I would take that action. This board's demographic is too old and too male (and probably too Caucasian also, but I don't think that's relevant either way.) Advertisers like female and, especially, young. They want people who's brand loyalties are not yet set. And, in general, women make more purchase decisions than men.

quote:

Originally posted by Silent:

<snip>

No wealthy person here, but I'll wager that the members of this forum fit into a demographic that most who advertise on the games would like to influence.

<snip>

Young adults from early 20s to early 30s are the advertisers' targets. Older white guys are not prime advertising targets.

http://fox8.com/2017/08/31/cle...rowns-players-kneel/

Cleveland police, EMS unions refuse to hold flag at game after Browns players kneel

CLEVELAND-- There is new fallout from the fierce debate over Cleveland Browns players kneeling during the national anthem.

Cleveland safety forces have backed out of a plan to hold a large flag on the field for the opening game.

A dozen Browns players created a firestorm during a recent preseason game by not standing during the anthem. They created the largest demonstration in the NFL during the anthem since former San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick started his protest more than a year ago.

Some police officers and paramedics are doing something about it. The Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association and ILA Local 1975, representing the city's dispatchers, EMTs and paramedics, said the Browns came to them weeks ago, and the team wanted city safety forces to hold the flag on the field for the opening game.

EMS union president Daniel Nemeth said it sounded great until a group of Browns players took a knee during the anthem.

"This hit home with me. I am a veteran, an 8-year veteran with the U.S. Marine Corp. So, to disrespect the flag by taking a knee is not something I was going to be a part of," Nemeth said.

We tracked down police union president Steve Loomis out of state at a police convention.

"I’m here at a national police convention, and soon as they hear that I'm from Cleveland, the first question is ‘What about those stinking Browns?'" Loomis said. "So if the ownership of the Browns and the league are going to allow that type of stuff to happen, and then come to us and say, ‘We want you to help us with the flag,’ that's hypocritical. We're not gonna participate.”

The stadium sits just steps away from city hall. The FOX 8 I-Team learned the stand being made by the safety forces was discussed by the city's top brass. A city spokesman said the police have been told the Browns will replace the officers, paramedics and firefighters with members of the military.

I hope the "military" says FU too

Gonna take the browns to the superbowl!

Got to love Larry the Cable Guy!

That's what I want to hear. More of this type of pushback. I sincerely hope that the military follows suit.

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:
http://fox8.com/2017/08/31/cle...rowns-players-kneel/

Cleveland police, EMS unions refuse to hold flag at game after Browns players kneel

CLEVELAND-- There is new fallout from the fierce debate over Cleveland Browns players kneeling during the national anthem.

Cleveland safety forces have backed out of a plan to hold a large flag on the field for the opening game.

A dozen Browns players created a firestorm during a recent preseason game by not standing during the anthem. They created the largest demonstration in the NFL during the anthem since former San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick started his protest more than a year ago.

Some police officers and paramedics are doing something about it. The Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association and ILA Local 1975, representing the city's dispatchers, EMTs and paramedics, said the Browns came to them weeks ago, and the team wanted city safety forces to hold the flag on the field for the opening game.

EMS union president Daniel Nemeth said it sounded great until a group of Browns players took a knee during the anthem.

"This hit home with me. I am a veteran, an 8-year veteran with the U.S. Marine Corp. So, to disrespect the flag by taking a knee is not something I was going to be a part of," Nemeth said.

We tracked down police union president Steve Loomis out of state at a police convention.

"I’m here at a national police convention, and soon as they hear that I'm from Cleveland, the first question is ‘What about those stinking Browns?'" Loomis said. "So if the ownership of the Browns and the league are going to allow that type of stuff to happen, and then come to us and say, ‘We want you to help us with the flag,’ that's hypocritical. We're not gonna participate.”

The stadium sits just steps away from city hall. The FOX 8 I-Team learned the stand being made by the safety forces was discussed by the city's top brass. A city spokesman said the police have been told the Browns will replace the officers, paramedics and firefighters with members of the military.

I hope the "military" says FU too

That would depend on the PTB saying no. There are a lot of different units and one might be found that would accept.

flashguy

This is a letter a very good friend of mine just sent.


I thought I would share with you a letter that I just sent to Roger Goodell, Commissioner of the NFL. A cc went to the CEOs of the companies that spend the most on advertising during NFL games.


