NFL Realizes How Irrelevant Pro Bowl Is By Adding Tweet Feature
Chad Ochocinco was fined $25k for tweeting during a game back when he was still a Bengal. Troy Polamalu was fined $10k for his phone call to his wife during a game in which he sustained a concussion (or just symptoms depending on who you ask). The NFL has been very clear about players using social media and even just reaching out to the outside world before and after a game – currently players aren’t allowed to reach out 90 prior to a game up until that game is over. But for this year’s Pro Bowl, the NFL is going to change that. Yes that’s right, the NFL realizes how lame their own ‘star studded event’ is these days that they are willing to take a finable offense and make it legal – just for one day.
Does anyone get all warm and fuzzy inside just thinking of how good of the Commish and the NFL to chillax on the social media rule? Yeah wow…. how… generous of them. Ok, it is kind of cool and I’m interested in seeing how the players utilize the one computer allowed for tweeting (and tweeting only) over the course of the game. Wait! No, Craig! You’re getting sucked in! You’re not supposed to care about the Pro Bowl at all! Must…. resist…. assimilation…. to…. Nancy pants…. football………
I can’t help but chuckle at the Borg King Goodell that even HE realizes the popularity of the Pro Bowl has sunk so low that some type of ‘hip new feature’ needs to take place in order to get fans back on board with watching the greatest game of touch football ever played with leis. In some manner and on some level it will probably work. But why tweeting and who cares?
Anyone who uses Twitter and follows players, teams and/or coaches can read what they have to say any time. And let me tell you – most of the time it’s nothing significant and is mainly just a bunch of retweets from desperate fans wanting that ‘recognition’ that they exist to one of their favorite players. Unless its someone spouting his mouth off over something stupid, I don’t really care what they had for breakfast or how big their last poop was. Most of the tweets coming out of the game will be filled with smack talk on other players from the opposing side line…. which would be cool except that I could care less if Brandon Marshall feels like tweeting how bad he burned Charles Woodson when the rules have been so watered down to favor a million points to be scored.
Here’s an idea, Goodell – bring back most if not all the rules for the game and then, maybe then, you’ll get a ton more viewers. In fact, find a way to make the game relevant to the outcome of the playoffs or Super Bowl and I guarantee you’ll get not only more viewers, but more revenue from TV ads. That’s vocabulary you can relate to… right? Money, dollars, mula. It can become much more of a spectacle than a half filled football stadium at a location that only the wealthy can get to easily. The greenbacks would pour in.
But instead, it’s a little insulting to our intelligence and true passion for the game to think that tweeting will bring us all back. #lame
For those wondering, the players will be tweeting with the hashtag #ProBowl.
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