Anyone else feeling almost total apathy and disinterest in the Ravens/NFL?

Years before i would never miss a Ravens game and watch roughly 8 hours of football every Sunday. Now, i just never miss a Ravens game, but that interest is slowly drifting.....driftinggg awaayyyy (song reference). I honestly cant say if its just the political bullshit going on or if its just that im sick of being able to figure out what the problems are before the season begins yet the FO never addresses these. More of the positive fans here thought we could at least have a middle of the road offense, but we knew there would be struggles with the lack of playmakers. With the lousy drafting over the years, most of us thinking we could do better, its just rinse and repeat and its getting old.

More likely its the ladder.

Sidenote, anyone else noticing the insane amount of threads being started that could easily go somewhere where a discussion is already going?

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Originally Posted by sawraven1

Yes I for one can say that. I used to tell people it was against my religion to work on sundays because my sundays were planned around the Ravens game. I would plan everything around the game, post pone plans etc... and it just doesn't have the same feel

4 weeks ago I started a PT job working every Saturday and sundays 2pm-10pm and I never in a million years would have thought I would have done that. Spending family time, watching the game, screaming at the TV last few years watching this train wreck of an offense but it was still my team and football.

I have spent more time lately watching other teams, and yes it makes our offense look just ridiculous every time we snap the ball. Its not even funny anymore.


I just would love to see a competent offense on the field for the first time since 2014. But I know that wont happen under this current regime.

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Absolutely.

1) Oversaturation. An event is now ubiquitous. Too much like baseball. Eliminate TNF.

2) Game changing calls. With every incomplete pass or every big hit the viewer (or players or coaches) waits with baited breath for a flag. Watching lobbying is not fun. Plus, it risks outcomes seeming arbitrary. It's 3rd and 27 and an Illegal Contact penalty away from the play results in a first down. That's not why I want to watch football.

3) Sameness. "Styles make fights" so many teams seem to been cut from the same cookie cutter. I want to see the 1999 Rams versus the 2000 Ravens. Instead, it's one version of a Tom Brady offense versus another version of a Peyton Manning offense. Give me Picasso vs Monet; Kandinsky vs Lorrain.

4) Fantasy Football. Divided loyalties sap passion, and passion is what energizes events like football. Ravens lose to Steelers. Feel bad. But don't feel as bad if silver lining is Antonio Brown's 18 fantasy points. Self-interest in my fantasy team dilutes communal interest in the real team. Eventually I'll just focus on myself and the stats.

5) Off-the-Field Issues. Assault, drunk driving, anthem, team relocation -- all things that pull the viewer out of three hours of escapism and back into the real world. The high isn't as high.

NFL RedZone network paired with fantasy football is about the most enjoyment I get out of the NFL these days.


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We as a board has all agreed, for years, that we would have a hard time watching the Ravens if we weren't fans of the team. Playing that style, you have to be truly imposing. Seattle can do it, because they tend to beat their opponents into the ground and make them feel like a 7 point lead is a 14 point lead. Save a game here and there. The Ravens are not imposing their will on either side of the ball.

Very good thread.
In my case, I do not back the Texans. Ravens rarely are broadcast here, and I don't think they're worth the cost to see them every week.
I spend most of my time watching Red Zone and taped Monday and Thursday football.
My interest has largely shifted to college football. I have season tickets to the Univ of Houston games. Great fun; fat; lots of action -- antithesis of Ravens football.
You draftniks, check out the UH DT. He's a soph and special!

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Originally Posted by BigPlayReceiver

Quick OT: 6'5 guys shouldn't be elusive like that. I'm absolutely floored with how far he's come in just one off-season. A beat guy I follow was talking him up all summer to point of exhaustion, but dude was spot on. That OL helps a lot too. Philly's about to settle in at the top of the NFC for a good stretch.

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And to think if Bridgewater didn't get hurt and Bradford played well for Philly, Wentz may have sat all last year.

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Originally Posted by QuothDaRaven

NFL RedZone network paired with fantasy football is about the most enjoyment I get out of the NFL these days.


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Bingo, this nailed it for me. This pretty much how I enjoy the NFL also.

I used to be a season ticket holder from the first game in 1996 until I sold the PSL in 2012 because I just grew tired of the hassle of selling tickets to games I wasn't going to since I had moved to Florida. The team doesn't inspire me any more. I was recently back in Baltimore for a couple of weeks and saw both the Cleveland game and the London fiasco. I enjoyed being able to watch a whole Ravens game (except for all the commercials) but the thrill is pretty much gone. The team just seems washed out.

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Originally Posted by PurplePill

Just curious if I'm the only one, or if this is becoming more common? I've had season tickets since the first year of the team's existence back in 1996. I would say for the first 15 years or so I almost never missed a game. Then I started going slightly less over then few years. And in the last couple seasons even less. But this season I am going through an almost complete indifference to football in general and the Ravens in particular. I have tickets to five of the games this year, but honestly I don't particularly care if I go anymore or not. I'm considering giving my Bears ticket away next week if the weather is nice just to go to the beach instead - not for any particular reason, just because I'd rather hang out in OC than spend the day at the stadium. And I mean give away, not sell, that's how little I care. I've been through losing seasons before so that can't be the only cause. Yes the anthem business has something to do with it, but it's more than that. I can't put my finger on it but I'm simply beginning to not care much at all about the NFL. Kind of depressed thinking about it. Anyone sort of feeling the same way around here? Sorry to be a downer, but it's been on my mind lately. I was out of town last weekend and made nearly no effort to watch the game. Strange feeling - hope it changes...

