3 Stories: Bowl Defectors, NFL Fan Analytics, Sorry State Of The Jaguars

It's the end of December, which means it's time for holidays ... and meaningless college football games like the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl, the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl and the Camping World Independence Bowl. That's where we start this week's "3 Stories You Should Know."

WBUR's Shira Springer and Sports On Earth's Will Leitch joined Bill Littlefield.

1. Bowl Game Defectors

Star college running backs Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey have decided to skip their teams' bowl games. Why? Avoid injury and prepare for the NFL. Bill Littlefield applauds their decisions.

I like the idea that these two players and others have apparently decided that they've provided enough unpaid labor to their colleges. I hope a lot of other players follow their lead. Maybe this would be one more little step toward actual reform in revenue college sports.

2. Is Big Brother Coming To The NFL?

Sure, pro sports teams use analytics to help their players on the field. But the New England Patriots are now doing more to collect data on fans. Shira Springer took a closer look.

The idea behind fan analytics and what [Kraft Analytics Group] attempts to do is improve fan experience. ... The bottom line is, as we all know, knowing more about how fans behave, what they like, what they don't like, helps the Patriots generate more revenue. You may laugh, you may cackle, this is the way of the future.

3. The Jacksonville Jaguars Vs. The Cleveland Browns 

The Cleveland Browns have started the season 0-14. But Will Leitch thinks that the Jacksonville Jaguars are, in fact, a sorrier franchise. He makes his case.

The thing about Cleveland is they have very passionate fans, people are going to care. And they also have a plan, they have a good front office right now. To me the actual saddest team in the NFL is the Jacksonville Jaguars. ... I did a little Sports Illustrated video piece about this. And it went up on their website, it got around, it was kinda funny. This morning, I'll have you know that the mayor of Jacksonville has called me out on Twitter. Said that I can "pound sand." Now, I'm not sure exactly what it is. But I would like to take this moment to formally apologize to the mayor of Jacksonville for the fact that the Jaguars play in his town.

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