Sorry to say this: The Football games need to be cancelled

[Thtwudbeme]

If the fans need the hotel space, gas, and highways in the South to enjoy those games...then the NFL needs to do the right thing, and cancel them.

I know I am one of the few people here that can only recognize the difference between a quarter back and a cheerleader--and that as a Southerner, my words amount to high treason.

Stephanie

[Coventina]

1. Well, I'm NOT sorry: CANCEL THE GAMES!

Grow some ethics and priorities!

[fishnfla]

2. Let them play where they can

have donation centers at the stadiums

[Coventina]

7. Based on prior experience, that would be rather ineffective

Due to the California wildfires, an NFL game was moved from CA to Phoenix at the last minute. In order to fill the stadium, it was announced that admission would be free, but people were asked to donate money to the victims as they entered.

Hordes of people showed up. It was a full house. And the average donation turned out to be less than $1 per person, IIRC.
It was quite frankly, embarrassing in the extreme.

[fishnfla]

16. add a zero to that one-1/2 million collected

50,000 fans donated an average of 10 bucks a pop

google is your friend

[Coventina]

40. still pretty lame, considering what the ticket take would have been

at face value.

[fishnfla]

52. That was one game

what if they did that at every stadium, college and pro for the next month

Thats what I'm talking about

I'd also think that 500, 000 dollars in collections from the general public is pretty good.

Cant we positive about anything?

[cbear70]

3. I agree

Where can we get numbers and schedules and start making calls. I cannot even believe they would think of kicking these people. These hotels are incredible.. where is the humanity.

[EnfantTerrible]

4. But 'Murka needs the distraction!

:sarcasm:

[no_to_war_economy]

5. were is the petition

I will sign ... fuck football

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

75. fuck you.

[demnan]

6. Would people even be able to get there

There should be a massive relief effort right now, generating money from tourism is not realisitic in a water-logged hell hole.

[MadHound]

8. I have to disagree friend, and here is why

These people, this country needs some sort of diversion, entertainment, normalacy. They did this with the NYC sporting events following 911, and it boosted morale a great deal, and they need to do it again now.

I imagine that the NO Saints will move their games to the LSU stadium, and probably the Houston Texans will move their games also, since the Astrodome is going to be occupied. But the games do need to go on, if for no other reason than to give people a sense of normalcy for one afternoon a week. Otherwise, people will just brood and fixate on their problems and the problems of this country, and from a mental health perspective, that isn't healthy at all.

[Thtwudbeme]

9. Did you know that the hotels in Fl are kicking out refugees

for the fans to come in?

Elderly people with heart conditions.

There isn't going to be "normal" for months in those states...a football game played in an area that evacuees were taken to is just a massive disruption in the attempt to return to normalcy.

on the other hand though...I would agree with you under MOST circumstances--

Stephanie

[MadHound]

13. Really? Where did you see that? Got a link?

I know that in most states that it is illegal for evacuation centers such as hotels to kick out refugees in times of disaster. I would be curious as to a link.

[Moosepoop]

22. Here's the link

LBN forum thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1742859

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

41. Quite honestly, that's reprehensible of the HOTELS.

But these scumbags would be acting the same way if they were getting a premium rate for any other reason.

[MadHound]

46. Then we should raise the roof on this, and blast those hotels

However we shouldn't be taking it out on the sport itself. Perhaps there is a law in Florida to prevent this, I know that there are in other states. Then again, this is Florida, under a Bush, so that law could have been sticken years ago, and it wouldn't suprise me.

[fishwax]

62. it's actually not the NFL, but college football

just for the record. In that specific article it's the Miami-FSU game.

I agree that it's reprehensible that hotels are kicking them out, though ...

[DelawareValleyDem]

12. NFL Games were postponed the weekend after 9/11

before resuming the following week. Also, the Astrodome occupation is not an issue, as the Texans do not play their games there.

