How do I get a petition up to boycott a quarter of football across the league?

[chad72]

I am serious about this.

Is there an online petition where fans like us can boycott a quarter of a game across the league to make a statement regarding the NFL diluting its product considerably? All fans not tuning into TV or going to the stadium for a whole quarter of a game across the league should send a statement, shouldn't it?

[trsean]

If any of them have tickets, I'll take them.

[chad72]

If any of them have tickets, I'll take them.

I said a quarter, not the entire game , !!!

[trsean]

I said a quarter, not the entire game , !!!

Oh, come on!. People need to show more outrage! How else will they listen?

Meanwhile, I still love me some football. I never watched the sport for the outstanding officiating in the first place.....obviously....since it never had it.

The drama is at an all time high. I love when things are pushed to absurdity. All these bloggers and analysts talking about integrity of the game.....BAH. Since when are games meant to have integrity.

[Blackhawk4]

I am serious about this.

Is there an online petition where fans like us can boycott a quarter of a game across the league to make a statement regarding the NFL diluting its product considerably? All fans not tuning into TV or going to the stadium for a whole quarter of a game across the league should send a statement, shouldn't it?

Not really.....NFL still is going to make money and people are still going to watch or go see the game. Might not be as much if people sit out a quarter, but if people didn't show up it wouldn't really matter that much. The players would still play the game. Players would have to decide not to play at all (resulting in numerous pay checks getting torn in half....yea like they're going to let that happen) for an extreme message to be sent. If you think a message has not been sent already look at twitter over the past 15 hours.....Just twitter alone should give you an idea of the message being sent.

[chad72]

All these bloggers and analysts talking about integrity of the game.....BAH. Since when are games meant to have integrity.

Integrity matters only when it affects the wallet, lol.

If Darrius Heyward Bey sues the NFL for the replacement refs not even throwing a flag for the hit on him, does he have a case? Not sure. More than integrity, player safety can be raised as a concern if the players and coaches feel their players can get away with more and that has a ripple effect (watch Ravens-Pats game that almost got out of control in the first half). The bounty suspensions had player safety as its underlying theme, and ex-player lawsuits to make a case against, and it all finally comes down to the wallet.

I am sure the league does not want the Cardinals and Seahawks hogging the NFC playoffs, do they?

[GoColts8818]

You can do this but I am not bothered enough by the replacement officials to sign it.

[LJpalmbeacher2]

I think Boycotting the sponsers would have a effect.

[GoColts8818]

Integrity matters only when it affects the wallet, lol.

If Darrius Heyward Bey sues the NFL for the replacement refs not even throwing a flag for the hit on him, does he have a case? Not sure. More than integrity, player safety can be raised as a concern if the players and coaches feel their players can get away with more and that has a ripple effect (watch Ravens-Pats game that almost got out of control in the first half). The bounty suspensions had player safety as its underlying theme, and ex-player lawsuits to make a case against, and it all finally comes down to the wallet.

I am sure the league does not want the Cardinals and Seahawks hogging the NFC playoffs, do they?

Okay if the players are really that concerned about the safety then go on strike over it and lose some play checks. They want to support the regular refs that's the way to do it. I have a feeling if it comes to taking money out of their pocket the replacement officials will work just fine for them.

Also if they are concerned about player safety they need to stop fighting Goodell when he punishes players when he fines them or suspends them for hits that have been deemed to violate player safety and they need to drop the Saints law suit and start calling for those players to be banned for life because putting money down on taking other players out hurts the integrity of the game way more than these officials have. The league needs to do with away injury reports then as well since they were created more for vegas gambling than anything in the league they also need to get ride of rules like last night that called for an extra point to be kicked when it can't influence the out come of the game in anyway and can only impact he vegas line. Then the media and fans need to start screaming about the integrity of the game when players get arrested for the off the field issues.

This in the new buzz words that the players are using because they don't like Goodell and they see it as a chance to make him look bad. Look who is leading the charge on this Drew Brees. You can't tell me that this isn't being some what driven that they are mad at him over the bounty gate. Sorry I don't buy the integrity of the game argument because we have never heard it before when officials have blown calls and I think there are far worse things that go on that do more damage to the integrity of the game than these officials do and you don't hear people scream about it then.

