It was in 1970 that the NFL and AFL merged, and Pete Rozelle worked out an agreement with Roone Arledge of ABC, who hired Chet Forte to direct the first MNF, something he continued for 22 years. Twice the number of cameras were used, and the broadcasting booth had three sportscasters, Howard Cosell, Keith Jackson and Don Meredith. Jackson was replaced by Frank Gifford the following year, and he hung on in the booth until 1998. Al Michaels came in 1986, with John Madden in 2002 as a two-man crew. Next year will commemorate the 50th year of MNF.
By the early 2000's, MNF had become less and less popular, and was moved to ESPN in 2006. The NFL Network began Thursday Night Football in 2006, a cable channel exclusive. The purpose was to gain clientele, for few subscribed to that network in the early years. By 2014, CBS was added to TNF, switching to Fox last year.
MNF, does not begin until September 9, but NCAA football begins Saturday, with two major games:Miami vs. No. 8 Florida (Orlando, FL) | 7 p.m. EDT | ESPN
Arizona at Hawaii | 10:30 p.m.. EDT | CBSSN
You will then be inundated beginning on Thursday, August 29 into Saturday, plus Houston at Oklahoma on Sunday and Notre Dame at Louisville on Monday.
The NFL season begins on Thursday, September 5 with the Green Bay Packers at the Chicago Bears, full schedule on Sunday, September 8, and two games on Monday, Houston Texans at New Orleans Saints, followed by the Denver Broncos at the Raiders (not sure if they still consider themselves from Oakland, but next year, they will be playing in the new $2 billion Las Vegas Stadium, which is, actually, located in Paradise, the fourth largest city in Nevada).
No one in 15 Craigside is into fantasy sports. I have four ESPN major league baseball teams, all currently in first place. This is an intensive activity for I need to adjust my teams every night from the beginning of April to end of September. What do I win? Nothing but esteem, if even that. If I do anything that wastes time, this is it.
I yesterday drafted NFL players for seven teams. As they play once/week, I will only need to make adjustments weekly. I never do well in this competition.
Why do I do this? It makes actually watching the games more personal. You want your players to do well, and hope that others fumble the ball, get injured and worse. Well, not really, but you tend to get more involved, for, if you have seven teams, each with 16 players, virtually every play involves someone of import. The feeling is not unlike that of a parent watching her child play.I must warn you that you lose all loyalty to teams if you join. Your only priority is for your players. Here is one of my NFL fantasy teams:
Have you ever dreamed of what it would be like to own your own professional sports team? If so, ESPN Fantasy Sports are perfect for you. And, to make things easier, all fantasy games are fundamentally the same - real athletes and their real-life performances are used to generate points for fantasy teams in fantasy leagues.
For example, in a traditional fantasy league, there is a set number of "team owners." There is a set of rules that determine everything from team roster size, to scoring method, to schedule. You and your fellow team owners hold a draft, i.e. fill your fantasy roster with real-life players.
Then throughout the season, you will set your line-up based on how well you think "your" players will perform. The statistics your players generate in their real games are collected, and fantasy points are awarded based on these numbers. The better your players perform, the more fantasy points they accrue for your fantasy team.
Ultimately, these points determine a winner in seasonal leagues. The team that accumulates the most points (or points based wins) over the course of the season - or prevails in the postseason- is declared the league winner. With the league championship comes the glory to boast about it until the next season rolls around, at which point the other teams can smell sweet revenge.
-
No comments:
Post a Comment