Life without the NFL

As the passing reader may remember, I am boycotting the NFL because they rewarded the evil dog-killer Michael Vick with millions of dollars. Business and stupid fan loyalty has allowed this to happen.

Well, I won't have any part of it.

I have avoided any television and radio broadcast of the NFL this year. Withdrawal, as you might imagine, isn't difficult, especially with the panoply of college games on the boob tube. I enjoy football, I enjoy watching the plays and the strategy unfold, and I find the college game to be more rewarding than the pro version.

For many decades, college football was the only game in town. The pro league was an afterthought watched by dozens of fans every year. I don't know why it changed; I suppose a case of severe laziness on the part of Americans. Not only can they watch college football on Saturday, but they can (if they support dog-killers) watch the pro version on Sunday, Sunday night and Monday night.

I have to confess I enjoyed watching the pro version if my team, the San Francisco 49ers, were playing. The 1980s teams with Joe Montana were almost all-consuming on Sundays. If I were going to be out of town (I used to hike on Sundays frequently), I'd tape the game, every last game.

I must say I don't miss the pro version at all. The 'crutch' of college football has helped ease my withdrawal, and, to be fair about it, the pro version only lasts five or six months of the year anyway. So I've had to suffer the withdrawal every year for six months, anyway.

And there is always baseball. Baseball is the best game to listen to on the radio. You don't have to watch the plays, since there is only one or two players involved in most plays (unlike football where there are 22 players on the field, most of the time). And baseball lasts seven months, plus there are the exhibition games when it's also fun to listen to. Baseball is kind of boring to watch on television; radio or live is the best.

All in all, let the NFL celebrate dog torturers and play with their over-paid players, over-paid coaching staff, and maniacal owners fiddle around with their delusions of grandeur. I'm not part of it, anymore.