[MadHound]

17. Yes, I realize that, I was aware and concious back then.

I am also aware that there was a big hue and cry for the games to be canceled back then too, and the residents and fans of the affected cities demanded that the season go on.

So perhaps we should ask the residents of the areas most affected. I would be willing to bet dollars to doughnuts that the vast majority of NO residents would be wanting to see their Saints play, just to help keep the spirit of NO alive.

[DelawareValleyDem]

37. How do you propose to ask the residents?

The season will go on, it's only a matter of whether or not the opening should delayed. The regular season doesn't start for a week, and the Saints aren't at home until the 18th, so there's still time to see how things progress.

[grrl62]

14. i think people have had enough distractions

reality tv.. sports.. cell phones.. consumerism.

bout time we start taking life a little more SERIOUSLY.

[Squatch]

19. How about you govern your own life

and let others decide how they want to live, themselves.

[ProfessorGAC]

25. Mommy, Can I Have A Cookie?

The Professor

[MadHound]

42. LOL, thank you Sir!

You and I may not see eye to eye on all issues, but I have always admired your cutting wit and ability to get to the core of an issue in as few as words as possible:toast:

[ProfessorGAC]

55. Thanks, Hound

And, if we did see eye to eye on EVERYTHING, we'd be a couple of robots. We don't want that.
The Professor

[MadHound]

30. And not all people buy into every single distraction friend

Myself for instance, I don't watch reality TV, I don't have a cell phone, I don't go in for much in the way of material things. There are a lot of people like that.

During the '93 flood here in Missouri, when I-70 went under, and people and buildings were going downriver on a minute by minute basis, and everything from KC to St Louis was under water, there was some rumbling by our two baseball teams to cancel at least part of their seasons. The fans demanded that the game go on, because it did give them a sense of something normal continuing while they felt the rest of the world was falling apart.

[grrl62]

44. sure, i can understand

the need for a sense of normalcy. but i also think the only way people are going to wake up from the nightmare we as a country have been facing since 2000 is to spend less time on the need for constant entertainment through several sources.

[vptpt]

24. Baseball took about a week off after 9/11

Or maybe it was a little less, I don't remember exactly. A little time would be appropriate from the NFL as well.

Just my opinion.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

31. I agree with you. And let's be perfectly honest...

we're not talking about the Super Bowl here. There is no huge influx of people that need hotels or resources in any given city. There exists no good reason for sports to shut down. It's just another opportunity for people whom hate sports for no good reason to bash it once again.

[Divernan]

54. The FACT is that refugees have been told to leave motels by weeken

in Tallahassee to make room for the fans for the FSU/Miami game. I'm not saying the game should be cancelled, but the fans could stay somewhere like Orlando, if they're driving from Miami. Of course, then they would have to stay sober enough to drive after the game - and for many sports "fans", a game is just an excuse to get drunk, loud and obnoxious. I grew up with a stepdad who had box seats for the Oriole and Colts games,and I do enjoy baseball and football. But I have zero tolerance for loud drunks and they do spoil the experience of a game. But, if fans are truly there to watch the game, they should have no problem in limiting themselves to one beer and then driving a couple of hours south to stop for the night. I've always thought that if you can't enjoy an activity while you're sober, you really are just in it for the booze. And those people can stay home with their big screen TVs and drink themselves unconscious.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

61. Yes, I see the story now.

It is utterly reprehensible that the hotels would do that. And yes, I agree some fans ruin sports. The vast majority of them do not, however. You can say the same about pretty much every "evil" in society, whether it's violent song lyrics, sex on television, video games... 95% of the population can handle it. And yet some would villainize everyone and everything associated with these "evils" just because 5% do not have the capacity to control themselves and would most definitely act the same way if none of these things existed. It's a cop-out, pure and simple.

The hotel owners are no better than the price gougers before and after the storm, and the price gougers did not have an excuse in football. Football was not the problem - it's people being greedy assholes that is the problem.

