I tried to find a SB page using the Search engine but didn’t get results.
So for American Football fans out there: Who will win the semi-finals tomorrow and go to the Superbowl on February 2?
Logic dictates the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers… but those Tennessee Titans have surprised everybody with their victory on the road against the Ravens, and Aaron Rodgers has won a lot of big games for Green Bay Packers in his career.
My pick: Tennessee Titans and San Francisco 40ers will win tomorrow
I think KC will do better in their own stadium and cold weather. Green Bay got beat badly by SF in their meeting earlier in the season. May not mean anything.
My pick: KC vs SF in the Superbowl.
There were a few surprises leading up to the conference finals, such as the Titans taking It to the Patriots and Ravens. Logic would want me to pick KC vs SF to meet for the big show but I think this weekend may see the Chiefs lose to the Titans and 49ers win over the Packers.
IMV the 49ers look a far better team than Green Bay and I suspect Aaron Rodgers may be eating a lot of grass during the game. As to the Chiefs, I think this could be very close. Vrabel has shown his coaching skills in the last 2 games albeit Baltimore played to type and were very predictable. I am taking the Titans - partly on the basis the Chiefs surely cannot play again like they did last week! Staggering game.
I’ll need some time think it out, I’m just clueless at this time… Logic is for the 49ers (more balanced team) but my heart is with the Chiefs (Andy Reed and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif)
IMO, the great thing about this year’s Superbowl is that you have 2 teams which are offensively minded and unlike the Pats last year, who tended to play short and, at times, strangle the other team (and got a large dose of good fortune along the way), these 2 teams can revert to ‘gun-slinging’, especially KCC given the speed they have with the likes of Hill. On paper it looks a fascinating match-up.
The more I understand about the NFL, the more I like it, especially the post-season games - although watching the highlights is better given the constant breaks.
I record all the games that I am going to watch. Listen to music during the first hour of the game then turn it on and fast forward through the commercial breaks. It makes for a much better game. Once I start watching I don’t check email, text messages or internet. I like the ending to be a surprise.
SK - how is the popularity of the NFL going in NA as, I understand, it’s been struggling of late with falling TV audiences (time involved?) and impact on the networks’ ad revenues (their lifeblood), with suggestions the next round of TV rights will get materially lower bids.
Over here in the UK, it seems to be getting more and more exposure, more London games and the BBC getting involved albeit on a limited basis, as Sky have the rights.
As a product, what with the way the season 19/20 games have gone, it seems to be on the up (running QBs! et al) - but, I suspect, in modern day life sitting down for often >3 hours at home, must be a limiting factor for me - I like your viewing arrangements BTW.
I follow the game but not a ravenous fan as I was in my youth. Watching a number of games this year it appears that many stadiums had a lot of empty seats. The league certainly has collected a ton of TV revenue from CBS, FOX, NBC and ESPN. Plus the NFL network has games on as well. Rcent commentary is that the NFL and the Players Association is about to add a 17th game to the regular season schedule. Players get a higher percentage of the payout, the league gets revenue from 16 more games.
The games are long and tedious with the increased number of commercial breaks and the number of instant replay reviews lengthen the game as well. So going to a game is not as much fun with all the stoppage in play. Watching a game on TV for me with the constant commercials is unbearable, that is why I record the games and watch them when I can zip through the stoppages.
Like a lot of things in life, things keep evolving, I enjoyed games that finished in under three hours. The league feels the game is more exciting with passing so they modify the rules to open the game. With a running game the clock keeps running in between plays, with an incomplete pass the clock stops so the game lengths 25 to 40 seconds on each incomplete game. So some rules are added to increase excitement but for me it also adds boredom as the length of the game increase.
For what its worth, football is not the only sport impacted in the USA. In my youth, the 60’s, I would go to about 30 baseball games a season. The average time back then was around 2 hours a game, now its up to over three hours. TV commercials and slow play has made that game unbearable as well.
Now the youth today who grow up with these norms can certainly enjoy the game for what it is. I’m just an old dude who remembers the good old days. …and as I age time becomes a bit more precious.
Football has always been a fan favorite here in the USA. Baseball has kind of lost some fans or audience with basketball and LeBron James increasing the number of NBA fans. San Francisco was my team from the time I was a boy until a year or two ago when they relocated to Santa Clara. The family that owns them turn their back on the San Francisco History and tradition. During the games you can see the television stations showing cable cars and pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge and other San Francisco landmarks because there’s nothing to look at in Santa Clara their new home. They moved so that they have a new stadium with all the box seats for all the millionaires from the Google’s in Facebook in Silicon Valley. I remember the three to four old Italians that owned the team in the 60s and before eat lunch everyday in the Mission District a a little Deli on the corner. One thing I really miss is with the players going to the hospital to see little kids and to wish them well. Now none of the athletes want to give you any of their time unless you want to buy something. There was an old expression that the loyal fans used to use Go Niners. I guess the Niners owners misunderstood that.
Long time Packers fan, but in all honesty from about week 7 I said it would be SF vs Ravens or Chiefs in the Super Bowl. Should be a great game to watch!!!
I will stick with San Francisco, defense with Nick Bosa along with the running game of Raheem Mostert and with George Kittle having a big day on offense, blocking and catching the ball, will be the big difference with the Forty-Niners edging out the Chiefs.
Look forward to Sunday and hopefully it is a great game no matter who wins!
Nick Bosa will be playing against Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, our local hero (first French Canadian to start in a Super Bowl in the offense or defense). It will be fun to watch!