It's like this.  The NFL is Pavlov.  We're the dogs.

The NFL has been #1 in sports for so long we've stopped paying attention to the product on the field.  It's the football, it's the NFL, it's the Cowboys, it's the Patroits.  They ring the bell, we drool.  What's not to like?

A lot.

Start with corporate greed.  The same guys who were too poor to build their own stadiums now want you to pay a buck apiece for the NFL Network.  If they get their way the cable TV giants put it on their basic package.

How's this for lose-lose?  The NFL Network doesn't get on basic cable.  You lose, for example this Thursday night when the Cowboys and Packers square off to see who is number one in the NFC.  The game won't be on at your house unless you've got the NFL Network package.  The NFL Network does make basic cable.  You lose.  You are now paying $12 a year more to watch a few extra games each season.  Even customers with no interest in the NFL have to pay.

And what are we watching?  The worst NFL games in a long time thanks to the salary cap.

When the cap came in the league said it was for our benefit.  We would have "parity" and fans in every city throughout the league could expect their team to make it to the playoffs every couple of years. 

It's not happening.

Seven teams are at 7-3 or better.  Thirteen have 4 wins or less.  The AFC West is lead by two teams with 5-5 records.  Six teams that won their division last year have a combined record of 28-32.  Most NFL games involving Payton Manning, Tom Brady, Brett Favre, or Tony Romo look like touch football.  The rest of the games don't look like much of anything at all.

The salary cap means teams can't keep offensive and defensive lines together.  It means defenses are constantly working in new starters.  It means a lack of continuity and a lower quality of play.  It means Tom Brady playing catch with Randy Moss every weekend and the Jets getting noticed for what the guys at Gate D are up to.  It means pariocrity.

It also means if you're an Atlanta Falcons or Arizona Cardinals fan you can't look to free agency for help.  The rules are rigged so free agents don't move.  The only movement is by players who are cut to save cap space.  Players who were useful parts of their teams.  Players who might make a difference.  Players who could help build the kind of great teams the NFL used to have.

You want suspense?  Wait for FOX to name the robot.  Otherwise, forget it.  The AFC championship is going to be the Patriots against the Colts.  In the NFC it's the Cowboys against either the Packers or Giants.  Everybody else can climb out of the pool and dry off.  The party is over.

You want a running game?  Sorry, no can do.  Of the top 10 rushers in the league only 2 are averaging more than 4.3 yards a carry.  Felt sorry for Thomas Jones of the Jets yesterday when he got stuffed for 40 yards on 17 attempts?  Well, that was the #8 rusher in all of pro football.

You want hitting?  You can't handle hitting.  Or, I should say the NFL thinks your quarterback can't handle hitting.  There are so many rules against contact with the quarterback soon there will be a restraining order taken out to prevent pre-game handshakes. 

The NFL wants you to sit back and pop a nice cold can of whatever their advertisers are selling.  Watch the bimbettes on the sidelines, but remember the NFL respects women and deplores what went on at Gate D.  Understand that guys like PacMan Jones won't be tolerated, and then sit back and watch steroid abusers play in the Pro Bowl.

Buy some logo merchandise, but don't ask where or how it was made.  Cancel your cable subscription, or at least threaten to, so you can pay extra for games you don't want to see.  Renew your seat rights for next year so you don't miss a thrilling minute of the pre season games you pay full price for and don't want to attend. 

Tip your hat to the Commissar.  Clap at the circus and smile for the cameras. 

You paid for it.