9/27: No Clear NFL Surprise

With the NFL season underway, is there a sleeper team in the mix?  According to this Marist Poll, there’s no clear surprise among football fans nationally.  Nine percent of fans think the Detroit Lions will be the biggest surprise this season, 6% believe the Dallas Cowboys will come out of nowhere while the same proportion — 6% — say the Philadelphia Eagles will be this year’s upset team.  The Green Bay Packers are perceived by 5% to charge the field and shock football fans while 4% say the Oakland Raiders will split the uprights as the NFL’s surprise of the season.  A majority — 55% — believe another team will shock fans and commentators alike, and 15% are unsure.

Click Here for Complete September 27, 2011 USA Marist Poll Release and Tables

The proportion of football fans remains consistent.  67% of adults nationally report they watch football at least a little.  Included here are 22% who tune into the sport a great deal, 17% who follow it a good amount, and 28% who watch it a little.  34% of U.S. residents, however, do not follow the sport at all.

In November 2010, 68% followed professional football at least a little.  Included here are 18% who admitted to being an armchair quarterback most of the time, 15% who caught a good amount of football fever, and 35% reported they followed a little of the action on the gridiron.  32%, at that time, said they had no interest in the sport.

Table: NFL Surprise of 2011-2012 Season

Table: Professional Football Fans

Marist Poll Methodology

7/21: Baseball Thrown Out as America’s Pastime?

Has baseball lost its place as America’s pastime?  CBS Sports broadcaster Verne Lundquist, who admits he’s lost enthusiasm for baseball, talks to the Marist Poll’s John Sparks about why and shares his thoughts, both, on the proposed realignment of the American and National Leagues and this year’s pennant races.

Listen to or read the transcript of the interview below.

John Sparks
Verne, we just passed the halfway mark for the baseball season, and I do want to talk about this year’s pennant races, but first I’d like to talk a little bit about the fans.  For the second year in a row, a majority of Americans say they are not baseball fans.  In fact, 52% tell the Marist Poll they won’t watch a single game at all this year.  So, I’m wondering is baseball no longer the national pastime?

Listen to Part 1:

Verne Lundquist
I don’t think it is, John.  I think they yielded that title to the NFL and not recently. I think football in general, but specifically the National Football League, became America’s pastime, favorite pastime, oh my gosh, maybe 10, 12 years ago. I think that baseball kind of lost its way, and they’re having difficulty getting people back and caring about it.

John Sparks
I’m curious about the reasons for the decline, time zones, perhaps, after expansion?

Verne Lundquist
Well, I understand that if you’re… listen, I live in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. So I live in the time zone that the country forgot.  We always get irritated, if I can use that word, about the television networks for whom one of which — for whom I work.  That’s grammatically incorrect, but you get my drift. It’s always 9:00 Eastern and Pacific and 8:00 Central, and we sit here with our mountain goats and our mountains and say, “What about us?”  But, I do think that the West Coast teams, you know, it’s tough for East Coast fans to get truly involved in what’s going on.  You could even make the case, I guess, in Texas with Houston and the Astros and up through the middle part of the country, but especially with the teams beginning with the Colorado Rockies, and I don’t think that there’s a fan base that really is evident back East for teams from here in Colorado on out to the West Coast with L.A. and San Francisco and Seattle and San Diego.

John Sparks
You know, I always thought of baseball as a blue collar sport, but I’m wondering, it seems that today’s players are more part of an elite class that I’m wondering if fans can just no longer identify with.

Verne Lundquist
Well, I think economically they certainly are, and you know, it’s tough to be sympathetic to owners who keep paying these astronomical salaries. I don’t remember what the figure is now, but I got tickled in the divorce, the publication of the Frank McCourt divorce papers, when they sought legal help that I think the Dodgers owed, I’m going to say this, and I’ll be within 5 or 6 million, they owed Manny Ramírez $21-million in guaranteed salary, and there was a footnote to the whole thing that somewhere along the line, they owed Vin Scully $165,000.  Well, that tells me something about the relative merits that they place on one of the great broadcasters ever in this pay-for-play guy that was there you know, for a couple of years.  But that’s true.  You know, John, that’s true not only in baseball. The salaries are — and let’s face it, you know, the television networks and the cable networks keep paying these astronomical rights fees, and the salaries are just out of sight — baseball, basketball, and football — in my view.

