I began this missal last year but held off in case I decided to change my mind. But I’m making it official and posting my farewell to the Liga (for now…).
For scores in the low 300s, seven years ago our Mothers (of Grendel) brought forth on these interwebs, a new fantasy football league, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all teams should have an opportunity to win every week…
It’s just a money-grubbing attempt by the NFL to capitalize on the thursday night TV audience, historically the most-competitive night for broadcast TV. It’s working, so I guess it makes sense from a financial standpoint. But it messes with the rhthym of football season. I don’t like it as a fan, I don’t like it as a fantasy manager, and I hypothesize that it results in more injuries, and lower-quality football. The extra-short turnaround for a Thursday-night game means virtually no real recovery time from the brutal slog of an NFL game. And if coaches hold out their superstars because they’re afraid they haven’t fully recovered, that lowers the level of talent that’s out there on the field. The extra-short week also makes it hard to prep for a specific opponent: less time to learn to read and react to the particular quirks and strategies of an offense or defense. One of my favorite elements of NFL football is the “chess game” character of writing and calling the right plays at the right time. TNF undercuts that, resulting in lower-quality football.
Thursday Night Football: good for the NFL Network, bad for the NFL.