Colorado Rockies 1976 Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 5 minutes ago, DevsMan84 said: I get that football (and to an extent baseball) are completely ingrained into our society, but that line of thought still baffles me. I guess you cannot say those folks are fair-weather fans, but IDK if I was a pretty fervent follower of both sports I would still rather see an opening night game with the hoopla versus a mid-season game against a hated rival that will likely curb stomp you into oblivion. To a lot of local multi-sport fans, NHL hockey is simply less "there" somehow, so yeah, they'll default to a bad local football team or baseball team (basketball as well in some cases) over a hockey team with upside. You talk baseball and football with them, they instantly come to life...hockey seems to get more of a "huh?" response. It's funny, I bust on my Giants/Yankees/Devils bud sometimes...he has a pretty decent man cave, and for a while he had the front pages from when the Devils won their first, second, and third Cups (he re-themed his cave to more of a music memorabilia vibe)...at one point I even asked him "Dude, do you really consider yourself a Devils fan at this point? You pretty much never go to games, you probably watch 10 games or so on TV if that many, and you probably couldn't name half the players on the team at the moment." I used to try to get him to watch more games with me, but finally just gave up. There's another friend (Jets and Yankees fan) who's a bit more into it, and he actually WILL go to some games, but even with him, it's a bit of pulling teeth...but he at least knows who's who on the team, and he came to a playoff game with me last year (as did the other guy I just brought up). He was a Jets season ticket holder for years. But I definitely feel like I'm on an island sometimes, when it comes to my passion for the Devils. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
titans04 Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 I think the NFL games to most are more of an event being there's on 8 home and a total of 16 per season. Compared to MLB's 81/162 and NHL's 41/82 I kind of get it IF your NFL team means a lot. At the end of the day I don't think our attendance challenges are going to get much better. It's a niche sport that we are fanatical about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Rockies 1976 Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 Just now, titans04 said: I think the NFL games to most are more of an event being there's on 8 home and a total of 16 per season. Compared to MLB's 81/162 and NHL's 41/82 I kind of get it IF your NFL team means a lot. At the end of the day I don't think our attendance challenges are going to get much better. It's a niche sport that we are fanatical about. Fantasy football has made the NFL more engrossing than ever, even with just 16 games...and of course an NFL-only channel has made it the game feel much more year-around now...and though the quality of Thursday Night games are inconsistent at best, they've helped football to feel less like a Sunday/Monday night phenomenon. But your last sentence sums it up, really...even with diminished quality and plenty of issues (poor officiating, too many injuries, etc), MLB, the NFL and the NBA (I don't follow that league at all) will never been seen as niche leagues. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDevils1214 Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 3 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said: Fantasy football has made the NFL more engrossing than ever, even with just 16 games...and of course an NFL-only channel has made it the game feel much more year-around now...and though the quality of Thursday Night games are inconsistent at best, they've helped football to feel less like a Sunday/Monday night phenomenon. But your last sentence sums it up, really...even with diminished quality and plenty of issues (poor officiating, too many injuries, etc), MLB, the NFL and the NBA (I don't follow that league at all) will never been seen as niche leagues. I don't get the love for football. It's so boring and there are constantly flags breaking up the game. To each their own...I know... The hockey atmosphere in NJ makes me really love it when I travel to catch games in better hockey markets. You can walk into a bar and every TV has hockey on. No football to be found. Here you have to beg to get a Devils game put on TV at some places. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfitz804 Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 1 hour ago, DevsMan84 said: Plus red carpet....giveaway night (those thunder sticks)....against the reigning Stanley Cup champs....with the Masterton trophy winner. But if our "fans" would rather go and watch the Giants get embarrassed or have some other excuse not to go then be my guest. Agree with everything you’ve said, but nobody goes to a game to see the Masterton trophy winner lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevsMan84 Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 16 minutes ago, mfitz804 said: Agree with everything you’ve said, but nobody goes to a game to see the Masterton trophy winner lol. lol just putting in another storyline we have going for us. I agree no one is going to see Boyle but he is indeed there and is indeed the reigning Masterton trophy winner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevsMan84 Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 1 hour ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said: Fantasy football has made the NFL more engrossing than ever, even with just 16 games...and of course an NFL-only channel has made it the game feel much more year-around now...and though the quality of Thursday Night games are inconsistent at best, they've helped football to feel less like a Sunday/Monday night phenomenon. But your last sentence sums it up, really...even with diminished quality and plenty of issues (poor officiating, too many injuries, etc), MLB, the NFL and the NBA (I don't follow that league at all) will never been seen as niche leagues. I think this is a big part of it as well. In my office I hear just as much fantasy sports talk as I do actual sports talk. Same thing for college basketball. If one day gambling simply ceased to exist so would about 90% of the excitement around March Madness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobilly45 Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 1 hour ago, NJDevils1214 said: I don't get the love for football. It's so boring and there are constantly flags breaking up the game. To each their own...I know... The hockey atmosphere in NJ makes me really love it when I travel to catch games in better hockey markets. You can walk into a bar and every TV has hockey on. No football to be found. Here you have to beg to get a Devils game put on TV at some places. I will say the sport bars here on li, normally always show the devils...even when the isles rangers are playing, they're usually on at least 1 tv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfitz804 Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 9 minutes ago, DevsMan84 said: lol just putting in another storyline we have going for us. I agree no one is going to see Boyle but he is indeed there and is indeed the reigning Masterton trophy winner. His wife, maybe she does... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDfan1711 Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 2 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said: The bolded is how it is for a lot of local sports fans though. I'm literally the ONLY one out of all of my sports-watching friends who considers hockey #1 (the Mets and Pats are a very close #2). I've been asked more than once "How is it that hockey is your favorite?"...almost in a "What's wrong with you?" kind of voice. One of my closest friends roots for the Giants, Yankees, and Devils. The Giants could go 2-14 any given year, but he's defaulting to them over the Devils, no matter what...there's no way he would ever go to a hockey game over missing his Giants. I have friends who consider themselves Devils fans, but let me tell you, it's rough...they're nowhere NEAR into it as much as I am, and just trying to get them to go to a game now and then is a chore. I save 90% of my Devils talk for on here...I don't mind explaining the Devils to more casual fans (especially when I'm able to drag one to the Rock with me), but at least here, even when there's disagreements, we all at least know all of the basics: who's currently playing for the Devils, their histories, skillsets, etc. I'm Devils/Giants/Mets, in that order. Mostly because hockey has always been my favorite sport, for reasons that I find it the most entertaining, both to watch and to play. I do get why people might default to football though - for whatever reason, football tends to be a more socially interactive game, both on and off the field. Part of the beauty of hockey is the nature of the athletes - they're probably the toughest athletes out of the 4 major sports, and maybe many other sports too, yet they're also some of the most modest and humble. There are very few "look at me" type guys, which in general is good, but it also keeps the players, and thus the sport, out of the limelight and headlines, at least compared to some of the other sports. Again, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just not really appreciated by the average/casual fan. Hockey is also not exactly a sport you can just pick up and play - sure you can have a pair of roller skates and a stick and shoot around in the street, but it's not as easy as grabbing the pigskin and throwing it around in the backyard. And despite the fact that I have actually always liked and played roller more than ice myself, people still don't regard roller as being the same as ice in terms of "connecting" with the sport. Beyond all that, there's only 8 home games a year for each team in the NFL, so it's way more of an exclusivity thing than anything else. People will look at a hockey game and say I have 41 more opportunities to catch a game this year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devlman Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 Quite a bit of seats to be had off Ticketmaster. Still have a few days to go and the walk up crowd but cmon people. Our fan base deserves the sh!t it gets. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satans Hockey Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 I get people being big Giants fans and all but realistically their season is over already, it shouldn't be a difficult choice if you're a fan of both teams. I sometimes have issues with Red Bulls and Devils games because they sometimes have home games at the same time. An important regular season/playoff Devils game in March-June will always take priority over an early regular season Red Bulls game from March-June just like an important regular season/playoff Red Bulls game from late October to early December would take priority over an early regular season Devils game. Thankfully the schedule worked out wonderfully for the start of the Devils season and there are no conflicts with Red Bulls final regular season games and any possible playoff games. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satans Hockey Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 3 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said: Fantasy football has made the NFL more engrossing than ever I can never get into fantasy sports, I've never even tried. I get people do it to win money in their group of friends and what not but I have no desire to ever have to root for other team's players just cause they are on my fantasy team. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDfan1711 Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 11 minutes ago, Satans Hockey said: I get people being big Giants fans and all but realistically their season is over already, it shouldn't be a difficult choice if you're a fan of both teams. I sometimes have issues with Red Bulls and Devils games because they sometimes have home games at the same time. An important regular season/playoff Devils game in March-June will always take priority over an early regular season Red Bulls game from March-June just like an important regular season/playoff Red Bulls game from late October to early December would take priority over an early regular season Devils game. Thankfully the schedule worked out wonderfully for the start of the Devils season and there are no conflicts with Red Bulls final regular season games and any possible playoff games. I agree with you for the most part, but for starters, even though the Giants are definitely in a bit of a hole, it's still early in the season, and a lot of people wait 9 months waiting for football to start up again. The same way we wait through the summer and it feels like it takes forever, the NFL off-season is actually much longer/worse, so despite how dire a team's situation may seem, most fans don't/won't give up on them this early if for nothing else than they simply don't want to say goodbye to football this soon. Not only that, but a lot of fans tend to have their blinders on when it comes to their favorite/hometown team, and hate to admit defeat and face the facts of when their season is toast. But all of that aside, to be fair, if the Giants win on Thursday, they could technically be tied for first in the division 6 days from now if both the Cowboys and Redskins lose next week (assuming the Skins lose tonight too, which I think they will). A by-product of the NFC East being unexpectedly very poor so far this year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDfan1711 Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 5 minutes ago, Satans Hockey said: I can never get into fantasy sports, I've never even tried. I get people do it to win money in their group of friends and what not but I have no desire to ever have to root for other team's players just cause they are on my fantasy team. It's not as hard as you'd think. The older you get it because easier too. I hate the Flyers/Rags/Eagles/Cowboys/Yankees/Phillies each with a similar degree of passion, but if I happen to have Claude Giroux on my fantasy team, it's not the end of the world if he scores a goal. Granted, if that happens to be against the Devils I'll be pretty pissed, but if it's against some other random team, you have to figure the guy is going to score at some point, so who cares if he gets you a point in a fantasy league? