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Imagine it is the fourth quarter of an important NFL game. Maybe it is a playoff game, or maybe a playoff berth is at stake. There are less than two minutes left. The away team is trailing. Their quarterback steps up to the line. To make this example more interesting, let’s make the quarterback Peyton Manning.
As we have seen him do countless times, Manning surveys the defense and sees something he doesn’t like, so he begins his routine of shouting and signaling the adjustments he needs his teammates to make. But on this particular Sunday, there is a distraction beyond a noisy road crowd.
As a result of a promotion, or a coordinated effort by some very dedicated fans, the added noise from vuvuzelas proves to be too much for Manning and the Colts to overcome, and their attempt at last minute heroics fails.
The vuvuzela is a type of horn that originated in South Africa and was used in the past to summon people in nearby villages to meetings. In recent years, it has become associated with South African soccer.
This year’s World Cup in South Africa has greatly increased the international exposure of the traditional horn. Many people have complained about the distracting noise it makes for television viewers. Opposing teams have also complained about the noise, but the horn’s use is not restricted to South African sporting events anymore.
On June 19, the Florida Marlins of Major League Baseball gave away 15,000 vuvuzelas to fans in preparation for a game against the Tampa Bay Rays. According to the Palm Beach Post, many Marlins players complained about the noise and some even wore earplugs.
The noise from the horns may have caused confusion between now former Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez and the home plate umpire during a lineup change that led to the Marlins losing the game.
While the vuvuzela is only a minor annoyance now, it could affect the NFL in a big way if nothing is done about it. If used strategically by a home team, it could affect the outcome of a game, as outlined in my example.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want any part of hearing the noise those horns create while trying to watch an NFL game. And I also want no part of the controversies that would inevitably arise from questionable outcomes of games.
If Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL owners are smart, they will ban vuvuzelas from NFL stadiums now before any type of problem is caused by their use.
Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com
With World Cup fever hitting the United States like a calm summer’s breeze, it seemed fitting that someone took America’s favorite punchline and our favorite squad, the Detroit Lions, and put them on the soccer pitch.
It just makes sense.
The Lions newest superstar, Ndamukong Suh, got most of his athletic training at a young age playing soccer and still roots hard for the Cameroon Lions to this very day.
So what would the Detroit Lions look like as a soccer team?
Check it out…
With the World Cup in full swing, plenty of Texan fans have been tuning in to watch. It’s highly debatable which athletes from other sports could be soccer stars for the Red White and Blue, so here’s a list of Houston Texans who could have been stars on the pitch.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell needs to pay very close attention to what is happening half way around the world in South Africa.
The lead up to the worlds biggest sporting event has made its point: injuries can and will occur. This concept can not go unheard in the NFL offices and they ought to move quickly to set up a better system for the preseason.
World wide today nations are left with agonizing feeling that the past four years leading up to the tournament was a waste. From the small to the huge, from the underdog to the favorites it appears no team is safe from the injury bug in South Africa.
Didier Drogba, Rio Ferdinand, Arjen Robben, Andrea Pirlo, John Obi Mikel, Michael Essien and Michael Ballack are some of the biggest names who will not take part of this cup due to pre-tournament injuries and/or late season injuries during their club seasons.
This is the equivalent of an Adrian Peterson, Chris Johnson, Brandon Marshall and even a Tom Brady and Brett Farve being out for the season during a preseason game which they were injured.
A lot of teams have lost the luster to win in South Africa, especially those who were much more reliant on their star players who are now injured. Drogba, Obi Mikel, Essien and Ballack now must watch from the bench when just a few weeks ago they were all ready to take on the pressure to succeed in South Africa by millions back home.
The NFL does not want this to be a situation in the years to come but it seems like there is too much talking and not enough action. The last few years we have been given possible changes to the way the NFL starts and ends and that concept should be pushed to the front during the owners meetings.
Today each NFL team plays four (4) pre-season games and 16 regular season games. The preseason is needed but a month long duration needs to be revamped. No one likes the pre season, our star player can be injured at any point in a meaningless game and thus you are forced to wait for next year. There is talk of cutting two games out of the preseason and the addition of at least one more game to the regular season.
This seems to be a good step in the right direction, especially since fans still have to pay to go see a preseason game, players do not get paid to play in them and reducing the four games to two is a great move to limit these injuries and payments from fans but adding another regular season game can be a bigger problem.
Although fans want games added on, more than just one even, its not sitting right with the players union.
They agree with everything until that last point where extra games may be added. The problem lies that a players salary is divided into 16, one check per game, and a 17th game would have to add another check amount to annual salaries instead of splitting the original number into 17 instead of 16.
Owners don’t want to pay more, players want to play less and the fans are left in the cold waiting to give a very rich person their hard earned money to support their team.
Goodell needs to pay attention and realize the possible look into the future in this crystal ball we call the World Cup.
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