[FredScuttle]

76. Who needs diversion?

The people most impacted by the disaster? Methinks it's going to be tough for them to get to a TV or radio to enjoy the games. And the rest of us? Do we need something to take our minds off the greatest natural disaster to hit our nation in over a century? Who cares about death and destruction when the pagentry of NFL football is in my living room?!!

Yes, sports boosted morale after Sept. 11...but they had the good taste to cancel games in the week following the event.

[shaniqua6392]

10. Have all of the players donate their salaries from the games

and if they can not do that, CANCEL THE GAME.

[vptpt]

32. "donate their salaries"

I love your attitude, but you don't really think they would do that, do you? Maybe some of them would, but definately not all.

The sad thing about this world is that most people don't care.

[Missy Vixen]

65. College football players don't get paid

Also, college games are huge fundraisers for their respective schools, especially if there is TV time involved.

I wish that the NFL would take a week off, but again, there are huge sums of money involved. The NFL's $1 million pledge to hurricane relief is a drop in the bucket; they could pledge $100 million and never miss the money.

Julie

[Poiuyt]

11. Packers' Team Plane Also Carried Supplies to South

http://sports.excite.com/news/08312005/v0561.html

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) - The Green Bay Packers flew to Nashville on Wednesday for their final preseason game - but only after loading the team airplane with generators and other emergency supplies to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.

more -

[RevCheesehead]

28. Good for them.

[TahitiNut]

50. The only team owned by the municipality. It figures.

Heaven forbid that the fat cat owners rush to the aid of the fans.

[Squatch]

15. FUUUUUUUUCK THAT

Maybe the Saints can play in Houston this year.

[brook]

35. I heard last night

that they were talking about playing in Los Angeles.

Whatever. IMO, cancel football, NASCAR, etc. until we see a stabilization in rescue and relief efforts. Let the uninvolved and bored play with their gameboys 0r (self-censored) in the meantime. I don't have a lot of use for people who "must be entertained or distracted" so that they can remain aloof from reality.

[Squatch]

48. No football = more time for hand wringing

[brook]

66. or for...

organizing story telling circles for the children; for helping to clean up their immediate environment;checking on the elderly and those with no family by their sides;helping distribute whatever supplies have arrived;cleaning up the bathrooms;taking turns staying awake to deter those who may not be as 'ethical' as others. Seems to me that being on the ground there, one could find any number of activities/useful distractions that would, in some small measure, alleviate the pain, suffering, and fear that these refugees are experiencing.

Any small action would also serve to return a sense of 'control' to these people whose situation is 'out of their control' and help them regain the confidence they are going to need to eventually surmount the seemingly impossible task of rebuilding their lives.

[MadHound]

60. And gee, you don't think all of those people from NO,

Sitting around in the Astrodome with nothing but time on their hands wouldn't appreciate seeing their team play up on the big screen? After all, it isn't like they've got gameboys, or any privacy to go (self-censored). And gee, seeing their team carry on might just help THEM carry on.

I'm sorry but not everybody can be as self contained and self entertaining as you are, and quite frankly, I hope it never comes to that.

[brook]

67. I think you bordered on calling me 'smug'.

I lost my home a few years ago. It forced me out of the middle class. Now I work with sick, elderly people every day. If I couldn't look for and find ways to improve their situations, my own (low) place on the food chain would be unbearable.I guess I favor action over inaction as well as the abandonment of some of one's innate ego-centricity.

[MadHound]

70. I'm sorry for the loss of your home, I myself have gone through much

Including tornadoes, flood and being homeless for a couple of years. I wasn't, despite your protestation, accusing you of being "smug" What I was doing was asking you a question that would lead you to do some thinking. You see, having been in similar circumstances as these poor refugees, I always found that some sort of diversion or entertainment was quite helpful to my general overall mood and attitude. The chance for me to get out of myself, to forget my problems, even for only a couple of hours was priceless.

