The NFL

Well the computer's finally fixed, and I finally have the motivation to finish this project. What was originally expected to take a month has taken over three, but it was worth the wait, right? Um, yeah let's just get on with my analysis of the NFL.

WHAT'S RIGHT:

1. Fair and Balanced. The reason the NFL is now far and away the biggest sports league in the country is the fact that it's economic system is built around equality. The salary cap prevents even the wealthiest franchises from being like the Yankees and Red Sox and outspending the other teams for the top players. This also means that any franchise is theoretically never more than a year or two away from becoming a Super Bowl team. I say theoretically because you still need to make good front office moves (see the Bengals of the 90s).

2. Limited Chances to See Your Team. A classic example of supply and demand. You only get to see your team play 16 times all year, including only 8 at home. So naturally ratings are high, and fans will be willing to pay a lot to see their teams play. That's why even the crappiest teams can still draw about 50,000 a game.

3. Marketing Genius. I don't know if the Super Bowl was integrated into popular culture, or the other way around, but the game has now become both the sports and entertainment event of the year. It's almost gotten to the point that the game is secondary to the 11 hours of pregame shows and the halftime extravaganza (on a little aside, watching the Stones perform at a Super Bowl which the Steelers won was pretty damn cool). Regardless, the marriage of the game and the media orgy has done nothing but good for the NFL.

4. Harsh Steroid Punishments. Okay, maybe the league isn't perfectly clean, but at least the ones that do get caught face stiff penalties. A fourth of the season for the first offense, the whole year for a second, and I think a lifetime ban for a third. But what really makes this good is the fact that it has been around for a long time, unlike the joke of a drug policy that baseball has only recently enacted.

5. Have I mentioned that the Steelers won the Super Bowl last year?


WHAT'S WRONG:

1. Steroids. Despite the testing and the penalties, it seems as though most of these players are still on something. It is just not natural for a 6'6", 360 lb. lineman to be running a 4.5 40.

2. Players Getting Too Big. In recent years, several players on every level have died, and in most cases those players were freakin huge (Korey Stringer). It's not just unnatural for such large players to be doing such strenuous physical activity; it's unhealthy. When you look at how the number of players over 300 lbs. has exploded over the past 15 years, it's no wonder some of these players' hearts are exploding during training camp. Some teams do penalize their players for being overweight and out of shape, but it's not enough, and the league needs to step in and find a way to prevent these tragedies.

3. Legal Issues. The recent arrests of several young players (Chris Henry, Santonio Holmes, "Pacman" Jones, Henry again, Holmes again, Henry AGAIN, Jones again, the rest of the Bengals) has become an alarming trend. The NFL seems to have replaced the NBA as the league with all the criminals (of course, OJ didn't help matters), and in time that could seriously harm the league's image it could fall from the top of the sports world.

4. Terrell Owens. No matter what a player may get arrested for, he will never be hated more than T.O. The man has already destroyed two successful teams, and is embarking on a new one, the Dallas Cowboys. His big mouth, his asshole agent, and ESPN's constant coverage of both has made him one of the faces of the NFL, and like the arrests above, that's not a good thing for the league's image.

5. The New Commish. Roger Goodell may be a fine pick for commissioner, but he has some really big shoes to fill. The past two commissioners have brought us the Super Bowl, the AFL-NFL merger, the salary cap, some ridiculously lucrative TV deals, and unparalleled success and stability for the league. Now, it is up to Goodell to maintain that and maybe even create a new revolution in pro football. Can he pull this off, or will he crack under the pressure? I hope for the former.

Hopefully, you enjoyed this (actually I don't care if you were miserable reading this. It's your dumbass fault for wasting the time), and if I have the time/energy before I leave for the beach on Thursday, I'll do a college football preview.