John Sparks
Is there any way that the waning interest in baseball might be turned around?

Listen to Part 2:

Verne Lundquist
I don’t know.  I’m pausing a long time because I would count myself in all candor as one of those people who’s lost interest. I lost interest in the game because I just found — I found the game not…  I mean if you talk to a passionate baseball fan, and I know hundreds of them who just absolutely live and die with their teams, most of them involve the Red Sox, the Yankees, and the Mets, as you can imagine, because my work environment is primarily centered around the East Coast, but they — I mean they can do sermons on the benefits of being a baseball fan. The whole sport has kind of turned me off for a long time.  I find it way too slow paced. I find it difficult… The season is forever, and the single…  I get all the arguments about how it’s a whole 162 game season, but I don’t…  How do you instill a sense of excitement back into the game?  Well, they did one thing, didn’t they, in the ’90s?  They allowed steroid use, and the sport I think suffered for that and is suffering for that, and the ownership kind of looked the other way, and in my view most of the baseball fans, the hard core fans, looked the other way during the steroid era. They were much more excited by the Sammy Sosas and the Mark McGwires and the battle to surpass, you know Barry Bonds.  It was just you know forget what you’re putting in your body, it’s the end result.  So, fans bear some responsibility for that too.

John Sparks
You know, one recent remedy has been suggested.  It’s a new proposal for realignment.  They talk about doing away with divisions and balancing the league so that the American and National League would each have 15 teams, and then the top four teams in each league would be eligible for playoffs, but they would also do away with interleague play. I wonder what your thoughts are around that.

Verne Lundquist
Well. I don’t think…  and again, this is from a guy who does not pay fervent attention to the regular season.  I just don’t..  But I…  again, this is just a personal expression, I don’t think people have ever gotten all that excited about interleague play. I suppose they have in Chicago, and I’m sure they have in New York to a lesser degree probably because everything sports-related in California seems to be less emotional for the fans than it is in other parts of the country.  I suppose where you’ve got San Francisco, Oakland, or you’ve got the Dodgers and the Angels, there’s a certain amount of interest generated by interleague play.  But I think on a whole, it’s not a bell ringer with most folks, and I’d…  The idea of the wildcard, I love the idea of going to the four best teams qualify, and let’s go from there. And then after they do that, they can do away with the designated hitter and everything’s going to be perfect.

John Sparks
Let’s talk briefly about the pennant races.  I’d like to talk about the American League first.  The Yankees and Red Sox are on top in the Eastern Division. In fact, those two teams were the ones that fans that were polled by the Marist Institute mentioned most as being contenders for this year’s World Series.  In the American League Central, surprise, the Cleveland Indians all of sudden have come from nowhere, and they’re in a two-way race with the Tigers.  And then, of course, in the West, the Rangers having come off of a Cinderella season last season are battling with the Angels, but still, Verne, the leaders in the West and the Central as far as their percentage goes is way below that of the Yankees and the Red Sox.  Do you think that in the end it’ll be Yankees and Red Sox again?

Listen to Part 3:

Verne Lundquist
That would be my guess.  Boston has kind of owned New York this year, and the country — I think the country cares about those two teams to a much higher degree than they do most others. I don’t want to make that a patent statement. I think you would agree with me that ESPN would have no Sunday night program if the Red Sox and the Yankees didn’t play each other because that is a staple of what they do, but you know, they’ve excelled over the last several years, and my guess is that they will again.  And, I agree with you about the Rangers’ Cinderella season.  I just… as a person who lived in Dallas and Fort Worth for a long time, of course, that is where I have a still live rooting interest, and I’d love to see them come back and do what they did last year.

John Sparks
Very briefly, the National League, the Phillies have become a powerhouse…

Verne Lundquist
Yeah.