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Hey Pill!: You know a day in our beloved OC beats a day at the stadium! (provided you avoid one of the latest rash of "takeover" events, like the H20 car fiasco last weekend.)

I have to admit, I'm feeling the same way, and this kneeling crap has definitely made it worse (see post I just launched about the pissed off Ravens fan). For instance, when the O's lost their first 33 (or whatever it was) games a while back, I was still wearing the colors and putting up with the abuse around here. You always stick with your team, but again, the politics have got to go.

I've posted this angle before and I'll repeat it, with apologies to anyone that's already remembered it:

Living in a loser football town like Cincitucky really makes you appreciate our Ravens, not matter how infuriating they are on the field. Imagine FIFTY consecutive years of continuous loser football, with 5, count 'em, FIVE playoff wins. To some extent, we've been spoiled; in our 20+ years, we have the #1 playoff win percentage of ANY NFL team, including Stoolers, Pats, etc. http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/gallery...32-to-1-010617

And there were lean years after 2001, when no hope was in sight and before long, we were on top again.

I'm as pissed off and embarrassed as everyone else, but unlike the locals here, we Ravens fans have some great memories, 2 SB titles and easily a successful franchise when you look at the big picture.

Have also told this story about my Brother-in Law, and will repeat it. This guy is the biggest bengals fan in the world. Season tickets, goes to 4 or so away games, writes annual 30 page letters to Mike Brown, etc. He's also the most positive, upbeat guy I've ever met. I literally have never seen him angry or sad. But a month or so after our first SB win, he came in my mancave, looked around at all the championship stuff and I've never seen him this depressed, the look on his face was memorably dejected. He looked at me and said "I can't believe you got there before we did, and in only 5 years".

So hang in there if possible, if you need to vent; this is a great forum to do that, but as was said in Shawshank Redemption; "hope is a good thing"

And Pill, let me know when you're headed to OC; we can drink away our sorrows (and I might need to buy your tickets for the colts game if you end up selling :)

Games are boring
Too many timeouts, too many penalties, and then comes a challenge and I switch channels to a 20 yo movie and just forget to switch back to the NFL

Also I'm thinking some day the average fan will wake up to the fact that they are paying the salaries of 20+ million dollar a year players like Joe Flacco who don't even give a %%$@%!

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Originally Posted by webbrick2007

Games are boring
Too many timeouts, too many penalties, and then comes a challenge and I switch channels to a 20 yo movie and just forget to switch back to the NFL

Also I'm thinking some day the average fan will wake up to the fact that they are paying the salaries of 20+ million dollar a year players like Joe Flacco who don't even give a %%$@%!

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I find in general that the whole "we pay the players salary" concept always makes the fan look bad.

Realistically... fans would complain about player salaries even if they made $500K a year. There's two things I've learned very quickly about the general public:

1. They have absolutely no fundamental understanding of supply and demand and why ANY person is compensated the way they are in this country
2. If a person makes more money than you, and you THINK you work "harder" or your work is more "dangerous" than that person (which most of the time its not), you automatically have disdain for that person, and secretly (or not-so-secretly) would wish that person was paid less.

Item 1 is based on a lack of sufficient education and item 2 is mostly centered around pure and simply jealousy.

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Originally Posted by bravens23

I find in general that the whole "we pay the players salary" concept always makes the fan look bad.

Realistically... fans would complain about player salaries even if they made $500K a year. There's two things I've learned very quickly about the general public:

1. They have absolutely no fundamental understanding of supply and demand and why ANY person is compensated the way they are in this country
2. If a person makes more money than you, and you THINK you work "harder" or your work is more "dangerous" than that person (which most of the time its not), you automatically have disdain for that person, and secretly (or not-so-secretly) would wish that person was paid less.

Item 1 is based on a lack of sufficient education and item 2 is mostly centered around pure and simply jealousy.

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Well to be honest teams do get tax payers money. As well as merchandise ticket sales and so forth. So even though it’s kinda not accurate for a fan to say that they not entirely wrong either.


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I agree with many of the comments on this thread. My interest in the NFL is waning. For me it is primarily for 3 reasons:

1. I typically don't watch games that the Ravens aren't playing in. I have to have a passion for a team to watch. The Ravens front office and coaching are so lost that my passion for the team is going away.

2. Injuries are increasing every year. It is getting to the point where I feel injuries are too significant in determining who has winning seasons and who doesn't. It certainly feels that way in regards to the Ravens recent seasons.

3. The passing rules are just too subjective. Passing dominates the league, and almost every passing play there are defenders grabbing receivers arms or receivers trying to push off defenders. Sometimes it's called and sometimes it's not. The penalties really slow down the game, and the calls or no-calls can determine the game. I wish the game was more run oriented and the pass defense rules were back the way they were 30 years ago.