NFL to shorten preseason, lengthen regular season?

[Oviedo]

If you love hockey you should appreciate soccer. The strategy is so much the same.

It is a great sport for kids and we have made great friends. If your kids stay in it, most of your friends will end up being other soccer parents and your kids best friends will be the ones they play with.

We are on the short countdown. The oldest has graduated HS and doesn't play anymore and the next one is a freshman in HS. So we have about 3 more years to enjoy. It is pretty much a year round activity here in FL.

[RuthlessBurgher]

If you love hockey you should appreciate soccer. The strategy is so much the same.

It is a great sport for kids and we have made great friends. If your kids stay in it, most of your friends will end up being other soccer parents and your kids best friends will be the ones they play with.

We are on the short countdown. The oldest has graduated HS and doesn't play anymore and the next one is a freshman in HS. So we have about 3 more years to enjoy. It is pretty much a year round activity here in FL.

I don't necessarily dislike soccer...I just never got into it. Hockey just combines the best of soccer with the best of football...grace and speed and physicality...much better.

[papillon]

If you love hockey you should appreciate soccer. The strategy is so much the same.

It is a great sport for kids and we have made great friends. If your kids stay in it, most of your friends will end up being other soccer parents and your kids best friends will be the ones they play with.

We are on the short countdown. The oldest has graduated HS and doesn't play anymore and the next one is a freshman in HS. So we have about 3 more years to enjoy. It is pretty much a year round activity here in FL.

I don't necessarily dislike soccer...I just never got into it. Hockey just combines the best of soccer with the best of football...grace and speed and physicality...much better.

You would enjoy lacrosse then, it's a bit of hockey (hitting), soccer (tactic) and basketball (hand eye coord and shooting at a goal with your hands). I love it for kids, particularly ones that enjoy a little contact, all contact has to be above the waist and from the front. All referees make sure that these rules are followed, there are no pads below the waist. Great game though...they call it the fastest game on two feet.

Pappy

[RuthlessBurgher]

If you love hockey you should appreciate soccer. The strategy is so much the same.

It is a great sport for kids and we have made great friends. If your kids stay in it, most of your friends will end up being other soccer parents and your kids best friends will be the ones they play with.

We are on the short countdown. The oldest has graduated HS and doesn't play anymore and the next one is a freshman in HS. So we have about 3 more years to enjoy. It is pretty much a year round activity here in FL.

I don't necessarily dislike soccer...I just never got into it. Hockey just combines the best of soccer with the best of football...grace and speed and physicality...much better.

You would enjoy lacrosse then, it's a bit of hockey (hitting), soccer (tactic) and basketball (hand eye coord and shooting at a goal with your hands). I love it for kids, particularly ones that enjoy a little contact, all contact has to be above the waist and from the front. All referees make sure that these rules are followed, there are no pads below the waist. Great game though...they call it the fastest game on two feet.

Pappy

I applied to go to school at Johns Hopkins back in the day, and when I went to visit, some folks introduced me to lacrosse, since that is huge there. I ended up going to Cornell though (there is no contest between the atmosphere in Ithaca, NY vs. Baltimore, MD), and while they don't have the tradition of Hopkins or Syracuse in that particular sport (we are more of a hockey school), they still had a pretty good team. I managed to find the national semifinal game on TV around this time last year between undefeated Cornell and top ranked Duke, who was just coming off a year without a team because of the sex scandal down there. That was an epic match in which Cornell was able to come back from 7 down before losing in the final minute. Personally, I think of lacrosse as better than soccer, but not quite up to the level of football or hockey.

[papillon]

If you love hockey you should appreciate soccer. The strategy is so much the same.

It is a great sport for kids and we have made great friends. If your kids stay in it, most of your friends will end up being other soccer parents and your kids best friends will be the ones they play with.

We are on the short countdown. The oldest has graduated HS and doesn't play anymore and the next one is a freshman in HS. So we have about 3 more years to enjoy. It is pretty much a year round activity here in FL.

I don't necessarily dislike soccer...I just never got into it. Hockey just combines the best of soccer with the best of football...grace and speed and physicality...much better.

You would enjoy lacrosse then, it's a bit of hockey (hitting), soccer (tactic) and basketball (hand eye coord and shooting at a goal with your hands). I love it for kids, particularly ones that enjoy a little contact, all contact has to be above the waist and from the front. All referees make sure that these rules are followed, there are no pads below the waist. Great game though...they call it the fastest game on two feet.

Pappy

I applied to go to school at Johns Hopkins back in the day, and when I went to visit, some folks introduced me to lacrosse, since that is huge there. I ended up going to Cornell though (there is no contest between the atmosphere in Ithaca, NY vs. Baltimore, MD), and while they don't have the tradition of Hopkins or Syracuse in that particular sport (we are more of a hockey school), they still had a pretty good team. I managed to find the national semifinal game on TV around this time last year between undefeated Cornell and top ranked Duke, who was just coming off a year without a team because of the sex scandal down there. That was an epic match in which Cornell was able to come back from 7 down before losing in the final minute. Personally, I think of lacrosse as better than soccer, but not quite up to the level of football or hockey.

Awesome NCAA final lacrosse game today (Syracuse vs Johns Hopkins) on ESPN and no commercials, Syracuse put a clinic on and a kid from Hopkins singlehandedly kept them in the game by scoring 6 goals. Great game and shown in its entirety w/ no commercials! Final score Syracuse 13 and Hopkins 10.

Pappy

[BURGH86STEEL]

Right now, I think the NFL season is too long. Don't get me wrong I enjoy watching football and don't mind the current 16 game schedule. However, adding another high intensity regular season game while entertaining can't be good for the players health and in the long run may diminish some of the playoff match ups due to injury.