[FireJimCaldwell]

What good would it do?

Tickets are sold.

Ads are sold for the game.

Something like that might hurt others that need it(concession staff, parking lots attendants, etc) more than the Owners.

If last night and the other negative examples from the first 3 weeks aren't going to push Goodell into a deal then the fans boycotting a quarter/half/whole game won't do anything either..

The money has already been spent.

[GoColts8818]

What good would it do?

Tickets are sold.

Ads are sold for the game.

Something like that might hurt others that need it(concession staff, parking lots attendants, etc) more than the Owners.

If last night and the other negative examples from the first 3 weeks aren't going to push Goodell into a deal then the fans boycotting a quarter/half/whole game won't do anything either..

The money has already been spent.

They can stop watching the game on TV. If the ratings went down the TV stations would lose their adds and with what they are paying for that TV contract they wont put up with that from the league. With that said if the ratings didn't go down last year after a lockout I doubt enough fans are going to stop watching because of replacement officials to really make a difference.

[Superman]

If any of them have tickets, I'll take them.

I said a quarter, not the entire game , !!!

But that's the problem. And it's why the NFL wasn't scared with the lockout last year. Fans will always spend money, regardless. If you stop spending money, someone else will take your place. Only the players and coaches can really influence the owners enough to make this stop at this point.

[FireJimCaldwell]

They can stop watching the game on TV. If the ratings went down the TV stations would lose their adds and with what they are paying for that TV contract they wont put up with that from the league. With that said if the ratings didn't go down last year after a lockout I doubt enough fans are going to stop watching because of replacement officials to really make a difference.

The ad space has already been sold...

If the game is to be played, people are going to watch it..

There isn't anything a fan can do.

[GoColts8818]

The ad space has already been sold...

If the game is to be played, people are going to watch it..

There isn't anything a fan can do.

Trust me as someone who has worked in TV those deals get canceled if your ratings slip.

[FireJimCaldwell]

Trust me as someone who has worked in TV those deals get canceled if your ratings slip.

A successful one week boycott would do little to that.

An extended period of time? Sure. But that isn't going to happen.

[GoColts8818]

A successful one week boycott would do little to that.

An extended period of time? Sure. But that isn't going to happen.

Which is exactly why I said I don't think you can get enough people to do it to really make a difference. However for those mad it's a road open to them even though i don't think it'll be that successful.

[trsean]

The Catch 22 of the situation is that the only people who care deeply enough about this issue to stop watching football are the type of people who are so invested in the sport, that it bothers them.

The problem is they are so invested in the sport they won't stop watching.

[supremecoltsfan300]

I personally find this years games more entertaining than the first three weeks of last years. *shrug*

[T Y Goodbye]

What good would it do?

Tickets are sold.

Ads are sold for the game.

Something like that might hurt others that need it(concession staff, parking lots attendants, etc) more than the Owners.

If last night and the other negative examples from the first 3 weeks aren't going to push Goodell into a deal then the fans boycotting a quarter/half/whole game won't do anything either..

The money has already been spent.

Exactly my thoughts FJC..couldn't have said it better myself.

[BayAreaBronco]

There are already several things going. Here is one petition:

http://www.change.org/petitions/national-football-league-end-the-referee-lockout-now

[GoColts8818]

The Catch 22 of the situation is that the only people who care deeply enough about this issue to stop watching football are the type of people who are so invested in the sport, that it bothers them.

The problem is they are so invested in the sport they won't stop watching.

Which is exactly why Goodell is going to feel no heat to cave to the officials. Get used to the replacement refs people till one side is willing to move they are going to be here and frankly till one of the sides bottom is impacted enough to move I doubt they are going to move.

[WSO]

It's not going to affect anything. For a lot of people, watching football is leisure so they aren't going to take extreme measures or boycott watching the games. Boycotts generally don't do well either.

[chadedward]

I know this is getting out of hand when Perez Hilton blogs about it on his website.

[JoKeR]

I'm boycotting the bye week and the NFL channel.

[ruksak]

Just don't watch until things are made right. There's no need for a million fan march or any other organized effort. If people just had the fortitude to turn their back on the game for a few weeks than everything would come to a head.