And this sociological reality is born out by real world facts. Do you know when the highest percentage of the US populace attended movies and sporting events? The Great Depression. Why? To occupy their minds with something else other than dispair and depression, even if for only a little while. That is why I think shutting down the season is foolish.

[brook]

71. Thank you for your resonse.

I guess what I was trying to say is that one can get away from one's own problems by extending a helping hand to others; by trying to make order out of chaos. Yes, I 'getaway' on the Net; by spending a few precious hours with my family; by appreciating the beautiful area where I live; reading, etc.

Also, I know about the Depression and movies. Mother had an 'envelope' system for paying the bills- depositing quarters in envelopes marked "Gas", "Electric", etc. - and there was one marked "Movies".

I'd also like to clear up that I was not saying ban sports forever - just temporarily until the rescue & recovery efforts have made some headway. I'd extend that ban to * and his use of AirForce One. Let him stick around the office and get some damned work done and save fuel. If he really wants to know what's going on, he can watch TV like the rest of us or have someone teach him how to use a computer.

[ET Awful]

18. Why do you hate America?

If you cancel football games, that damn terrorist (Mother Nature) wins.

[Dhalgren]

20. I can understand why the games went on after 9/11;

everyone thought that we were under attack from foreign terrorists and everyone wanted to show a defiant, stiff upper lip and prove that we would "soldier on". But this is a completely different situation. This is a natural disaster, compounded by presidential incompetence and governmental greed and callousness. I am an ardent football fan (go Vikes!), but I think that the games should be canceled. The people of NO are our family, these aren't people we can put on the back burner for a while so that we can feel better. These are our mothers and fathers, our brothers and sisters, our sons and daughters; when they suffer we suffer, when they hunger we hunger; and if we as a nation can not find in ourselves to feel that connection, then this country is dead and good ridance...

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

21. Yes, let's take this opportunity to blame sports for everything.

:sarcasm:

The holier than thou anti-sports crowd never ceases to amaze me.

[Thtwudbeme]

29. I am not anti-sports, nor am I blaming sports for anything

where did you read that into my post?

Stephanie

[grrl62]

39. you seem rather sensitive

jumping to conclusions about someone's stance on sports.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

43. Read a few of the other posts around here.

This is not the first time the anti-sports crowd has come around.

[Thtwudbeme]

49. OK, again...please tell me how I am anti-sports?

It's so funny to me that you should say that; I have spent my entire life wishing I were tough enough and coordinated enough to play soccer, or be a gymnast--or even go skiing with friends-

How odd that you think I am "anti-sports" just because I don't want refugees displaced again in a few cities.

Stephanie

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

53. I apologize

I have seen some of your other posts, and I admit that you are not of the anti-sports crowd.

However, many others in this thread are.

[Thtwudbeme]

58. That's OK

you know....I am sitting here comfortably in NC, wondering if the gas situation is going to mess up my weekend...

I feel so stressed and upset right now because I feel helpless for the first time in my life. Not just to help others, but also thinking of the road ahead...and how a recession/despression is going to affect us all.

I WISH I could just go to a game right now, and forget about all this...like a good baseball game (that's my favorite--and my favorite team was the 1985 Phillies, just for the record)--

Stephanie

[grrl62]

51. i can see what you mean

i am sorry that people are taking advantage of the situation.

[KharmaTrain]

23. I Hear The Saints Are Going To Play In San Antonio

Yep...the show must go on...money must be made. The Saints will then shakedown the government...they're gonna want a brand new stadium...ya know in one of those newly drained and cleared areas...oh, and they get to make as much money as they can. In return they'll give sneakers away to little black children when they get back.

[Joe the Revelator]

26. Some people just enjoy being miserable...

Allowing football games to go on is not going to help or hamper the process in N.O.

And can someone post a link showing where in Fl hotel managers are kicking out the infirmed? This is the first I heard of this.

[Thtwudbeme]

34. It's the top post in LBN

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1742859&mesg_id=1742859

[wildeyed]

27. Yep.

And I can't imagine that the fans would want a refugee to suffer more than they already have simply so they can enjoy their recreation.