John Sparks
…in the East; and in the Central, the Pittsburgh Pirates for crying out loud are kind of like the Indians; they’re back after a number of lean years, and of course, you’ve got the Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers, and the Giants appear to be repeaters in the West.  Any thoughts about how the National League might turn out?

Verne Lundquist
Well, I’ve noticed the Lance Berkman contribution to the Cardinals and you know with Pujols hobbled, that’s really good to see. I’m surprised like you are at Cleveland. I think Philadelphia is the best team in the National League, and all they’ve done is in the off season they added Cliff Lee with a wonderfully adept starting pitching rotation. I think that over the long haul, I would be shocked if they were not back in — if they weren’t in the World Series when it was over.  They’ve got to be the overwhelming favorites I think.  Yes, I know San Francisco makes a lusty claim, but — and as one, as I mentioned, I live in Colorado, you can only imagine how excited people in Denver got at the start of the season, and now they’ve kind of settled down, and they’re mediocre. But the whole… The Giants are the best team in the West, and the Phillies are the best team in the East and let’s — as they say, let’s watch them play in the middle of the country.

John Sparks
Well, it’ll be interesting to watch and also to see as we approach the end of July, which is the trading deadline, to see if what kind of fine tuning some of these ball clubs do.  Verne, it’s always pleasure to talk with you.  I know you’ve been on vacation for the last month or so and out of the country. I’m just curious, back to work with CBS and what might be on the horizon for you professionally.

Verne Lundquist
Well, we have enjoyed this time off, and I got in touch with my roots.  Nancy and I spent a month in Norway.  We touched in Denmark and Sweden, but mostly in Norway, and we just had a wonderful time, and it was really invigorating.  I’m up next with the PGA Championship in Atlanta the second week in August and then a little bit of a hiatus, and then we go, Gary Danielson and I are back doing the SEC.  We open with what has become an annual right of autumn for us, Tennessee and Florida, and the game this year will be in Gainesville.  And just one more little plug, John, since you’ve given me a chance to do this, our prime time game, we only get to do one in prime time each year, but we’re doing Alabama at Florida the first Saturday night in October, and I think that could be a doozy.

John Sparks
We’ll look forward to seeing that as well as the other games with you. It’s always a pleasure talking to you.

Verne Lundquist
Thank you, John.

2/4: The Gridiron vs. Madison Avenue: Game Beats Out Ads

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers will face off this Sunday in Super Bowl XLV.  But, there’s an off-field battle brewing.  Of American adults who are planning to watch the big game this year, will they be tuning in for the game or for the ads?  According to this national Marist Poll, the battle for the Lombardi trophy reigns supreme.  74% say they watch the Super Bowl more for the game while 26% tune in more for the commercials.

Little has changed since last year.  In Marist’s February 2010 survey, 78% reported they watched more for the game while 22% said they wanted to check out the commercials.

There currently is a gender gap.  84% of men are more into the game itself rather than the ads.  This compares with 63% of women.

Table: Watch for the Game vs. Ads

Marist Poll Methodology

1/19: What’s a Giant Fan to Do?

My hopes for a return of my Giants to the Super Bowl this year were dashed in a Joe Pisarcik-like collapse delivered at the hands and feet of Eagle Quarterback Michael Vick and followed the week later by the precision passing of Packer Quarterback Aaron Rodgers.  Now, the New Yorker in me, along with most of my Big Apple friends, says I should be pulling for the J-E-T-S to bluster their way to the Lombardi Trophy.  More on Gang Green shortly.  So, what are my rooting choices as the remaining four teams wind their way to Dallas and the February 6th showdown?

Let’s start with my oldest dislike.  Pittsburgh.  Now, I know it’s another sport but the memory of Bill Mazeroski’s walk off homer in the 1960 World Series is still raw.  I know I’m supposed to get over it by now, but I was in my formative years.  And, as they say, childhood memories last a lifetime.  Besides, it’s the fiftieth anniversary of his Ballentine blast.  Tapes of the game, recently discovered in Bing Crosby’s wine cellar, were unfortunately broadcast quality.  Talk about pouring salt onto old wounds.   So, the Steelers are not an option.

