NFL’s pay-per-view deal with Netflix is good for millionaire owners and bad for fans | Opinion

A dim view

The NFL has now added Netflix to accompany Amazon Prime as their Pay-Per-View network partners. For many Americans, chipping in a bit more to see NFL games on TV may not be a big deal. However, for the countless millions who work hard to support their families in this tough economy, asking them to pay to see a football game on TV is just wrong.

I would imagine many of those workers look forward to watching football during their time off from work. Now the NFL millionaire owners and network brass have decided to maximize their obscene profits by demanding even more profit. It is reprehensible.

As a Miami Dolphin season ticket holder, I know the cost of a game ticket is over the top. Despite being comfortable financially, I will never pay one dime to see a pay-per-view NFL game.

Steve Mathes,

Aventura

Granting wishes

The service that the Miami Herald’s “Wish Book” provides never ceases to amaze me. Year after year, the most vulnerable in our community are highlighted through the lens of humanity. Miami is lucky to have incredible agencies and individuals that are observant and nominate those who are facing incredible hardships.

I urge all to carefully read and give what you can to help. The dollars raised go directly and immediately to the causes mentioned and they are truly a lifeline, with such compassion for the recipients. Thank you for all you do!

Karen Fryd,

South Florida Youth Foundation,

Miami Beach

Candidate Carter

Of the many distinguished international and American government ministers I interviewed over the years, I especially remember with fondness how, where and when I met Jimmy Carter, then a presidential candidate. My assignment took me to the old Fort Lauderdale airport, where I awaited his plane on the tarmac.

When I got close enough to him, wearing a paper press-pass on a string, he draped his left arm over my shoulders and we chatted amiably. Could any candidate and reporter do that today?

I know I voted for him. To this day, I admire the man who never brought shame to the Oval Office!

Norma A. Orovitz,

Bay Harbor Islands

Green schools

The Broward Green Schools Campaign, a student led effort to make public schools environmentally friendly, has been tirelessly working to convince local stakeholders. Recently, the Broward County School Board unanimously voted to make an effort to transition schools to 100% clean energy.

Still, there is work to be done, including ensuring the board commits to completing the transition by 2035. We need all the support we can get. Please sign our petition. Our future is at stake.

Anagha Iyer,

student leader,

Miramar

Best coach ever

Like many, I thought I knew what “excellence” was. Not until I experienced “excellence” firsthand, in UM men’s basketball coach Jim Larrañaga, did I realize how everything else is not excellent. Coach L’s attributes as teacher, sage, mentor and storyteller are indisputable.

I don’t know the secret formula to creating excellence, but it likely starts with being a gold standard. Coach Larrañaga and his wife Liz are just that — the gold standard. The players, coaches, UM and the South Florida community had “excellence” for the last 14 years.

My sincerest gratitude to Coach Larrañaga and his wife for allowing us to be in the presence of “excellence.”

Mark Diaz,

South Miami

Awful nominees

It is a shame that some of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees are unqualified.

Robert Kennedy, Jr. is a vaccine skeptic and has said the COVID-19 virus was targeted to a specific group of people.

Pete Hegseth has a drinking problem, but his mother says he is now “a new man.” Also, two nonprofits Hegseth headed fired him for financial mismanagement.

Kash Patel said the FBI is filled with corruption and filth. He wrote a book with a large “enemies” list of people to be pursued.

Tulsi Gabbard met with former Syrian dictator Assad and defended him. She also repeated false Russian propaganda about the Ukraine war.

I hope the U.S. Senate rejects them. However, Sen. Marco Rubio and former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi are qualified and should be confirmed.

Michael Hittleman,

Sunrise

Too much Musk

We should all take a hint from one of the great television series of the past, “All in the Family.”

Instead of Archie Bunker telling his wife to “Stifle it, Edith,” we should all have a new refrain: “Stifle it, Elon.”

Enough is enough.

Harry N. Turk,

Coral Gables

New beginnings

The new year needs expectations — that people recognize the importance of their mental and physical health and the health of humanity. Non-violence must be at the top of the list; non-violence in the family, in schools, in the world and within the self.

The number 988 is a suicide and crisis lifeline to be remembered, as it is there to call for helping the self (and others) when needed. We must find a way to help ourselves and each other. Appropriate communication is a good beginning.

Louis Cohen,

Tamarac

Bowl blues

With college football bowl season in full swing, star players often opt out of playing. They use mantras such as getting ready for the combines or not wanting to risk injury (as if the injury odds suddenly spiked compared with those for games they’d already played in during the season).

Here’s a thought: for each player sitting out a given bowl game, organizers must deduct $5 from ticket prices.

After all, why should we pay more for any product of inferior quality?

I’m sure the CFP Selection Committee would agree. Optimistically, I look up to the sky and see a squadron of swine flying in V formation.

Jeff Spiero,

Hollywood

Walk to school

Miami-Dade County’s School Board should institute a policy regarding automobile traffic. Morning and afternoon traffic reaches strangulation proportions in some school areas.

I am 88 years old. I spent my elementary school years in Philadelphia. I walked to and from school, a distance of about a mile, in all weather conditions. I did this for six years. My family had no car. Upon moving to Florida, I either walked — distance permitting — or took a city bus. Dad needed the car for work and mom did not drive.

My kids were walked to school, or, as they got older, walked by themselves, or rode their bikes. Lately, there is not a bike rack to be found in a school yard. Today, it seems that every student must be coddled. Mom has to drive them “to” and pick them up “from” somewhere.

Is our community such a scary place that our children must be “protected” from what might befall them while walking to school? Or do the kids just need more time on their phones while being chauffeured about?

If an elementary school has 300 students, except for some car-pooling, there are almost 300 more cars on the road, twice a day. Multiply that by the number of schools plus the teenagers old enough to drive their own cars and it is easy to see the burden placed on our roads, neighborhoods and businesses. This traffic snarl affects the economy. When you know driving to a store will be agonizing, it is easy to defer to Amazon. There are no low-traffic periods in our days any more.

A school board policy (with appropriate exceptions) requiring students who live within one mile of their schools to walk or ride a bike, would relieve us of some traffic burdens, contribute to better health (more walking and less carbon monoxide) and help the local economy. It won’t hurt to try.

Richard Masington,

Coral Gables