NFL = No Fun League

Well, that post I made way down the page about watching old Bears clips on Youtube is irrelevant. Thanks to the latest party-pooper move by the No Fun League, the video sharing site was told to remove over 3,000 NFL clips that included game footage, and they complied.

The full story can be found here.

I can understand if the league wants recent clips pulled -- from last Sunday's games for example. But what is the harm in having older clips available to view? Maybe down the line, there will be clips made available on a pay-to-play basis.

The NFL is strange concerning old broadcast footage. Ever notice how on ESPN Classic, or even their own NFL Network, you can't find actual play-by-play coverage of old games? Why is that? You mean you wouldn't plop down in front of the television to watch an old Monday Night Football matchup with Howard Cosell and the gang? I sure would.

The NFL should start up a 2nd channel that does nothing but show classic games of the past 50 years. Or, offer that service online. Click the game you want to see, pay a small fee, and watch a great game from the past as it originally aired.

These classic games need to be made available. I'm telling you, there's a market out there for the old broadcasts, and if the NFL did it wisely, they could make a few bucks, too.

But, for now, all we have as options are games we may have been smart enough to tape ourselves when they first aired, NFL Films produced highlights of games that just aren't as good as the real thing, or the clips that now are available on youtube -- usually some guy with a camcorder filming a touchdown from his upper-deck seat while cheering as the play happens, causing the camera to shake so bad that you have no idea what you're looking at. Not the best choices.

Thanks, NFL. Now it stands for Nostalgia Forever Lost.