Bucs, Blackouts and Sticking It to the Common Man

Looks like we are off to a repeat of last year's Bucs television blackouts. The NFL started the policy back in 1973 requiring the blackout, if games are not sold out 72 hours in advance.

Admittedly, I am not a diehard football fan, but in this economy I think the rule really stinks. Like most of the major sports leagues, the NFL is all about money and really very little about the game.

With all of the NFL chestbeating about fans and civic involvement, you would think they would take a look at the blackout rule and make some adjustments.

Most of us are not living by the same rules we were living with in 1973. If you step back a bit and observe,  it seems the NFL is as much about cattle herding as it is about football. Cram fans into a pen, (a stadium), harvest their money and shove them out the door.  

If you don't move along, you get the ultimate cattle prod: the dreaded blackout. I don't know about you, but the threat of a blackout does little to motivate me to pay an outrageous ticket price to sit in a way-too-small seat, drink an overpriced beer and eat a poor excuse for bar food.

The guy who loves football and is a loyal fan may be upside down on his mortgage, full up on his credit cards and unemployed. Stick it to this guy, NFL. Take away his home team games on TV. Crush that one opportunity for him to sit with his kids and enjoy some family time watching football.

When he finally gets his personal house in order and he can barely afford those overpriced tickets, he'll be right back in the stadium, because he has always been more loyal to you than you have ever been to him.