Next up chronologically is the Green Bay Packers.   In the NFL Championship games of 1961 and 1962, the Lombardi led Packers won back to back titles over my Giants led by Sam Huff and his defensive stalwarts.  The fact that the Packers bounced the Giants from the playoffs this year has nothing to do with my dislike of the occupants of Lambeau Field.  I wouldn’t have been rooting for them anyway.

And, then there are Da Bears.  Who can forget my Giants being manhandled by the monsters of the midway on that bone-chilling day at Wrigley Field in the 1963 NFL Championship Game?  Certainly, I can’t.   George Halas’ Bears won 14-10 over my Giants and hobbled Quarterback Y.A. Tittle.  Let’s not even go down the slippery slope of “The Fridge” and the 1985 season ending playoffs for the G-men.  Bears 21-0.  Remember Sean Landeta’s whiff punt that was returned 5 yards for a touchdown?  It makes DeSean Jackson’s 65-yard game-ending punt return to cap the Eagle’s comeback this year seem like child play.

So, that brings me back to the Rex Ryan coached Jets.  Now, I have nothing against Joe Namath besides my dislike of the AFL and expansion teams…. I don’t have much need for the Nets, Islanders, or Mets either.  But, more to the point, there’s something about the Ryan name that sticks in my throat like Chicago bratwurst or Philadelphia cheese steak.  Maybe it’s that his father Buddy Ryan was Defensive Coordinator of the ’85 Bears and later coached the Philadelphia Eagles.  He had earlier been the Jets linebacker coach on their ’69 Super Bowl winning team. (The only one of the remaining four teams he wasn’t a part of was the Packers whom he probably liked anyway.)   Should the sins of the father be visited on the son?  I’ve still got some soul searching to do on that one.  But, in the short run, (and, probably a longer run, too) it disqualifies them for me.

So, I’m down to three thoughts.  Should I be part of the 26% who tell us in the latest Marist Poll they watch the Super Bowl more for the commercials than the game?  I think not.  I like football too much to buy into that one.  Second, maybe I can solve my Super Bowl dilemma by wishing that the best team wins.  That’s probably the only charitable thing I’ve written so far.  But, it doesn’t allow me to scream at the TV full throttle while the game is on like I do each Sunday for the Giants.  Finally, deep down inside I’m thinking maybe things aren’t really too bad. It’s only slightly more than a month until pitchers and catchers.  Go Yanks!  But, I bet you could already tell I’m one of those Yankee fans who the rest of the sports world loves to hate.

11/23: Helmet-to-Helmet Hits: Football Fans Define the Penalty

The NFL has been cracking down on players who commit illegal helmet-to-helmet hits with fines and suspensions.  But, what do football fans think the punishment should be for this type of player conduct?  More than one-fifth — 27% — believe these players should be, both, fined and suspended.  An additional 31% say they should be only fined while 22% believe they should just be suspended.  One-fifth — 20% — believe neither punishment should be used.

Younger football fans are more tolerant of helmet-to-helmet hits. 27% of those younger than 30 years old don’t think any punishment should be imposed compared with 14% of fans 60 and older.

There is also a gender gap on this question. More men — 26% — compared with women — 11% — don’t think players should be penalized at all for these hard hits.

As for the number of U.S. residents who are professional football fans, 68% of residents report they watch the sport, at least, a little. There has been no change on this question since Marist’s October survey.

Table: Punishment for Helmet-to-Helmet Hits
Table: Professional Football Fans

Marist Poll Methodology

Related Story:
Interview: Verne Lundquist Discusses Hard Hits on the Gridiron

11/23: Hard Hits on the Gridiron

What should be done to reduce the number of head injuries in, both, the NFL and college football?  The Marist Poll’s John Sparks took up the topic with Marist Poll Analyst and CBS Sports Play-By-Play Broadcaster Verne Lundquist.

