually happen.

Hear hear good sir.

[TheEmerged]

I live near Cincinnati OH, so whenever anyone asks if I'm a Bengals fan I reply, "No, I'm a fan of professional football."

Boring personal anecdotes spoilered for your protection.

Spoiler

Show

The story I always tell on myself as a kid is that a friend asked me if I was going to watch the Super Bowl. "I guess, who should I root for?" That's how much I paid attention growing up. During my teen years, I found myself annoyed at the then-thick rivalry between the two Ohio teams and resisted following football as a result.

Then early in my college years, my boss at work bought a complicated football simulator and couldn't get it to work on his machine. He tasked me (as the local computer geek) with fixing it. As it turns out, the manual for the simulator was actually a thorough discussion of the tactics and strategic issues of the sport and... I got hooked.

I decided that, to be fair, I needed to pick a team from each conference to root for. The NFC was easy -- at the time they had a guy from a college near hear playing tight end for them, a defender named Reggie White I had heard an interview with and found I respected... and a *really* cute cheerleader in the football magazine I had bought. So yeah, NFC was an easy decision.

AFC? I started out with nothing but an adamant decision it wasn't going to be the Bengals -- who had just come off a horrible season -- nor the Browns, simply because I didn't want to be bothered with the rivalry. With little to go on, I suddenly noticed a team whose helmets seems familiar. "Patriots, Patriots... weren't those guys in the Super Bowl a few years ago? The ones that everyone said didn't deserve to be in the game, then got blown away?" Sure enough, they were. I had my AFC team.

So yeah, I had My Perfect SuperBowl(tm) a few years ago. It's been... kinda rough since. It is a little annoying to be called a bandwagon jumper sometimes when in fact I've followed both for decades now.

So, Bengals. The rule of thumb is that they can almost never string two winning seasons in a row together, so I don't expect them to do so much this year.

Eagles? Their mouths pretty much earned them what happened to them early in the season last year, I'm sad to say. Here's hoping they don't mess that up this year.

Patriots? I, um, haven't checked yet this year. I'll need to correct that.

[grimbold]

i'm a die hard eagles fan, even across the ocean

i'm praying for more of what we saw late last season
they have a solid team, they just can't get complacent

[An Enemy Spy]

i'm a die hard eagles fan, even across the ocean

i'm praying for more of what we saw late last season
they have a solid team, they just can't get complacent

i liked the Eagles before they signed Mike Vick. I just can't support any team he's on.

[grimbold]

i liked the Eagles before they signed Mike Vick. I just can't support any team he's on.

fair enough
i've had issues with them for that
we'll see how it goes down

[An Enemy Spy]

Seahawks win! The rest of the season is a formality now. Just hand over the Lombardi and we'll be on our way.

[grimbold]

Seahawks win! The rest of the season is a formality now. Just hand over the Lombardi and we'll be on our way.

you're a seattle man i presume?

[An Enemy Spy]

you're a seattle man i presume?

And I thought I hid it so well.

Beyond the pure unbridled enthusiasm of seeing my 'Hawks play for the first time since January, there were a lot of things I liked about this game. Fiirst off, the uniforms. When I first saw them in April, I wasn't so sure if I liked them or not, but they've grown on me since then. Actually seeing them on the field was kind of wierd. Cool, but wierd. They aren't like anything that has ever been in the NFL before.
Second. Defense was spectacular as always. I think Seattle might be one of the premier defenses pretty soon.
Hasselbeck and Locker back in Seattle. I've always loved Matt. Even in the awful years of 2008 and 2009, he always seemed like he was trying to will his talentless team on to victory, and often suffered horribly from it. He's the best QB Seattle has ever had and he deserves all the love in the world from the Seahawks fans.
Russell Wilson. Sure he was against the scrubs, but this guy was awesome. I've seen him on the Real Rob Report and he seems like a humble, intelligent guy.
And of course we won.

[DraPrime]

Allow me to express one sentiment, and one sentiment only.

Go Patriots.

[Falgorn]

Allow me to express one sentiment, and one sentiment only.

Go Patriots.

NOOOO

Ravens. My greatest concern is Ray Lewis - regarding the Ravens. I mean, what are they gonna do when he finally does retire? Also, I'm from Philly, so I guess I'm obliged to be an Eagles fan. It's either their owner or the coach that's horrible, though. I really don't listen enough to figure out which.

[The Succubus]

Is it true that American Football players go to Niffleheim when they die?

[grimbold]

Dragonprime

y u like patriots?

[DraPrime]

Is it true that American Football players go to Niffleheim when they die?

Yes, and it's in Canton, Ohio.

Dragonprime

y u like patriots?

I'm a New Englander. To love any lesser team would be dishonorable.

[The Succubus]

You silly American types. *I* was an Englander before it went mainstream with all this "New" nonsense. Also, American Ball-Fondling is vastly inferior to acutal football. *razz*

[DraPrime]

You silly American types. *I* was an Englander before it went mainstream with all this "New" nonsense. Also, American Ball-Fondling is vastly inferior to acutal football. *razz*

It's not ball-fondling. The proper name for the sport is "hand-egg".

[polity4life]

Gentlemen, gentlemen. Let's no bicker and quibble over the activity concerning the ball. Instead, let's focus on what we can all agree upon: lauding steroid-ridden man-children with attention, money, and approval is never a recipe for disaster.

Speaking of disasters, let's look at Kellen Moore. And people wonder why quarterbacks who hail from Boise State are suspect when they turn pro. Honestly, looking at him makes me wonder who has the worst decision-making and mechanical skills as a quarterback in the game.

[An Enemy Spy]

It's not ball-fondling. The proper name for the sport is "hand-egg".

Pshaw! All us real fans call it Fancy Bottomed Swineskin Dancing.

[Othniel Edden]

I'm a New Englander. To love any lesser team would be dishonorable.

Superbowl XX was my favorite New Englander Superbowl.

[DraPrime]

Pshaw! All us real fans call it Fancy Bottomed Swineskin Dancing.

Ok, that made me laugh. You win sir. Fancy Bottomed Swineskin dancing it is!

Superbowl XX was my favorite New Englander Superbowl.

Haters gonna hate.