Adding A 17th Game Makes Sense

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is attempting to put another stamp on his era as commissioner by bringing up the idea of a 17th game. Goodell wants to galvanize fans and owners alike, because doing so is beneficial to both sides. For the owners, they get another game to charge tickets for revenue. For fans, they get another game to buy tickets at regular season-priced tickets. Goodell, who has already left an impression on the NFL with his hardball stance against badboy trouble makers in the league, now is trying to appease both sides of the fence. Goodell would delete one of the worthless four pre-season games and start the NFL season earlier. I just love the idea of having the NFL season start earlier! If a 17th game is added, the ninth home game would alternate between the conferences every other year. The roadblock to this is Gene Upshaw, the NFL Players Association executive director. He said that the association would never agree to add a 17th game unless the players got paid for it. Is this guy out of his mind? I mean, if Goodell is trying to galvanize the fanbase, Upshaw is trying to sunder it. What a ridiculous, greedy, outrageous comment to make. It's prime time for the NFL, and all professional sports leagues, to finally put the fans on the top of the list. Ticket prices are rising, gas to get to the game is out of this world high, and player salaries are reaching a ceiling never hit before. We're worried that the normal guys are going to be priced out. Yet, that doesn't seem to resonate with Upshaw, and considering his job title, we understand that it doesn't have to, really. But the game is no longer an option for this guy. Even my credit card jumped the reward for free Cowboys tickets from 15,000 points to 25,000 points in one year. I've had the card for 5 years and I just reached 15,000 points, so I was pretty excited to get free tickets to a Cowboys game. That excitement drowned in disappointment when I saw the increase. Goodell has the right idea. But the NFL, as a whole, is losing its mission and it is leaving the fans behind in the dust. Can Goodell clean this mess up?