The NFL knows that the Pro Bowl is broken and they are trying to fix it. I personally like that the NFL is trying to do something about their annual all-star game, but this is not enough incentive for the players or for the owners to care about the game. Relying on the "camaraderie" between current and former players to ignite a competitive flame in the participants is not going to solve the issues regarding the game, but I do know what will... MONEY AND EGO!
Right now, the players are getting contract incentives for their appearances in the Pro Bowl and the owners are not making as much money on the venture as they could be. The television rights for the game are lumped into a pre-existing contract for other NFL programming. But wouldn't the NFL be able to charge even more for their television rights if they offered an all-star game that would guarantee a large audience? The easiest way to do this is for the owners to put up the initial investment into this game and create an egocentric spectacle by putting up their own money in a winner-takes-all football game.
Admittedly, I don't have exact figures, so the rest of this blog post will require an open mind to the hypothetical money being flaunted around. So, let's say that the NFL Owners agree to a AFC-NFC format for the Pro Bowl and each owner agrees to put up $10 Million to create a pool of $320 Million that will go to the winning side. The losing side will get nothing from this pool of money. Now that seems like a raw deal for the losing side, so why would the owners take that risk? Because ads for football games with large audiences will draw huge money! Granted, the article that I linked to is for the Super Bowl and it is a forecast as to what a 30-second ad could cost in the future, but don't you think that an all-star football game where the players are actually trying will garner a solid percentage of the total Super Bowl audience (35-40%)? Using that same hypothetical percentage, that would still bring in around $1.5 Million for a 30 second ad that could plausibly be charged for this game. Depending on the increase in the cost of television rights, the owners could pay for their bets with the increase in revenue.
We now see why the owners would consider this, but why would the players finally decide not to skip the game? Well, the contract incentives will not go away, but how about adding 20% of the Owners' winning share on top of those incentives? If you stick with the 43 players scenario that is being proposed for the 2014 Pro Bowl, then the winning side will pay out $1.488 Million to each player. That is a huge upgrade in Pro Bowl salary than that of 2010. The losing players will still get their contract incentives and a free trip to Hawaii, but they will not see a dime of the winners' share. If there is one thing that will cause the players to get very competitive on the field, it is money. If there is another thing that will get the players to play hard, it is their ego. By offering a chance at that large sum of money and throwing in the bragging rights that this game would provide, the quality of the Pro Bowl will prosper.
Pro Football is the ultimate display of ego and greed. It can be an ugly display at times, but it could also be beneficial in creating a better viewing experience for the fans when it comes to the Pro Bowl. All I know is that nobody cares about the Pro Bowl now and the NFL has nothing to lose... well, except for their hypothetical money.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Saturday, January 19, 2013
2013 Movie Marathon
I've been very busy recently and that has taken away my ability to go see some movies that I've been wanting to see. Also, the Oscars are upcoming and the Golden Globes recently occured, so I knew that I had to take advantage of a Friday night in which I had nothing to do.
After looking at movie times, I saw that Silver Linings Playbook, Lincoln, and Django Unchained lined up perfectly one after the other as far as start times were concerned. So once I clocked out of work, I headed to the movie theater to commence an event that would span 8 hours and 45 minutes, including 7 hours and 16 minutes of actual movie duration time.
The idea of this blog post is to describe my experience and highlight my opinions of the movies by breaking them down into smaller categories/bullet points which will be in bold letters. I don't see myself as a purveyor of a truly insightful opinion of what should be considered "Oscar-Worthy", so I won't delve too deep into my Oscar ideas, but I will describe how the movies affected me personally. So now, my recollection of my own 2013 Movie marathon.
(By the way: shout out to Grantland.com and Robert Mays for providing a blueprint on how to do the all day movie theater excursion)
These actors are great at acting: From Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, to Daniel Day-Lewis and Tommy Lee Jones, to Leonardo DiCaprio and Cristoph Waltz... and Samuel L. Jackson, the performances that these specific actors presented were truly wonderful. I found myself smiling incredulously as I watched these artists fully envelop themselves into these worlds that had been created. Lawrence and Cooper had a chemistry that was palpable and thoroughly enjoyable. Day-Lewis and Jones obviously did their homework on their characters and the period that they found themselves in. DiCaprio, Jackson, and Waltz made incredible choices on their characters and were willing partners for each other to play off of.
Those performances were due to great directing: David O. Russell, Steven Spielberg, and Quentin Tarentino know what the hell they are doing. The willingness to let their players be great in the worlds that they helped create is what separates these men from other renowned directors. The actors can only go as far as the creative environment in which they play, and these directors provided an incredible environment on set and it showed through on screen. Each movie had a confidence and trust in every aspect that they presented and it allowed for the viewing experience to just be enjoyed and felt by the audience.
I love Northeastern Chicks: "Tiffany" in Silver Linings Playbook (played by Lawrence) is the third character that if they were real and I met them in real life, then I'd totally be in love. The other two: Elizabeth Banks' character in Invincible and Amy Adams' character in another Russell movie, The Fighter.
