NFL = No Freakin' Lawyers!

Oh, come on! I just read this story about how the NFL lawyers have given notice to an Indiana church that they would be violating copyright laws if they host a Super Bowl party for their congregation and show the game by projecting it on the wall. They claim that the licensing they have with the networks to air the games on free TV (something that seems to be headed for extinction) only allow viewing on TV sets no bigger than 55 inches and that 'mass viewing' is not allowed except at places like sports bars, because Nielsen ratings monitors would not pick up the numbers correctly and thus the whole ratings scheme on which advertising dollars are measured would be thrown out of whack.

Get a grip! What in H-E-double-hockey-sticks are these guys smoking? If I was an advertiser, I'd be hoppin' mad at the NFL for this stance. Here are a bunch of folks wanting to set up a family environment for everyone to come and enjoy the game and the league says it's a no-no. That's a bunch of families that aren't going to be watching the most important part of the game -- the commercials!!!

The pastor of the church said it best: "It just frustrates me that most of the places where crowds are going to gather to watch this game are going to be places that are filled with alcohol and other things that are inappropriate for children," Newland said. "We tried to provide an alternative to that and were shut down."

I'm not a big football fan. I enjoy the game, but rarely watch it as I think of it as a participatory thing to watch and I'm usually home alone on game days. Watching football alone = boring, to me. But I do go to a friend's house to watch the Super Bowl. I don't care much about the game, but I do like the commercials and halftime show. Yeah, I'm a stereotypical gal, I guess. But the NFL's stance on this issue sure isn't going to make me try and find ways to watch more games.

There must be a better way to deal with this. Here's an idea -- get the lawyers out of it!!! It's not like someone was going to make a big profit from this event. I could see their point if the game was going to be on the JumboTron at the local arena with $10 admission charges (or more) and concession stands in full swing, and so forth. But a church having a gathering for families??? Good grief.

Okay, rant over. I just had to get that out. Oh, and I will be knitting while watching the game, you can count on that! :)