My most sincere apologies. I'm a bit distracted these days. Why? Well, if you've been living under a rock with your hands over your eyes and thumbs in your ears, you probably aren't aware that Apple dropped a new iPhone and iOS, and it's also the beginning of American Football, A.K.A. Giants Season, Fantasy Season and Meat Season...to be explained.
First, the phone. This is something I've written about before, albeit peripherally. In addition to releasing the new iOS with an improved music app, the new iPhone 7 is devoid of a headphone jack. Most people know that certain pairs of luxury headphones have been going bluetooth anyway, so this is relatively unsurprising. However, as an audiophile, I think this has possibilities. The iPhone isn't the highest quality music player due to a rudimentary DAC or digital/analog converter built into the device which heavily influences the quality of sound reaching your ears. Combine that with (most people's) sub-par head/earphones and lousy MP3 quality and you have the perfect combination for an audiophile's nightmare. All hope is not lost though. Those of us who have already invested in decent head/earphones, can atill use a lightning jack through an adapter that Apple is providing, in box, with the iPhone 7. With it, you can plug your normal headphones into the dongle and then the dongle into the iPhone. Eureka! This opens up the possibility that someone, somewhere, will create an adapter/dongle with it's own DAC, superior to Apple's on-board solution. And, those of us with phones that have a lightning port (iPhone 5 and up), may benefit from this as well. So, there's that. I want one. Make one for me.
Onto Football: it's not just me. A Business Insider report from 2014 echos SportsMediaWatch.com's statistic that shows that "...of the 50 most watched sporting events in 2013, 46 (92%) of the events [were] NFL games including a whopping 35 regular season games." Why? It's basic supply and demand. You've got 17 weeks in the regular season in which each of the 32 teams only play once a week for a maximum of 16 games between Thursday and Monday nights. Many times it's fewer due to bye-weeks. Teams are solely located in major (mostly) metropolitan/urban markets where fans (and people) tend to be concentrated. There are exceptions, but, for the most part, you're looking at a fan base that's not likely to travel, who only gets home games a maximum 8 times a year. Contrast that with baseball (162), basketball (82 games) or even hockey (82 games). It's really hard to get excited about one specific game until your team gets closer to the "finals." This is why the NFL reigns supreme: every game counts.
Sports Illustrated, in a January 10, 2016 article insists that there's no ceiling for viewership. With every major network poised to get a piece of the action at (average) 20 million viewers across all of their games on any given Sunday, it's no wonder why, unless it's a championship, sports is largely missing from the major networks. You can argue that Monday Night Football is on ESPN, but it was flexed there some years ago from Disney's other major holding: ABC. And where there's viewers, there's advertising and money to be made, and reason why the networks hype the shit out of NFL games being broadcast. Get excited or else (read: cash is king).
And, then there's Fantasy Football. God bless. Again, I've droned on about this before, here, here, and here. But it begs to be repeated (until you begs me to stop), that Fantasy has grossly widened the NFL's overall appeal. Sure there's Fantasy Baseball, but, as previously mentioned, way too many games to keep track. Fantasy Football is a concise contest with far fewer games and far larger margins of error, demanding you to be uber-familiar with all 32 teams, or you'll lose. Simple as that. Once again, I'm sporting 3 teams in as many leagues. My brain is awash in last week's injury reports and this week's projections. On top of that, this weekend is the Giants home opener, and the first time I get to tailgate in 9 months. Time to get my meat on. This week, against the New Orleans Saints, I'll be stirring up some Cajun seafood dirty rice and beans. The logic for the menu lies here. And, while it's a coin-flip as to whether it'll work, I plan to be so full by the time I enter the stadium that, besides water, I won't be buying their overpriced offerings...that is, unless the Boy comes with me, and then I'm sure I can be suckered into some post-meat ice cream.
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