Mr. Roger Goodell
Commissioner
The National Football League

Mr. Goodell,

I regret the need for this correspondence. With respect to your time, I will be direct. I write to you as a thus-far lifelong member of the NFL customer base. My house was filled with official memorabilia: helmets, jerseys, autographed photos, an NFL FatHead on the wall. I played in the NFL Air-It-Out flag football tournament. Since I can remember, Sundays have been football. So it pains me to explain why you lost me as a customer.

I stopped watching last year in the face of the spreading protests during our national anthem. This really should not come as a shock; the NFL has always marketed itself as a piece of Americana: football, Chevrolet, Budweiser. From the Dallas Cheerleaders to military fly-overs, your entire corporate image has centered on patriotism and tradition. The people who buy that, who believe in it, are not likely interested in watching those traditions scorned and belittled.

Unlike the abhorrently violent modern left, I actually uphold the right of anyone to express their views. But I would not patronize an orchestra whose performance was interrupted by a political statement, nor a stage play, or any other form of entertainment. Pro football is an entertainment medium, athletes are performers, and customers pay for a performance. We do not pay to be subjected to personal displays that fly in the face of the image we have been sold. As an entertainment company, you are delivering a defective product.

Last year I simply chose not to watch. I had hoped this year to find that the offensive practice had faded to obscurity. I am saddened to find that this is not the case, and worse that you have personally endorsed these unsavory displays. I suggest most firmly that you were wrong when you said “we also have to understand the other side.” I do not; I can turn it off. I don’t need the NFL or the companies that support you. My time buying game tickets, season passes on cable, or supporting your advertisers, is over. To confirm this position, I will lead off by switching my family’s phones from Verizon to AT&T and recommend that my company follow suit for their business service.

Last year the popular media suggested that the huge drop in NFL ratings stemmed from customers being distracted from football by politics,. This was, and remains, a ludicrous suggestion. Had it not become political, football would have been the perfect refuge from the ill-will dividing our society. To rebut that misdirection I will share this letter with the CEOs of each of the NFL’s largest advertisers. I will share this position with my family, friends and professional colleagues, both in person and online.

I close noting that I find your position unfathomable. Just recently the League acted decisively, and quite correctly, to renounce and distance itself from domestic abuse, citing standards to which your players must adhere. But you have chosen to endorse disrespect for our nation and include it in your performances. In doing so, the acts of your players become acts of the League. If advertisers remain with the NFL, then they too embrace your values. I cannot imagine you will pick up enough viewers from the radical left to offset losses from mainstream America, but you are free to roll your dice on that one. I will not be around to see it; as I did last year, I will spend this fall enjoying Sundays in the great outdoors. But unlike my quiet avoidance of the NFL last season, I will be as energetic as possible in sharing my feelings with everyone I meet.

I feel that this is the very least I can do to honor and support the countless men and women who serve under the flag you scorn; the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines, the cops, firefighters and paramedics. These are the real heros who measure their success in lives saved, not in yards of grass; who defend a nation, not a goal line. That’s my team, and I will proudly stand with them. I hope you take this as earnestly as it is intended, and that the perspective of a lost customer is of some value to you as you consider the League’s course in this matter.

Sincerely,

<signed>


cc:
Mr. Lowell C McAdam, CEO Verizon
Mr. Akio Toyoda, CEO Toyota
Mr. James Hackett, CEO Ford Motor Company
Mr. Steve Easterbrook, CEO McDonalds
Ms. Mary T. Barra, CEO General Motors
Mr. Gary C. Kelly, CEO Southwest Airlines
Mr. Tony Nicely, CEO Geico Insurance
Mr. Carlos Ghosn, CEO Nissan
Mr. Nigel Eccles, CEO FanDuel

That is one very, very well-written letter of complaint.

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:
That would depend on the PTB saying no. There are a lot of different units and one might be found that would accept.

flashguy

I imagine any unit commander that forces those under his or her command to give aid and comfort to the enemies of our country will lose a lot of respect from those warriors.

Football? That's that group of commercials on YouTube in January.... Right?

quote:

Originally posted by tigereye313:
Haven't watched NFL since Elway retired.

Never had the pleasure of watching a complete game, but the theme music of NFL films, I remember that as a kid as my dad and brother watched. Sam Spence's music. ‘Up As She Rises’ is probably my favorite. More horns, though (there are various versions).

That's the NFL I remember. Not this crazy commercial overproduced thing now.