Listen to the interview or read the transcript below.

John Sparks
Verne, there’s been more talk about football and head injuries this season than any other that I can recall in quite some time.  What’s the reason?

Listen to Part 1 of the Interview:

Verne Lundquist
Well, I think it’s the growing awareness that there’s been trauma because of head injuries, not only in the National Football League, but also in college and on down to high school.  It just seems to me that the more science explores the impact of football and head injuries, the more they learn and the greater the safety precautions need to become, and so, I think that there’s just a heightened awareness about all of it.

John Sparks
You know even Congress has gotten in on the act.  There’ve been hearings.  You think there’s an answer on how we can reduce or eliminate concussions suffered on the gridiron?

Verne Lundquist
I don’t know, John, unless it’s in the increased safety level and increasing technology in the development of the helmet.  It is and always will be a contact sport as long as football is played with the current rules.  I think you can change some of the rules too to — but you can’t change the nature of the game. I think it’s all going to be dependent upon technology and an increase in the safety of the helmet.

John Sparks
You know hard shell helmets, as we know them, were developed in the late ’40s to prevent fractured skulls, and some say that the helmets actually encourage players to hit harder and with more force because they feel they’re so protected.  Do you think that’s true?

Verne Lundquist
Well, I think for years the technique was taught to lead with the helmet. I think it was a coaching technique, and kids, probably not in junior high but in high school and certainly in college, were taught that technique and then perfected the — not the art of it, but the technique of it as they advanced into the higher levels of the sport. And, this goes back to the increasing awareness of the damage of helmet, not only helmet-to-helmet hits but helmet-to-body part hits.  I just… I think that the technique…  Well, not the technique, the coaching aspects of it need to change, and I think they are.  I… You know the NFL is cracking down now on helmet-to-helmet hits.  The college game is.  We had an example in a recent big time game, Georgia and Auburn, where one of the Auburn defensive players was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. He used his helmet to spear the opposing quarterback in the small of the back long after the ball had been released and was gone. He was flagged for unsportsmanlike, but that was a potentially serious injury, a potential serious injury, and there’s a school of thought that he should’ve been suspended for a game, and the more suspension…  I did see somewhere someone was suspended just this past weekend in college, and I think we need to have more of that.

John Sparks
So, in the NFL, for instance, a player who commits an illegal helmet-to-helmet hit, think they ought to be fined or suspended then?

Listen to Part 2:

Verne Lundquist
Well, I think suspension works better than fines because it’s so — it’s such an incidental part of their financial compensation package.  For these multimillionaire athletes, I think suspension without pay is much, much more effective than strictly a fine.  It’s a pittance for most of them.  It sounds great to the average American, you know $25,000.  That’s a salary — a yearly salary for some folks, and at least a half yearly salary for most people.  But, for a guy who’s making $3 million a year, it’s the cost of doing business.  So, I’d rather see them suspended without pay for a game or two.

John Sparks
There’s been a suggestion by some folks that we just do away with helmets; we slow down the game; we change it. That would ease parents fears who worry about injuries to their kid.  Do you think we’d ever seen anything like that happen?

Verne Lundquist
Well, we have a sport; it’s called rugby, and it’s as violent as football is except it’s played with no pads and no helmets, so I don’t see it happening.  I think the sport is so popular that they’re not going to do away with helmets in the game.  At the base of the attraction of football for most of us is the anticipation.  It’s not anything we should be proud of, but I think there’s an attraction to… not the violence of the game, but the aggressive nature of the sport.  I think that is part of what makes it attractive to fans and players, so, you’re not going to completely get away with that — get away from it rather.

John Sparks
I didn’t realize it, but I’m not surprised, there is an organization called the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment.  Now, that’s a mouthful.  But, one of its board members who is a…

Listen to Part 3:

Verne Lundquist
I didn’t know that either.