I would prefer that they just eliminate 2 pre-season games and then start the regular 16 game season. Players are training year round and coaches are seeing their rookies at OTAs and other mandatory team events. There's no need for 4 pre-season games.

If they could get the Super Bowl back into the middle of January some outdoor teams could have a chance at hosting the Super Bowl (maybe).

Pappy

I agree that adding another game is not good for the players or the quality of play. I guess the two are directly linked. Sometimes games hinge on key starters playing or sitting. In most cases, not having injuries to key players is luck. There may not be a need for 4 preseason games but the owners are not willing to give up the money preseason games generate. Goodell must think people are morons if he believes we think it is about the quality of preseason play. I think it is more about another greedy revenue stream.

[papillon]

Right now, I think the NFL season is too long. Don't get me wrong I enjoy watching football and don't mind the current 16 game schedule. However, adding another high intensity regular season game while entertaining can't be good for the players health and in the long run may diminish some of the playoff match ups due to injury.

I would prefer that they just eliminate 2 pre-season games and then start the regular 16 game season. Players are training year round and coaches are seeing their rookies at OTAs and other mandatory team events. There's no need for 4 pre-season games.

If they could get the Super Bowl back into the middle of January some outdoor teams could have a chance at hosting the Super Bowl (maybe).

Pappy

I agree that adding another game is not good for the players or the quality of play. I guess the two are directly linked. Sometimes games hinge on key starters playing or sitting. In most cases, not having injuries to key players is luck. There may not be a need for 4 preseason games but the owners are not willing to give up the money preseason games generate. Goodell must think people are morons if he believes we think it is about the quality of preseason play. I think it is more about another greedy revenue stream.

Here's an even better idea, remove one pre-season game and add another bye week starting around week 10. It takes 17 weeks to play 16 games w/ one bye, so, take 18 weeks to play 16 games w/ 2 byes. Hopefully, this would help teams get healthy for the stretch run to the playoffs and, maybe, have teams healthier and stronger for a better playoff run.

Pappy

[Iron Shiek]

Right now, I think the NFL season is too long. Don't get me wrong I enjoy watching football and don't mind the current 16 game schedule. However, adding another high intensity regular season game while entertaining can't be good for the players health and in the long run may diminish some of the playoff match ups due to injury.

I would prefer that they just eliminate 2 pre-season games and then start the regular 16 game season. Players are training year round and coaches are seeing their rookies at OTAs and other mandatory team events. There's no need for 4 pre-season games.

If they could get the Super Bowl back into the middle of January some outdoor teams could have a chance at hosting the Super Bowl (maybe).

Pappy

I agree that adding another game is not good for the players or the quality of play. I guess the two are directly linked. Sometimes games hinge on key starters playing or sitting. In most cases, not having injuries to key players is luck. There may not be a need for 4 preseason games but the owners are not willing to give up the money preseason games generate. Goodell must think people are morons if he believes we think it is about the quality of preseason play. I think it is more about another greedy revenue stream.

Here's an even better idea, remove one pre-season game and add another bye week starting around week 10. It takes 17 weeks to play 16 games w/ one bye, so, take 18 weeks to play 16 games w/ 2 byes. Hopefully, this would help teams get healthy for the stretch run to the playoffs and, maybe, have teams healthier and stronger for a better playoff run.

Pappy

I remember about ten years ago they did the two bye system. They ditched the idea for one reason or another but I don't recall why. I doubt they'd go back to that unless that extra week would really make a difference. While it would be nice for the teams, the NFL is primarily considering this strictly from the monetary aspect. A bye week would not accomplish what they are setting out to do by adding the extra week/game.

[papillon]

Right now, I think the NFL season is too long. Don't get me wrong I enjoy watching football and don't mind the current 16 game schedule. However, adding another high intensity regular season game while entertaining can't be good for the players health and in the long run may diminish some of the playoff match ups due to injury.

I would prefer that they just eliminate 2 pre-season games and then start the regular 16 game season. Players are training year round and coaches are seeing their rookies at OTAs and other mandatory team events. There's no need for 4 pre-season games.

If they could get the Super Bowl back into the middle of January some outdoor teams could have a chance at hosting the Super Bowl (maybe).

Pappy

I agree that adding another game is not good for the players or the quality of play. I guess the two are directly linked. Sometimes games hinge on key starters playing or sitting. In most cases, not having injuries to key players is luck. There may not be a need for 4 preseason games but the owners are not willing to give up the money preseason games generate. Goodell must think people are morons if he believes we think it is about the quality of preseason play. I think it is more about another greedy revenue stream.

Here's an even better idea, remove one pre-season game and add another bye week starting around week 10. It takes 17 weeks to play 16 games w/ one bye, so, take 18 weeks to play 16 games w/ 2 byes. Hopefully, this would help teams get healthy for the stretch run to the playoffs and, maybe, have teams healthier and stronger for a better playoff run.

Pappy

I remember about ten years ago they did the two bye system. They ditched the idea for one reason or another but I don't recall why. I doubt they'd go back to that unless that extra week would really make a difference. While it would be nice for the teams, the NFL is primarily considering this strictly from the monetary aspect. A bye week would not accomplish what they are setting out to do by adding the extra week/game.

That may be a shortsighted view of things on their part. Keeping players healthy and having more competitive games late in the season may be financially astute in the long run, but, that's a difficult sell to the here-and-now world we live in.

Pappy

[Iron Shiek]

Completely agree with you Pap. I'd rather see the "best" the NFL has to offer on the field week in and week out.