Through the LCD and What Kayote Found There

NFL viewing is down by about 15% this year according to ESPN and some other sports pundits.

The why has turning into a lovely round of finger pointing at various groups and the call for boycotting for various reasons including a number that seem to revolve around Colin Kaepernick’s silent protest last year that has now blown up into a national issue. Some are boycotting because Kaepernick seems to be being punished by not be hired by a team even though he is so much better than the QB they have on the field. Others are boycotting because they oppose the players who have been exercising their first amendment right both on and off the field. So according to those screaming the loudest, that’s why number are down.

I don’t think that it is at all. I blame the NFL red zone. When you can get all the exciting plays in one place and have your electronic leash tell you when they exist so you can go and watch them, why take 3 hours out of your Sunday to watch a game in hopes of seeing an exciting play? The red zone has ruined it for teams whose markets are not the biggest. In our immediate gratification society, the NFL Red Zone is tailor made for that sort of behavior. Plus you don’t have to listen to the refs ruining the game for your team by some lame ass penalty that was not applied fairly to your team.

I do think that concussion is playing a role in this too. The awareness of the viewing public about what those hits do to those players is very much on the rise. We also come to understand that the absurd contracts that we hear about is for the minority of players and the majority have to try to make as much money playing as they can before they go out on injury or they don’t remember their name. So the violence, that use to be a selling point, now seems to become a detriment.

Also it hasn’t been that good over all. They are still trying to sort out the new rules. The celebration in the end zone has not added to the game for me in fact it is just eating up time that is going to make my show later in the evening because the game is going to go over. The refs use to call the game and, some how, they have made themselves part of the game with their antics. So it can be a long haul with a lot of commercials to see a team that you like play. Thus the immediacy of the Red zone plays.

I really don’t know if they are taking all the other ways to watch games into account.

I do know that college football’s attendance has been better than the NFL but if you consider the absurd price of even a crappy ticket, it is understandable. They have priced their fan base out of their stadiums. The cash cow has moved on and the stands are looking rather empty in some markets. It has become a game for the rich and the working class who might like to attend a game cannot afford a seat much less a hot dog.

So NFL you did it to yourselves. What are you going to do about it.

I am grateful that I can still watch football on a network that is not a cable network but that’s probably going soon as well.

Today begins the 61th journey around the Sun for Peter.

This year has been an interesting one full of ups and downs for us all.

We consider that Peter is still here a real positive in our lives. That he has recovered fully from the stroke is another.

Today is going to be pretty low key where in we do several things that we always do on his birthday.

Tomorrow we are going to the Broadway Flea Market and to see one of his grandsons.

If you want to give Peter a present, may be promote his Patroen account or his books from Crazy 8 Press.

I am grateful that we can celebrate today.

In which I take a step back but also have a lot to do.

This year I knew that I was not going to be around for the month of July so if I wanted to do the Art Show and the Puppet Slam, I had to get most of it done before then due to time constraints that I knew about in August.

By the beginning of June I had a feeling that the Art Show was a no-go and so I wrote them and said I was out this year but would like to participate next year.

By August I knew that the puppet slam piece was not happening and for a second year I found myself on the outside looking in. This was frustrating but I had to face the reality of the time I had and my energy levels so rather than throw together a half-assed entry, I told Beau that I would pass on my slot this year but want to participate next year.

That does not mean that I didn’t have anything to do at DragonCon. I had plenty of panels and a couple of things that I wanted to get done to occupy my time.

Two of the things I wanted to do had been set in motion over a year ago in one case and two months in the other. The first was to get the Nebula puppet that had been completed a year ago to Karen Gillan who knew it existed. Thanks to the help of Tony Gowell, I was able to do so. She was very happy with the result. The second was to get the River Song puppet to Alex Kingston who chose which outfit she wanted on it. She loved it and proceeded to have River and Alex have a conversation with each other. I didn’t know until later that evening that she had worked at the little Angels puppet theater in London.

I was on a variety of panels discussions ranged word usage in fandom to the American Musical. I also did my duties as head-judge for the workmanship contest on Friday Night. This gets harder every year to judge but I am up to and enjoying the challenge.

I did see my brother and sister during the weekend where we caught up a bit on life, the universe and everything. I had some excellent conversations about all kinds of topics with friends old and new.

Only problem the whole weekend was that impasse which is getting into the Marriott where the puppetry track is because of the bottle neck from the Hyatt and the food court feeding into the Marriott and people trying to get out of the Marriott to go to the Hyatt and the food court. That has been a trouble spot for years and this year is no different. My one solution is to make it one way in and one way out at that point which is a manpower issue to enforce it.

And lets have a hand for all the volunteers who worked their butts off over the weekend so the rest of us could have fun. They did a good job and knew how to get you either the information you needed or where to go for that info.

A round of applause also for those who counter-protested the megaphone wielding “you are all going to hell” group who happened to be right under our window in the hotel. Between the bagpipers who placed themselves on either side of the group and drowned them out to the Drag Queens that sang showtunes to the Deadpool who dressed up as Jesus, DragonCon gave as good as they got.

Thank you to the Alanta Police department for both safety and traffic control. You got us where we needed to go without having to fight our way there. Also to the paramedic and the police officer along with the fan who was a real doctor(yes he was dressed as the 10th doctor but works at Emory) who helped a man who had a sudden seizure on the corner of the street along with the quick thinking fans who made a ring around the man so that the medical personal could do their job.

We had fun so we will be back next year.

I am grateful for DragonCon for many reasons.