Out of all the things Roger Goodell has done in his short tenure as NFL commissioner, I disagree with very few of them. Goodell is clearly a football guy, and you see can that everything he does is in the best interest of the league. Despite all this, I'm not completely sold on his idea of expanding the NFL season to 17, maybe 18 games. Usually, I embrace change. I think things get boring if they stay the same for too long. So when the NFL switched to their current alignment of eight divisions, I thought it was awesome. The rotating schedule works perfectly, with six games in the division, four against another conference division, four against the division of the other conference, and two other conference opponents based on records. As far as that goes, it's flawless. God knows I'm a geek about scheduling.
But while I embraced that change, I think I like it enough to keep it that way for awhile. Sure, the preseason is too long and incredibly boring, but I would rather see them slash two preseason games than I would see them slash two games and add two regular season games. I just think 16 games is the perfect amount for a regular season, and that length has worked out pretty well so far.
Some will tell you that they want to get rid of a couple of preseason games to make sure players don't get injured, but the real issue here is that the NFL can make a lot more money if those two weeks of preseason clunkers turned into two weeks of real NFL action. While that's true, there's no doubt the players would then want more money, and that's never a pretty spiral.
Another minor issue is that look how hard it was for the Patriots to go 16-0. While they were undefeated in the regular season, they fell short in the Super Bowl, allowing the 1972 Dolphins - the most overrated team in sports history - to uncork another bottle of champagne. Do we, as a nation, really want Mercury Morris to continue to get face time for being an enormous jackass when the last undefeated team falls?
I guess, as I re-read the incoherence I just wrote, I really don't have a good reason for why I don't think the NFL should expand their season. I just like things they way they are now, for a change.
6 comments:
it rubs me the wrong way too.
why not have one more reg. season game & one less exhibition game? that way each team will always finish with either a winning or losing record. no more 8-8 crap
When the NFL expanded from 12 to 14 games (1961) and then from 14 to 16 (1978), I think {and this is completely and totally unfounded} it had a lot to do with the feeling that advancements in training, nutrition and pay the players could compete in more games and thus earn the league more money.
It was done to earn more money then, it will be done to earn more money now, but can regular starters handle two more full games. Super Bowl teams {if it goes to 18 games} could play 22 games.
That is an absurd amount of games to play, no matter how good of shape someone is in. Hell, 20 is and with the banned steroids/performance enhancers, it doesn't give much choice to players {steroids are detrimental if abused, but chemical advancements are not out of the question}. But if it comes to pass it will be because of money, they will find people to step into injured spots, and we will all watch anyway.
Where is the bucks post. Our you giving up on your team and your town.
My questions about an expanded season are................
1)Are they going to expand the rosters any? With the expanded seasons, come more injuries. And with less time to evaluate the borderline players, are they going to allow teams to stash them on a development type of roster.
2)Are the players going to be getting paid more now? I am guessing they get paid for 17 weeks right now with the bye week included. With the schedule expanding 1-2 weeks, are the players going to be happy with their salaries spread out over 18 or 19 weeks instead of the 17 weeks.
I am sure there are going to be some serious discussions over this in the upcoming collective bargaining agreement.
Add more games & you get more injuries. Then who knows ... Goodell cranks the workload up to 18 or 20 games & suddenly so many superstars are hurt that the talent level dips about halfway through each season. By the time the playoffs roll around each team has a noticeable amount of backups in. It would be like watching a half/half mix of major leaguers & farmhands playing in the World Series. I wouldn't pay top dollar for that. The injuries are bad enough the way it is ... 17 games max, people ... just shorten the preseason by one game.
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