ShrewBeer

kinda nice, pats all week, and all day sat!
http://www.nfl.com/nflnetwork/story;...o&confirm=true

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"....this is not 'nam, there are rules."

Snake

In the BOSTON GLOBE yesterday:

http://www.boston.com/sports/footbal...presses_n.html

December 24, 2007
Mr. Roger Goodell
Commissioner
National Football League
280 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017


Dear Commissioner Goodell,

As a Bostonian, I couldn't be more pleased that in just five days, the New England Patriots will attempt to become the first NFL team in 35 years to finish the regular season with an undefeated record. But as someone who represents all of Massachusetts and not just those in the Boston media market, I remain deeply troubled that today as many as 250,000 Massachusetts households, and millions of Patriots fans nationwide, may be denied access to this historic sporting event.

Despite an unwillingness by both sides to strike a compromise that best meets the interest of the fans, there remain several options for making this game widely available. One option is found in what is referred to as the NFL's "flex schedule", which permits the League to switch the currently scheduled Sunday night NBC game for a game of broader public appeal. Electing to air the game on NBC would ensure that every television in America has access to such a historic game. Throughout the season, the NFL has made this decision with respect to other games of high importance and broad national interest.

For a game of this significance to be used as a bargaining chip or point of leverage between corporations locked in a dispute would say a great deal about the esteem in which America's football fans are held by the big interests. Under the unfortunate circumstance that this matter remains unresolved, leaving 60 percent of households across the country - including thousands in Massachusetts - without access to Saturday's game, I will ask the Senate Commerce Committee to hold hearings on how the emergence of premium sports channels are impacting the consumer, and I will consider what legislative measures may be necessary to ensure that consumers are more than bystanders in this process.

I hope very much to see a satisfactory solution achieved. I've offered - and my offer stands - to convene a meeting of all parties with the goal of reaching an 11th hour solution. I hope it is not too late to get something done for fans everywhere. Thank you for consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

John F. Kerry
United States Senate


cc: Brian Roberts, President, Comcast Corporation
Glenn Britt, President, Time Warner, Inc.

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ShrewBeer

yeah, apparently the cable companies were one of the highest donators to kerry's campaign... www.opensecrets.org . there was a thread on that

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"....this is not 'nam, there are rules."

cavtroop

Thats not relevant here. Both sides are culpable here, but the NFL has much more to lose - it's antitrust exemption, should the legislature choose to go down that path.

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What doesn't kill us only makes us stronger...

njpatsfan

More misinformation - ignore that man behind the curtain ! NFL Network is culpable how ? It was the cable companies that unilaterally decided to move NFL network from a basic channel to a premium channel in order to more efficiently rape customers ...... and here we have our new 'congress' coming in and interceding on behalf of the multi-billion dollar cable monopolies .......

Of course money paid to a politician matters ..... like I said in the other thread, this should be no surprise to anybody that follows the corruption in the MA congressional delegation.

Who is the 4th largest contributor to Kerry's 2008 re-election campaign ? Time Warner, who owns dozens of cable companies:

http://www.opensecrets.org/races/con...2008&special=N

They were the #3 single largest contributor to Kerry in the 2004 election:
http://www.opensecrets.org/president...245&cycle=2004

Notice the weasel wording in Kerry's letter that accuses the NFL of using the game as a bargaining chip ..... HELLO MR KERRY - that game was slated for NFL Network SIX MONTHS AGO .... long before anyone thought that the Pats could go 16-0.

Pathetic.

Enjoy,

R

Patriot Power

... ...

sebman2112

I also agree with this opinion, and find it somewhat pathetic that a lot of consumers seem to be eating up what the Cable companies are spewing out.

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Rawky77

Relevant is in the eye of the beholder, motivation on the part of Politicians is always relevant to their actions. Because while they are elected to serve the voters they most often serve themselves first and foremost.

mcsully

To me this is how I view it

Politician - The Hustler

Cable Company – Conman

NFLN - Snake Oil Salesman

Deus Irae

This is not what happened. Let's have a little bit of honesty and fair play about this topic, shall we?

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"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
- Marcus Aurelius