John Sparks
One of its board members, he’s a neurosurgeon up in Massachusetts, and he says you can prevent concussions, but to do that, the helmets would have to be much larger and the padding much larger.  And, he add that other than making players look like aliens from another planet, the hit of your helmets would be more likely to cause neck injuries.  So, here we again.  Do you see that we might get to this stage where we drastically reformat/redesign the current paraphernalia that we wear?

Verne Lundquist
No, I don’t think so.  Remember there was a kid — a kid, a young man from Buffalo Bills, I want to say his name was Mark Kelso, and he had his helmet designed with the padding on the outside of it, and so his helmet was much larger than most.  And, God bless him, he did look a little like an alien, and he paid a price every week in the taunting that he received from the opposition, and I just think the innate  narcissism of most athletes is that they’re not going to go for anything that makes them look less attractive, and that certainly would.

John Sparks
I guess the bottom line is that really football wouldn’t be football if you changed the game, and everything I sense is that it’s the most popular game in the country.  I know you’re preparing for the current CBS Game of the Week. I presume that ratings are as high as ever.

Verne Lundquist
Well controversy helps, doesn’t it, John?  And, we’re in the midst of this Cam Newton scandal or non-scandal, depending on your perspective, and so last week we had Georgia/Auburn game featuring Cam Newton: Will he play?  Won’t he play?  And, we had our highest rating of the year.  So, I mean we all know that.  P.T. Barnum taught us all that 125 years ago that if you can get them into the tent, keep them entertained, and it’s kind of sad.  It’s not a grateful — gracious commentary on the fan base, but it’s true, and we know it.  And, it goes back to the point I made: I think the element of violence is part of the attraction of the sport of football. I really… I’m not proud to say that, but I think it’s true.

John Sparks
Hey, I appreciate your time, Verne. It’s always a pleasure talking with you.  Good luck with the broadcast this weekend.

Verne Lundquist
Thank you, John. I’ll talk to you down the road.

Related Story:
Poll: Helmet-to-Helmet Hits — Football Fans Define the Penalty

9/17: Manning Bowl 2010: Peyton and the Colts Favored

Quarterback brothers Eli and Peyton Manning will square off this Sunday night when the Indianapolis Colts play the New York Giants.  So, which brother will claim bragging rights in the Manning family?  According to 61% of football fans nationally, Peyton Manning will lead the Colts to victory this Sunday while 27% report that younger brother Eli and the Giants will be triumphant.  12% are unsure.

While Peyton Manning is the favorite among football fans, regardless of geographic region, more fans in the Northeast (40%) than in the West (25%), Midwest (23%), and the South (22%) think Eli Manning will lead the Giants to victory.

Table: Which Manning Brother will be Victorious?

Saints Shine as Early Super Bowl Favorites

The NFL season may have just begun, but football fans are already prognosticating about the Super Bowl.  Who is the early favorite?  13% of football fans think the New Orleans Saints will receive the Lombardi trophy for the second consecutive year.  9% have their money on the New England Patriots while 7% predict the Pittsburgh Steelers will be victorious.  The Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts, and Green Bay Packers each receive the support of 6% of football fans.  34% think another team will win, and 19% of fans are unsure.

Not surprisingly, there are regional differences on this question.  Football fans in the Northeast – 22% — are more likely to choose the Patriots than any other team.  In the Midwest, 15% back the Saints, but the Colts and Packers follow closely behind.  Each receive 12%.  The Saints are also the top pick in the South.  Here, 16% predict the Saints will win the Super Bowl.  13%, though, are banking on the Cowboys.  And, in the West, the Saints and the Steelers vie for the top spot.  Each team gets the support of 10% of football fans.

Men are more likely than women to favor the Saints in their Super Bowl pick.

Table: 2011 Super Bowl Picks

Marist Poll Methodology

9/8: NY Jets vs. NY Giants: Which Will Have the Better Season?

Who do football fans think will have the better football season this year?  Will it be the New York Jets or the New York Giants?  Find out in the latest NY Daily News/Marist Poll.  To read the full Daily News article, click here.

Tables for The Marist Poll Conducted for the Daily News:

NY Football Team with Better Season

Football Fans

Marist Poll Methodology