[SheilaT]

33. So should

the Vikings and the Patriots and all the other teams a thousand miles for New Orleans also cancel their games? What good would that do?

I will say, I feel extremely fortunate to be living in Kansas right now, and have been unusually appreciative of the warm late summer weather.

[Thtwudbeme]

38. ummmm no. I should have made my post clearer

The games played in areas where hotels are full of refugees.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

45. That I can buy.

There's no good reason why a few games can't be postponed, and in fact, many of them already have. As far as the NFL is concerned, this is not an issue, as the Saints are not in the area for a while anyway. For colleges, yeah, they definitely should just reschedule the games. But shutting things down altogether just doesn't make sense.

[Lars39]

36. Football's drug of choice for a lot of people.

This is where our loser of a president could have appealed to people's better side and even promised reimbursement to the motels/hotels.

[Neshanic]

47. If they want a game, let them. Let them camp out on the massive

lawns of the campus. Have their tailgater parties on steps of the administration building. Bring their own cokes and popcorn with the requisite ice. Let them do whatever they want. Have the alumni hire private police, because the real cops need to help the refugees.

Kicking people out of hotels by Floridians? Never.

Leave the refugees alone, go along and play your games now...

[JVS]

56. But if they do that, the hurricane wins

:sarcasm:

[fishnfla]

57. NFL has donated 1 million to hurricane relief

so have the New York Yankees.

[nolabels]

59. Only if they cancel the federal government too

Yea and help is on the way that will make everything all better and this catastrophe is not a result of global warming



P.S repeat this at nausea, maybe you will even believe the lie yourself, well at least till the next big one hits anyway

[fishwax]

63. Why blame the NFL when it's a college game that's the problem?

It isn't an NFL game that's displacing refugees, according to the LBN article, it's the Florida State-Miami game. I agree it's a terrible situation, though.

[ima_sinnic]

64. fuck that stupid sport

and go ahead and flame me.
who the fuck cares about a bunch of meatheads patting each other on the ass and running up and down wearing enough "body armor" to outfit a small militia while they wrestle a ball away from each other? and I live in a major college football town--the people that come here for the games are crass, drunken, messy, shallow-minded, boorish, inconsiderate, selfish and asshole-ish. oh boo hoo, we might not get to go to one of our dumbass football games because there has been a natural disaster and maybe like 100,000 people are dead/dying and need assistance. gee, I might have to do something constructive with my time. I might even have to pitch in and help the disaster victims somehow--I might even have to make a sacrifice!!

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

74. Yes, because I'm sure you practice quantum physics in your spare time.

:sarcasm: Stop being a self righteous prick.

[BeachBuckeye]

68. As a college football fan I heartily agree

The games can be rescheduled for later or canceled completely for all I care. First things first right now.

[cascadiance]

69. What about the Nokia Sugar Bowl? Will BCS need to use another stadium?

Perhaps use the Cotton Bowl as a BCS bowl instead? Or find another location for the Sugar Bowl? Or will there be time enough to rebuild the area around there to have that bowl game there then. Perhaps that would be it's "Grand Reopening" then or the like... Somehow, I think it will take a lot longer than by the end of this year to have another bowl game there.

[theboss]

78. They could probably go to LSU for the game

I imagine the city would want the tourists by then though.

[theboss]

72. meaningless symbolism

The games in the affected states should be cancelled. But how games in ten days in Pennsylvania and Ohio are going to affect the situation in the South is beyond me.

[Thtwudbeme]

73. You should have read the whole thread, or at least my posts

I agree with you completely...

Stephanie

[BrotherBuzz]

77. It might be interesting to view the NO Saints/Raiders game tonight...

It's being played in Oakland so it doesn't directly impact the hurricane relief efforts, but I suspect this topic will be touched on a few times during the game, and undoubtedly, they will present the opposing argument just nicely. Mom, apple pie NASCAR football, the American pastime.