NFL.
The season started this week. TVs tuned in. Lots of them. But the digital signals flowing to the flat screens weren’t the only signals being sent.
Technology has changed the National Football League. More so than any other league in the United States, the NFL’s acronym describes not only its product, but also its fan base.
National Football League.
Nerdy Fan Land.
You know it. You’ve seen it. If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve done it.
Instead of watching a game, you’re watching it with your laptop open and your smartphone by your side. How else can you keep up with your fantasy football league(s)? You’ve got to keep up on your pick ’em challenge. And – if you’re one of the rare birds who follows a favorite team instead of following fantasy rosters – you have to send and receive trash texts to your friends about wins and losses, awesome plays and atrocious mistakes.
No other sport inspires so much interactivity while the games are playing. Sure, in the NBA Finals, LeBron’s headband took over Twitter briefly. But on the opening week of the NFL, a below-average starting QB (Ryan Tannehill) is trending.
It’s a sign of the times, the generational gap explained in snapshots of living rooms and man caves across the country: The old guard watches the game over the top of the Sunday newspaper’s sports section; the new guard has eyes on at least three screens at a time.
It demonstrates the shrinking attention span and the need for instant gratification. People are too impatient now for instant replay. We’re too hungry for highlights that we can’t wait for the post-game wrap. We need to get on YouTube and watch Reggie Bush’s middle screen TD reception before Howie Long can break it down for us.
And you know what? Maybe it’s for the best. If anything, instant access to highlights on YouTube or NFL.com could go a long way toward removing the worst part of NFL Sundays. With people able to pick and choose which highlights they want to see and how they want to see them, there’s less and less need to watch NFL Primetime and listen to Chris Berman.
Coincidentally, Berman is the one man who can bridge the generational gap between newspaper readers and tweeters. Everyone – old and young alike – can enjoy the NFL more without Berman’s irreverent muttering and worn-out nicknames.
However you go about adhering to your addiction, it’s back. Sundays once again sew together this great nation of ours. From couch to couch, computer to computer, in front of our TVs we are a nerdy nation united.
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