Labor of Love

For months now, the idea of an NFL lockout has been in the back of most people's minds, but for me, it's all I think about (besides ponies, BBQ, and gambling). I used to work in the NFL, and still have a lot of friends who do, so I have a pretty good idea about what's at stake in the ongoing labor negotiations. But this post isn't about the legalities, or revenue sharing, or "kill-shots". It's about what I want to see from a fan's perspective. As always, would love to hear your thoughts and ideas.

No 18-game season: I'm not worried about 18 games from a concussion standpoint, a competitive balance standpoint, or from the inevitable weight I'll gain from two more weekends of chips and dip. It's that too much a good thing really isn't a good thing. For examples, see baseball and basketball. How much better would those sports be if baseball played 140 games or the NBA played 10 (just kidding - I love the NBA)? The inherent drama that builds throughout the NFL season is directly due to the importance placed on every game because there's only 16 of them! Plus, who wants to see the Bills vs. Panthers in a week eighteen match-up? (Caveat: if the NFL does go to an 18-game schedule, change the format of the playoffs. Have only one wildcard team in each conference, and have them face off against the worst division winner in the first round, with the team having the better record getting homefield. This will guard against what will inevitably happen this year - a 12-4 NFC team having to travel to an 8-8 Seattle team for the first round of the playoffs, and probably losing. The other three division winners all get byes, with the top 2 getting a home game in the divisional round.)

Consolidate Bye Weeks: Another scary by-product of an eighteen game schedule is the proposal of a second bye week during the season for all teams. Drew Magary from Deadspin and Kissing Suzy Kolber fame wrote about this pretty recently - basically saying that "Bye Weeks are Satan's Afterbirth." There's nothing worse during the middle of the season when you're trying to see where your team stacks up versus another and you can't because they've played an uneven number of games. Plus, it's a major advantage having your bye week after week seven versus week three (and if you have evidence to prove otherwise, shut up). Whether the league goes to eighteen games or not, let's stick with one bye week and let's try and jam these in a little more equitably. How about the NFC having all off one week, and the AFC the next? After weeks 8 & 9, and rotate each season? Done and done.

Monday Night Doubleheaders: Maybe I'm just getting older and grouchier, but I find it harder and harder to stay up to watch NFL Primetime games. It also seems like no fan really "wins" when it comes to Monday nights - too late for East Coast, too early for West Coast. I think the only people who are really happy live in the Dakotas. I say screw them. Let's play two every Monday. Start the "East Coast" game at 7:00pm and the "West Coast" at 10:00pm. Who cares if the 49ers have to play five Monday nighters? I won't be up to watch them - EAST COAST BIAS FOR LIFE!!

Thursday Nighters: Let's chill out with this. It's a cute concept, but fatally flawed. First off, it's on the NFL Network which I'm pretty sure only about 20% of the country even has. Second, it's pretty much the most awful thing you can do to the players (I know, this post isn't supposed to be about the players, but hearing them whine about these games definitely lowers my enjoyment of them). Third, and this might be blasphemy as a football fan, but sometimes I actually like to watch other things on TV, even other sports. Let's keep Thursdays to Thanksgiving (I do love the primetime game on Turkey Day) and while we're at it, let's have Dallas and Detroit rotate each year (why do I have to watch both play every year?). Also bring back the Saturday games in December, which actually isn't all that bad for players and gives us something to watch on Saturdays while college football goes on its annual 60 day pre-bowl games sabbatical. It also gets us married men out of holiday shopping, so there's that too.

Move the Super Bowl to a different date: Specifically, either the Sunday before Martin Luther King Day or the Sunday before President's Day. It's pretty much a given that 75% of the country's population will be worthless the Monday following the Super Bowl, so why not move it to a date where 75% of the people in this country have off the next day? Also, quit the Super Bowl being played in cold weather movement. It's stupid. When I'm rich and can afford to join the "Never Miss a Super Bowl Club", I don't want to go to Detroit or East Rutherford or Kansas City for a game I'm paying $2K to see. Give me San Diego, Tampa, New Orleans, Miami, or Atlanta please.

Re-price tickets: This is where the NFL needs to be really careful. The at-home experience of watching a game is getting better and better every season. Once 3D production goes full scale, you'll literally feel like you're at the game except it won't take you twenty minutes to go to the bathroom, beers won't cost $7, and you won't freeze your ass off. The NFL "product" looks much better with a full-stadium and with the demand that is out there for the NFL "product" it amazes me that some of these teams play in front of half-empty stadiums. Even if your team is HORRIBLE, you're only playing at home 8 times (regular season) over the course of 365 days! Stop the whole PSL scam, quit worrying about the secondary market, and don't make people pay for pre-season garbage games. In my opinion, if you can't consistently fill your stadium to 90% occupancy with season-tickets you either need to move the team (Jacksonville) or lower your prices (Detroit). Use the suite level and club level to cater to the corporate client; keep the regular bowl seats priced so that they're in reach for the common man (or woman).

That's about all I got - I could certainly get into some of the rule changes that are effecting the way the games are played right now, but that's truly an issue for the players and the owners to resolve. I'm all for making the game safer and extending the careers and lives of these guys that put themselves at risk every week. I also think NFL owners and teams have the right to make money. But as Justin Bieber so magnificently said last night in his acceptance speech for Performer of the Year at the American Music Awards "I wouldn't be here without the fans." Neither would the NFL.