I will watch Colts games but I will not watch any other games. I go through it every week. Friends wanting me to go fishing, hunting, 4-wheelin ....whatever, and I get jawed at because I want to watch football.

There's no way I'm telling my buddies "no" for any more of this scab-ball.

[MAC]

Are you a "Neilson" family? If not, nobody would notice that you boycotted in the first place. What is the point exactly?

As an aside, while I understand the legitimacy of statistics as a science, I refuse to accept the idea that the ratings system is remotely close to accurate. The sample size is WAY too small - particularly considering the growing volume of choices.

[pacolts56]

Theoretically, some kind of weekly sponsor boycott might have some impact....but organizing and coordinating that is another matter.

I think we're just gonna have to wait until Goodell and the owners are tired of having rotten, stinking egg dripping off their faces.

The NFL makes 8-10 billion a year gross profit...just fess up the freakin' money for the real refs, its starting to look like WWE rasslin' out there.

[MAC]

I think that the most efficient thing to do is to write to the league office. If they get bombarded with enough unpleasant mail they will probably get the message that they are damaging the sport to a degree that isn't worth whatever they are refusing to give the refs. Things that will impact their pocketbook are longer term and would only be evident after the damage is done. They need to become scared of the thought of what damage they might be creating.

As an aside, the refs really haven't bothered me much, but I'm not impressed by the league reinforcing the ruling from Monday Night. Do they actually think that anyone agree's it was the correct call? They appear to be playing politics, and gambling that their authority is more important to people that the reality that transpired in front of their eyes. It's not. Their announcement just undermines their credibility. Very short-sighted. They would have been far better off acknowledging the mistake, but saying that "it was a judgement call, and regular referees decisions have often been second guessed as well. It would be a dangerous precedent for the result of the game to be changed after the fact, and they stand behind the refs."

[ruksak]

Are you a "Neilson" family? If not, nobody would notice that you boycotted in the first place. What is the point exactly?

As an aside, while I understand the legitimacy of statistics as a science, I refuse to accept the idea that the ratings system is remotely close to accurate. The sample size is WAY too small - particularly considering the growing volume of choices.

I've always wondered about this. I've never known anyone whom had a part in the Nielsen ratings. It makes me wonder what demographic is most likely to accept this offer to have a Nielson box? As is pointed out here, we may gain some understanding as to why fake pawn-shop shows, fake tow truck shows and many other unbelievably bad television programs are so "popular".

[MAC]

I've always wondered about this. I've never known anyone whom had a part in the Nielsen ratings. It makes me wonder what demographic is most likely to accept this offer to have a Nielson box? As is pointed out here, we may gain some understanding as to why fake pawn-shop shows, fake tow truck shows and many other unbelievably bad television programs are so "popular".

It is utterly ridiculous. I would never agree to be a Neilson household. I'd consider it an absurd intrusion. Someone who accepted likely has a personality defect that makes the "importance" of it all appeal to them, or it makes them feel "powerfull", or they like the idea of screwing with the results. I will admit to watching a pawn show (as I will watch Antiques Road Show on PBS), but it is despite the goofy talentless "stars", not because of them. I consider virtually all reality shows to be an abomination. With only 25,000 homes out of well over 100 million tested, one guy happens to like "fly fishing" at the "Jersey Shore", or leaves the cartoon network on for his dog 24/7, and the result is some * becoming a millionaire while the rest of us are tortured for no reason.

[ruksak]

I will admit to watching a pawn show (as I will watch Antiques Road Show on PBS), but it is despite the goofy talentless "stars", not because of them.

I actually like Pawn-Stars....and the boring 'ol Antiques Roadshow. But that abomination pawn shop show set in Detroit with the screaming *......I have a friend that I've argued with endlessly, trying to convince him that show is fake and contrived......people believe what they want I suppose.

Someone who accepted likely has a personality defect that makes the "importance" of it all appeal to them, or it makes them feel "powerfull", or they like the idea of screwing with the results.

I like the idea of messing with the results. Maybe I'll volunteer for the Nielsen thing and leave my TV tuned to the Weather Channel or something equally as benign.