Time for "Two-A-Days": The Official NFL 2009 Training Camp Thread

[Radiobarry]

Yes, friends, around the country you can now hear the sounds of shoulder pads popping, blocking sleds a-bucklin, and really big guys sweatin'.

It's NFL training camp time, and we might as well break 'er in with breaking news, that Brett Favre has told the Vikings that he's not coming out of retirement.

I still say I'll believe it when I don't see it. Favre not playing again, that is.

Your thoughts, feelings, opinions, about the NFL in the days leading up to the season opener, welcome here!

[Radiobarry]

Here's the story on Favre, from foxsports.com...

Vikings coach Brad Childress is calling his players to inform them that Favre will stay retired.
"I just got off the phone with Brad, and Brett said he's staying retired," Vikings defensive end Jared Allen told FOXSports.com Tuesday. "He said he couldn't deal with the daily grind. He said he felt like he let us down before it got started.

Assuming that he does indeed stay retired, I must say that even though I'm dreadfully tired of this story, I find this is a little disappointing. I was kinda looking forward to that November 1 date at Lambeau Field.

I'm sure that FOX, or NBC, would've been happy with that too...
I get the feeling that a lot of motel reservations just opened up for that weekend in Wisconsin. Story was that some folks with family and friendship ties to Brett had made a bunch of those.

[sediment]

Seahawks are my team, being born once in Seattle. Not sure how they'll turn out. Trying to muster up some interest.

[Radiobarry]

I know of a couple of MiceChatters from the past that are big Seahawks fans.

As a matter of fact, the night of MiceChat's first anniversary meet in January of '06 I bought one of 'em a beer, for congratulations as we watched them win the NFC Championship game.

[Radiobarry]

Jay Cutler's got a few things to say about his new job. And, his old one.

Jay Cutler and Kyle Orton both are beginning to understand the fans of their new teams are passionate about football -- but for very different reasons.
Cutler, whom the Denver Broncos traded to the Chicago Bears for Orton after his messy divorce with new Broncos coach Josh McDaniels, told The Waddle and Silvy Show on ESPN 1000 in Chicago on Tuesday that Bears fans are more passionate about their team than Broncos fans are about theirs.

We're just a few days away from NFL preseason games.

While I keep up with things going on in training camps, there are few things in life that I find less meaningful than NFL preseason (sorry, they are "exhibition" not preseason like the NFL would have us say) games.

The fact that fans are made to pay regular season ticket prices to watch them, and must buy them if they want season tickets, is just insane in my opinion.

[sediment]

Nice article the other day about Mike Singletary weeding out "non-winners." Hard to tell how long that will last (years-wise, not just this training-camp-wise).

[Radiobarry]

Nice article the other day about Mike Singletary weeding out "non-winners." Hard to tell how long that will last (years-wise, not just this training-camp-wise).

Indeed I wonder how he feels about Mr.Crabtree and his cousin/slash/ "adviser".

And I wonder where all the football fans are around here. After all, the NFL is supposed to be without question the most popular sports addiction in America, steamrollering baseball and everything else in its path by now. Or so some ESPN people would have us believe. Can we blame this on MC "new posts" deprivation?

[Joshrzmeup]

Just got home from Browns Backers weekend in Cleveland. Went to Friday night's training camp (cool to see the players up close, and Brady Quinn minus helmet is HOT!), Saturday's stadium tour (so cool) and Sunday's brown and white scrimmage game (waaaaaaaaay too hot outside to be comfortable). Will have a TR up about it in the next day or so.

[Radiobarry]

Speaking of Ohio...

I watched the first episode of HBO's Hard Knocks entry for this season, following the Bengals training camp.

Steve Sabol and the very talented people at NFL Films have always been among the very best at what they do. Not quite the circus they had last year, when they were out here in Oxnard with the Cowboys.

If they can make the Bengals interesting, you know that they can work magic.

Anyone else see it?

[sediment]

Indeed I wonder how he feels about Mr.Crabtree and his cousin/slash/ "adviser".

And I wonder where all the football fans are around here. After all, the NFL is supposed to be without question the most popular sports addiction in America, steamrollering baseball and everything else in its path by now. Or so some ESPN people would have us believe. Can we blame this on MC "new posts" deprivation?

Meh. MiceChat is very SoCal-centric. No NFL team, so there's no extremely irrational fandom going on. With a team here, we'd have more fans and anti-fans going at it. Even a current fan of some outta-town team has a hard time finding a rival fan to needle.
I don't go crazy over NFL. I don't even make time on Sunday and Monday for it. If I do, it is mainly at a Yankee Doodles where all the games are on or at a friend's house with the all-game package. Watching just one or two games, PLUS COMMERCIALS, just kills me. At home, if there is a game I just have to watch, say a late-season Seahawk-Cardinal game with the division on the line, I'll set up the DVR, wait until about an hour in, then start watching from the top.
I haven't been to a game since a visit to Seattle and the Kingdome. 13 years ago. And even those tickets, high up near the roof, were expensive then.

And I don't think I'm the only one who thinks this way. I'll tell you exactly what started my latest round off getting turned off: NFL started showing games on its own network, and my cable company refuses to add that network. And this is only a few games a year, but a few of them have been critical to the season. Since I cannot control th cable network, and I don't really want to be charged $5/month more for a network that I might care about in passing five months out of the year, I'll turn against the antagonist in the affair: the one who decided it was so important it needed its own network.
The other half is that college football, with its lack of a playoff system at the top level, has critical games on NEARLY EVERY WEEKEND! I can't devote two whole weekend days to couch-potatoing.

[Radiobarry]

Meh. MiceChat is very SoCal-centric. No NFL team, so there's no extremely irrational fandom going on. With a team here, we'd have more fans and anti-fans going at it. Even a current fan of some outta-town team has a hard time finding a rival fan to needle.

I would like to have another NFL team here. But thankfully, No city in SoCal has offered to just bend over and take it you-know-where to build a new state-of-the-art facility like so many other cities have done.

As far as fans go, both here and elsewhere that I've talked to, they're just as happy not to have a team here, so they get an extra game on TV.

Still plenty of football fans around MiceChat, and I'm sure we wll hear from more especially when the season starts.

Congratulations to a Commissioner who's winning a lot of fans, for the one-year suspension to that drunk driver-killer. Just because the justice system lets you off with a slap on the wrist doesn't mean you won't face consequences.

And I thought the Philadelphia Eagles had a bit more class than to hire the Dog Killer. They now join the Lambs and Raiders on the list oif teams I hope go 0-16 every year.

[Maverick]

WOOOoooOOOooo I've missed football so much im happy for pre season games

[Radiobarry]

So Brett Favre is back, and playing for the Minnesota Vikings...holding out just long enough to miss, ahem, training camp.

What a shocker. NOT.

But been Vick and Favre, a big week for surprise signings of controversial quarterbacks with mileage and baggage, by NFC teams.

And, let's face it, two teams made much more relevant in the Super Bowl discussion.

[brand42]

So if Brett's coming back, how about the President of the Official Brett Favre Fan Club aka John Madden? (those of you who have listened to him gush over Favre over the years will know what I'm talking about)

Also, if I may ask, what happened to the Vick Second Chance thread? I don't even see it in the litter box so perhaps things got really ugly in there today?

[Radiobarry]

Also, if I may ask, what happened to the Vick Second Chance thread? I don't even see it in the litter box so perhaps things got really ugly in there today?

It's in the debate lounge, still. Just posted there not long ago.