Rule change: spiked ball?

[Mc2guy]

This all stems from the owners wanting to protect the image of their product and thus, their revenue stream. The NFL is king of the land right now when it comes to pro-sports in the US and it knows that it had better keep on it's toes or else risk losing its vaunted position to the likes of NASCAR.

Look what happened to the NBA after Jordan left, ratings tanked, play quality tanked and worst of all, the league got a reputation as a haven for me-first thuggish behavior. The core fans stayed, but the casual fans ran away and ratings completely fell through the floor.

Whether we like to admit it or not, there are a lot of casual fans and viewers who will tune out the league if the perception of the product goes the way of the 90's NBA. The owners know this are are doing everything they can to prevent it via reduced celebrations, and the new enhanced personal conduct policy Godell is about to drop.

Personally, I think it is a bit over the top, but then again, I also think it is utterly ridiculous when any player makes ANY celebritory gesture unless they have scored. You see guys like Washington jumping out of his skull excited after dropping a RB for a 1 or 2 yard GAIN on 1st down for pete sake! Why is that worth celebrating...that is your job. I don't jump up and down when I write a good e-mail to my client...it's ridiculous.

Just my $0.02.