My Oscar vote: I said I wouldn't delve too deep and I won't. Here are my picks with little to no explanation: Best Picture - Lincoln, Best Director - Spielberg, Best Actor - Day-Lewis (Because he is and always will be amazing. He BECAME Lincoln... it was too incredible. Great job by Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook, though), Best Actress - Lawrence (She was in the moment, every moment in that movie. This girl is scary good for how young she is... I think I'm in love...), Best Supporting Actor - Waltz (I liked DiCaprio and Jackson better, but all three of them were wonderful), Best Supporting Actress - Sally Field (Screw Les Miserbles, Field was too good as Lincoln's wife... even if she overacts at times)
My favorite movie of the three: Silver Linings Playbook is a romantic comedy that has a slightly different build up than you would usually see in a RomCom. Plus, I'm a huge fan of stories that focus more on a character's journey toward a realization that relies more on actor performances to properly relay the plot. Overall, my "personal enjoyment" grades are A+ for Silver Linings Playbook, A for Lincoln, and B+ for Django Unchained.
This was really fun: As a society we have started to move toward a higher consumption of shows and movies in a smaller period of time. A lot of people now wait until a television show finishes a season before watching the season in its entirety on Netflix or DVD in the matter of a weekend. I think the same can be done with movies in the movie theater. After waiting for these films to be out for a few weeks and then catching them all in a single night, I feel as if I really enjoyed each movie more because I was more focused on the moment and the experience. I love going to the movie theater to watch a movie on the big screen, I love enjoying a movie for its performances by all involved, and sometimes that experience is greater when I do it alone (I think of the three, only Django Unchained would have been even more enjoyable with friends). Basically, I will do this again when the opportunity presents itself.
After looking at movie times, I saw that Silver Linings Playbook, Lincoln, and Django Unchained lined up perfectly one after the other as far as start times were concerned. So once I clocked out of work, I headed to the movie theater to commence an event that would span 8 hours and 45 minutes, including 7 hours and 16 minutes of actual movie duration time.
The idea of this blog post is to describe my experience and highlight my opinions of the movies by breaking them down into smaller categories/bullet points which will be in bold letters. I don't see myself as a purveyor of a truly insightful opinion of what should be considered "Oscar-Worthy", so I won't delve too deep into my Oscar ideas, but I will describe how the movies affected me personally. So now, my recollection of my own 2013 Movie marathon.
(By the way: shout out to Grantland.com and Robert Mays for providing a blueprint on how to do the all day movie theater excursion)
These actors are great at acting: From Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, to Daniel Day-Lewis and Tommy Lee Jones, to Leonardo DiCaprio and Cristoph Waltz... and Samuel L. Jackson, the performances that these specific actors presented were truly wonderful. I found myself smiling incredulously as I watched these artists fully envelop themselves into these worlds that had been created. Lawrence and Cooper had a chemistry that was palpable and thoroughly enjoyable. Day-Lewis and Jones obviously did their homework on their characters and the period that they found themselves in. DiCaprio, Jackson, and Waltz made incredible choices on their characters and were willing partners for each other to play off of.
Those performances were due to great directing: David O. Russell, Steven Spielberg, and Quentin Tarentino know what the hell they are doing. The willingness to let their players be great in the worlds that they helped create is what separates these men from other renowned directors. The actors can only go as far as the creative environment in which they play, and these directors provided an incredible environment on set and it showed through on screen. Each movie had a confidence and trust in every aspect that they presented and it allowed for the viewing experience to just be enjoyed and felt by the audience.
I love Northeastern Chicks: "Tiffany" in Silver Linings Playbook (played by Lawrence) is the third character that if they were real and I met them in real life, then I'd totally be in love. The other two: Elizabeth Banks' character in Invincible and Amy Adams' character in another Russell movie, The Fighter.
My Oscar vote: I said I wouldn't delve too deep and I won't. Here are my picks with little to no explanation: Best Picture - Lincoln, Best Director - Spielberg, Best Actor - Day-Lewis (Because he is and always will be amazing. He BECAME Lincoln... it was too incredible. Great job by Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook, though), Best Actress - Lawrence (She was in the moment, every moment in that movie. This girl is scary good for how young she is... I think I'm in love...), Best Supporting Actor - Waltz (I liked DiCaprio and Jackson better, but all three of them were wonderful), Best Supporting Actress - Sally Field (Screw Les Miserbles, Field was too good as Lincoln's wife... even if she overacts at times)
My favorite movie of the three: Silver Linings Playbook is a romantic comedy that has a slightly different build up than you would usually see in a RomCom. Plus, I'm a huge fan of stories that focus more on a character's journey toward a realization that relies more on actor performances to properly relay the plot. Overall, my "personal enjoyment" grades are A+ for Silver Linings Playbook, A for Lincoln, and B+ for Django Unchained.
This was really fun: As a society we have started to move toward a higher consumption of shows and movies in a smaller period of time. A lot of people now wait until a television show finishes a season before watching the season in its entirety on Netflix or DVD in the matter of a weekend. I think the same can be done with movies in the movie theater. After waiting for these films to be out for a few weeks and then catching them all in a single night, I feel as if I really enjoyed each movie more because I was more focused on the moment and the experience. I love going to the movie theater to watch a movie on the big screen, I love enjoying a movie for its performances by all involved, and sometimes that experience is greater when I do it alone (I think of the three, only Django Unchained would have been even more enjoyable with friends). Basically, I will do this again when the opportunity presents itself.
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