It's back! Gotta get that...N-F-L.
Andy Buss
Issue date: 9/10/09 Section: Sports
Tim McGraw is quite possible the most decorated and well-known country singer in the nation. The Black Eyed Peas are back on top of their game and topping charts week after week with new hit singles. (yes, this is a sports column.)
And yes, the game tonight is exactly that - a game, a sporting event. Or is it? With Tim McGraw and the Black Eyed Peas headlining the pre-game entertainment on NBC's season kickoff Thursday night football, the build-up and hoopla surrounding the game resembles more a holiday celebration. Then again, let's be honest, it is a holiday - a national holiday.
Football is back! The NFL once again begins another unpredictable and thoroughly tantalizing season! What is it that has this country absolutely hooked on football? More people watch the Super Bowl - and its commercials - than vote for our president… or American Idol.
It must be a big deal. Of the four major professional sports; hockey, baseball, basketball and football; the NFL is running away from the pack. ESPN refuses to take its daily "NFL Live" show off the air five days a week during the offseason because somehow, someway people soak it up.
But wait, Michael Vick kills dogs. Pacman Jones shoots people. Shawne Merriman beats his girlfriend. And the Cincinnati Bengals do all of that and more. So how does the sport and the league survive these, what seem like irreparable hits on their collective image?
Well let's see. Baseball can't kick the dark cloud of steroids hanging over the entire sport because the league insists on hanging on to the list of those caught testing positive and not letting the names out. It's clear fans don't know who to trust. McGwire? Sosa? Clemens? Bonds? Surely Ramirez. Who's next? Not to mention the MLB is yet to stumble on a satisfactory and fair salary cap sort of system so the absurdity of the Yankees' payroll, and large-market teams like them, can stop winning championships over well-drafted and well-nurtured clubs.
And yes, the game tonight is exactly that - a game, a sporting event. Or is it? With Tim McGraw and the Black Eyed Peas headlining the pre-game entertainment on NBC's season kickoff Thursday night football, the build-up and hoopla surrounding the game resembles more a holiday celebration. Then again, let's be honest, it is a holiday - a national holiday.
Football is back! The NFL once again begins another unpredictable and thoroughly tantalizing season! What is it that has this country absolutely hooked on football? More people watch the Super Bowl - and its commercials - than vote for our president… or American Idol.
It must be a big deal. Of the four major professional sports; hockey, baseball, basketball and football; the NFL is running away from the pack. ESPN refuses to take its daily "NFL Live" show off the air five days a week during the offseason because somehow, someway people soak it up.
But wait, Michael Vick kills dogs. Pacman Jones shoots people. Shawne Merriman beats his girlfriend. And the Cincinnati Bengals do all of that and more. So how does the sport and the league survive these, what seem like irreparable hits on their collective image?
Well let's see. Baseball can't kick the dark cloud of steroids hanging over the entire sport because the league insists on hanging on to the list of those caught testing positive and not letting the names out. It's clear fans don't know who to trust. McGwire? Sosa? Clemens? Bonds? Surely Ramirez. Who's next? Not to mention the MLB is yet to stumble on a satisfactory and fair salary cap sort of system so the absurdity of the Yankees' payroll, and large-market teams like them, can stop winning championships over well-drafted and well-nurtured clubs.
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