45 Seconds of Fame: Who loses with NFL's video policy? You do, Fan

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12:24 AM CDT on Sunday, October 21, 2007

The Dallas Cowboys have their fans and their Fans.

If you're a fan - lower case - you know they have Terrell Owens (or
"that T.O. guy" to you) and Tony Romo and some other guys who didn't
fare too well last weekend in their Biggest Game So Far, against the
New England Patriots.

If you're a Fan - upper case - you watched every painful minute and
know that they took too many penalties, that they dared Tom Brady to
beat them (and he was more than happy to comply), that Randy Moss got
the last word in a bag of popcorn, and that Patrick Crayton brazenly
predicts a rematch in Super Bowl XLII - if the Patriots make it that
far.

You know all this and so much more because you are a Fan who really,
really cares about the Cowboys and wants every scrap of information
about everyone connected with them and whomever they play.

Sadly, the NFL is fine with you knowing, as long as you hear it from a
league-approved source. Which, in this case, is, well, the NFL.

Upper-case Fan or lower case, you can get a lot done in 45 seconds. (A
savvy, veteran fan can hit the bathroom, grab a handful of chips and a
fresh beer and not miss a snap.)

What we don't believe you can do in that time is get all the audio and
video information about your Cowboys that you want or that we'd like
to bring you. This newspaper, like every other media outlet, is
restricted by NFL policy to 45 seconds of Cowboys-related audio/video
content per day at dallasnews.com and not allowed to archive it beyond
24 hours.

Want a full version of Wade Phillips' weekly news conference? We can
give you not quite a minute and Not For Long.

The NFL adopted this near-sighted policy in part to protect its own
properties, NFL Network and NFL.com, not to mention the various team
sites like DallasCowboys.com. It also allows the league to hoard all
advertising revenue that attaches to said video content.

Who loses? The Fan, and maybe even the fan, who wants maximum
information not screened by the league or its teams.

Something to think about as you get ready for the Cowboys' bounce-back
game tomorrow against Minnesota.

You'll want to know everything about it for days and days. We'll give
you our best 45 seconds. Like you, we wish it could be more.

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