The Good and the Bad of NFL Preseason

by LadyD

It’s that time of year when football fans turn in to impatient little boys constantly waiting for the guys on NFL live to mention their team’s name and predict good things for the season. Any compliment of their team is taken as complete truth, whereas criticism is quickly followed with “that guy has no idea what he’s talking about”. I must say, the NFL is smart, too smart.

They know excitement is building and they work it, like dangling a steak just out of the drooling bulldogs reach. NFL fans have been given appetizer after appetizer - the combine, the draft, the minicamps, the training camps - they are ready for the main course. Give those men some steaks already! So as the anticipation mounts and August finally arrives, what does the NFL do? They tear off the tiniest piece of the steak, you know the piece that falls off while it’s grilling, and give it to them, calling it the preseason.

The preseason brings satisfaction for about 1 week. You see the problem is that teams use the preseason as practice for starters and tryouts for the non-starting players. The main idea of the preseason is to see what you’ve got without getting anyone hurt. It doesn’t mean very much whether you win or lose, at least that’s what the losers say. The preseason is just a glorified appetizer by which to predict how well the main course will be.

The NFL, being as smart as they are, creates two big climactic starts of the season: the first preseason game and the first regular season game. The first preseason game is called the Hall of Fame Game, which this year is New Orleans Saints vs Pittsburgh Steelers. This game is held the same weekend as the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s induction ceremony in Canton, OH, on August 5th . It’s usually a big to-do. After 6 months of watching NFL-replay and old news highlights, it’s just so exciting to see real-life football being played. Another interesting preseason game will be the Super Bowl rematch August 20th when the Chicago Bears go to Indianapolis. Each team plays 4 preseason games (except the two teams in the Hall of Fame game play 5). Each year a debate comes up whether or not 4 weeks of preseason is too long because of the possibility of players getting hurt. Either way, the preseason is fast approaching so it’s time to brush up on your football knowledge. Until then, enjoy watching the men’s mouths water during NFL live.

- LadyD from www.ladydsports.com (the sports site for women)