Fans with tickets are losers in NFL’s flex scheduling
Flex scheduling will be great for the vast majority of NFL fans.  Obviously, NBC is making out big; they’re hand picking games to air just about a couple weeks before the set date.  Ratings should double down the stretch.  Could you imagine, for example, watching a Dolphins-Browns game in late December?  Instead, we’ll get to see that big Patriots-Broncos showdown.  Fans with tickets to those games are getting ####, though.  If you had tickets to this week’s Giants-Bears game in the Meadowlands, you were planning on leaving the stadium late in the afternoon and, depending on where you lived, getting home early enough to still get 8 hours of sleep for Monday morning’s workday.  Instead, you’ll be getting to the game about same time you were expecting to be home, and you had almost no reaction time to change your plans since the announcement was just made days ago.  If you were flying to New York from Chicago, now your flight leaves at 8:30pm even though the game starts at 8:00.  The selfish bigwigs in charge at the networks should take into consideration the fan’s, player’s, coach’s, and other related individual’s travel arrangements.  I was personally affected by a short notice change of start time back in late October 2001.  Due to a postponement of games stemming from the September 11 terrorist attacks, an ESPN Sunday Night game was to be played at the same time as Game 7 of the World Series.  Of course, Fox nor ESPN could have this, so the Chiefs-Colts game to which I held tickets was moved to Thursday night.  In addition to unexpectedly missing 2 days of school and work that I would not have otherwise missed, I had to fork over $245 to the travel agency change my flight and hotel arrangements on short notice in order to attend the game.  As long as flex scheduling is in place, I will never purchase tickets to any NFL game past Week 7.

Branch’s MVP trophy means little in 2006

The constant and annoying introduction of Deion Branch as a former Super Bowl MVP needs to stop immediately.  Branch is a talented receiver but the fact that he had one good game nearly two years ago does not make him one of the greatest receivers in recent history.  Nor does it require that sports announcers still remind us of it all this time later.  Get over it folks.

Let Barber do what feels right for him

Let’s clear the air with Giant’s RB Tiki Barber.  His “premature” retirement following this current NFL season is big news.  Barber is seemingly in the prime of his career and he’s one of the top 5 RBs in the game currently.  But who in the hell are we to question his motivation and commitment to the New York Giants?  Michael Irvin and Tom Jackson in particular should shut up and analyze football games, not individual player’s personal off-field decisions.  We don’t know what is going on in Barber’s head or how his body deals with the week-to-week pounding.  Barber and his brother Rhonde are significant players in multiple charitable organizations and Tiki has a wife and two college aged sons.  I would love to be able to retire at the age of 31 and spend my remaining years with my family and I revere him for being able to do so.