Roger Goodell shouldn't need Viagra

If you have kids, and you’ve watched pro football with them, then you probably have something in common with President Obama.

In his book The Audacity of Hope, he wrote, “…I wasn’t too happy with ads for erectile-dysfunction drugs popping up every 15 minutes whenever I watched a football game with my daughters in the room.”

That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

I have parental controls on my cable TV that filter out adult-rated movies and shows. When I watch the NFL with my kids, I wish I had the same controls for the ads. Ironically enough, Fox is the biggest offender, with previews for shows like House, 24, Dollhouse and Prison Break, mixing soft core porn and hard core violence in short yet offensive bursts.

If you think I’m overly sensitive, ask Common Sense Media. In their recently released study on the content of ads shown during NFL broadcasts, they concluded that "it was impossible to watch a single game without coming up against sex, violence, or Viagra." One in six of the ads shown during the broadcasts features content that's wildly inappropriate for kids. That's every other commercial break.

Common Sense Media's report found that 40% of the games included ads for erectile-dysfunction drugs and 44.7% of the violent or sexual advertisements were promotions by the networks for their own programs. And over 10% of the ads overall involved significant levels of sexuality, including scenes about prostitution and strippers.

The amazing thing is that professional leagues go to great lengths to project a squeaky clean, family friendly appearance. The NFL is especially good at protecting their image; the league office does everything they can to be America’s League (especially since they can’t stop their players from literally shooting themselves in the foot), policing their sidelines, their sponsors, and their affiliations.

They should do a better job of policing their airwaves.

Hot dogs, apple pie, Chevrolet, and bankruptcy

Citi Field is in danger of being called something different. Not surprisingly, the financial giant is being questioned for doling out $400 million for naming rights to the Mets’ new field, even though the deal was struck in 2006, years before the financial crisis hit.

The government granted Citi $45 billion (yes, with a “b”) as part of the bailout, and many good, hard working people of America are pissed that their tax dollars are paying for a formerly bloated and irresponsible financial institution to sponsor a bunch of boys playing ball. And rightly so.

I say, let the deal go through.

What better way for the government to spend our money? Baseball is the American game. The national pastime. What’s more red, white, and blue than green grass and clear skies on a hot summer day? Uncle Sam’s bailed out so many of our prized institutions already; cars, planes, New York City. It’s the American way.

Besides, who’s going to pick up the slack? The entities that normally go for this sort of thing don’t make much sense. Financial Organizations? Ha. Airlines? Travel ain’t happening. Automotive? Worst year for new car sales for 50 years.

Fast food isn’t hurting too much, and being a big fan of the #4 with light mayo (Turkey Tom), I cast one vote for calling it Jimmy John’s Field. With their penchant for Freaky Fastness, maybe they can help make the games a little quicker. If nothing else, you wouldn’t have to wait as long for the vendors to come around.