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Rockies 1976 Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 7 minutes ago, Satans Hockey said: I can never get into fantasy sports, I've never even tried. I get people do it to win money in their group of friends and what not but I have no desire to ever have to root for other team's players just cause they are on my fantasy team. As far as far as that goes, I'm on my second season of fantasy football...I was on the fence about joining before last season, but I have some very close friends in that league (14 teams...I know about half of the participants), and someone had dropped out, and they REALLY wanted me to give it a chance...so I figured what the hell. It's OK...the draft party is kind of fun (we all went to a restaurant for that), and there's things about it that I like...and things that I don't. What is kind of cool about it is that it makes you change the way you watch certain players...makes you appreciate how much dirty work so many of them are doing on plays that don't call for them to get the ball. But I don't really know if I'll do it beyond this season. I think part of it is that I don't take enough interest in it to go completely insanely all in the way some people do. I'm not quite as passionate about it as some participants are. And yeah, even now it still feels weird to root for guys on other teams (especially rivals). I guess I like FF, but I can't rightly say that I LOVE it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevsMan84 Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 I used to be big into fantasy sports in HS and first 2 years of college on Yahoo sports. After that I got busy with life and didn't play again until about 6-8 years later. I did about 1 month worth of fantasy hockey, got bored and largely quit. I was in 6th or 7th place out of 12 in my league too. IDK some people love fantasy sports but I find it to be a chore. Also, like SD, I hated the fact that I was rooting for players to score against my own team sometimes just to get more points in fantasy hockey. I hated that part and glad I am out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ Eco Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 I like fantasy hockey more for helping me get a handle on players outside the division. Makes the trade deadline, UFA day, and playoffs (when we're not in it) a bit more fun having a little bit more knowledge of who's out there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devil Dan 56 Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 (edited) Fantasy sports are fun if you don't take it seriously. I always grab a couple of Devils but mostly I just try to get the best team I can and not go nuts about who is playing who. I set my team a few days in advance and whatever happens happens. Its just sports. It doesn't actually matter. Although... In 20 years of fantasy hockey I don't think I've ever had a Ranger haha. Fantasy football is a little different because 90% of those games are on the same day. Its more of an event. But I used to watch games with a few guys in the league I was in and we had a good time. To me it was more about enjoying the sport than winning and losing. Edited October 9, 2018 by Devil Dan 56 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SterioDesign Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 1 hour ago, DJ Eco said: I like fantasy hockey more for helping me get a handle on players outside the division. Makes the trade deadline, UFA day, and playoffs (when we're not in it) a bit more fun having a little bit more knowledge of who's out there. exactly that, you just get to know so much more about players and the league, so that when someone is traded or signed to you team you don't always go "who?" and google their name haha it's also something to look forward too on days where the devils aren't playing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfitz804 Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 It's Dungeons and Dragons for sports fans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devilsfan118 Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 I love FHL - the league we have here is pretty active and very interesting. As others have said, I think it's kinda cool to have players from a bunch of teams around the league. Keeps me more up to date on what's going on around the league. Now, if you have little interest in the NHL outside of the Devils then I could see how this could be a chore. And yeah, I'll never root for a player I have on my team while they're playing against the Devils. Devils first, FHL stats second. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDevils1214 Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 I asked 7 people about going to the game Thursday and all 7 either said no or backed out. This is why the game isn't a sellout. People suck. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobilly45 Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 1 hour ago, NJDevils1214 said: I asked 7 people about going to the game Thursday and all 7 either said no or backed out. This is why the game isn't a sellout. People suck. I'd love to go to more games, just not worth getting there from li on a weeknight.... more time getting to/from game then being at the rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunninWithTheDevil Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 1 hour ago, NJDevils1214 said: I asked 7 people about going to the game Thursday and all 7 either said no or backed out. This is why the game isn't a sellout. People suck. my brother has an endoscopy at 1pm on Thursday. He's going. No one else should have an excuse. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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