Want to argue about the NFL? Let's go ...

NFL Out-Does MLB Once Again

	AP

Not that it really needed it, but the NFL put more distance between itself and Major League Baseball this week as America's top sport. Everything the NFL does these days turns to gold, while MLB can't seem to get anything right.

Let's look at how the leagues handle the major issues:

Steroids

While performance-enhancing drugs are threatening the very core of baseball, there is barely a whisper about steroids in the NFL. I guess that means the NFL's tests have worked and there are no illegal drugs in the sport. Phew.

If an NFL star was caught doing steroids, would anyone really care? For some reason, people seem willing to give football players a pass. An excerpt from Game of Shadows, which appeared in this week's issue of Sports Illustrated mentioned NFL players were connected to steroid king Victor Conte and no one seems to care. Maybe that's because the NFL doesn't have cherished individual records like baseball. Or the fact most football players not named Terrell Owens or Randy Moss make an effort with the media.

International Play

Even one of the NFL's most notable failures, its inability to spread the sport throughout the world has been a blessing in disguise. Now it's the only major sport the rest of the world can't kick our butt in.

America's loss to Canada in the World Baseball Classic on Wednesday accentuated all the shortcomings in Major League Baseball. Team USA's bloated, Yankees-filled roster isn't easy to root for. Who wouldn't pull for Matt Stairs and Jason Bay over overpaid bores like Alex Rodriguez and Ken Griffey Jr.

Meanwhile, I'd like to see an international team consisting of 12 kickers and Canadian-born quarterback Jesse Palmer try take on the Americans. USA! USA! USA!

Parity

The common perception is the NFL has parity and MLB doesn't. Meanwhile, the NFL has actually had a dynasty lately while a new team has won the World Series every year this decade. Nevertheless, the NFL is perceived as a league where anyone can win. Some pundits have ripped it for that unpredictability, but you can't argue with how much the popularity of the league in the salary-cap era. Fairly or not, the opposite perception exists in baseball. The annual mid-season firesales are pathetic and for many cities the sport is dead by the All-Star Break.

Style of Play

NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue said it best in an SI article which appeared in January: "Baseball doesn't test anything but your ability to withstand boredom." Even if you have issues with NFL officiating or sloppy play, admit you have to tune in every Sunday. How many people actually sit and watch an entire three-hour baseball game on television? It's not easy when you're rooting for one of the teams and it's virtually impossible if you're not.

I could go on praising the NFL and ripping baseball, but it's almost too easy at this point. Let me know what you think of where the sports are headed.

-- Andrew Perloff

Baseball is America's past-time, and the key word there is past. As much as baseball and its fans would like to think, it isn't America's sport. Baseball is the past and football is the future.
-- Scott Davidek , Pittsburgh, Pa.

What's baseball?
P.S. When does training camp open for football again?
-- Tim , Woodbridge, Va.

Baseball is America's past-time, and the key word there is past. As much as baseball and its fans would like to think, it isn't America's sport. Baseball is the past and football is the future.
-- Scott Davidek , Pittsburgh

I think it goes a little beyond that. Everything football has done well involves cooperation. A true spirit of working together exists between labor and management. We never see that in any industry right now -- airlines, baseball, autos. The NFL has done an excellent job selling its image to its players. The players, owners, and officials all recognize that none of them are bigger than the game. When an athlete goes over the line (T.O.), no one supports him. In baseball, they just keep their mouths shut. But to be fair, I should point out that baseball is now more popular than ever before. It's not like baseball is not succeeding, it is just that baseball has many more negatives than football, all of which are visible. As long as the NFL keeps doing well, no one will catch them.
-- Justin Mallgrave , Pittsburgh

So ... the NFL has it all over MLB because football fans are either clueless (parity) or don't care (steroids)? Baseball may no longer be drawing as many eyes as the NFL, but those fans they do have are more passionate, more knowledgeabl, and more tuned in than your typical "Nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon" NFL "fan".
-- Bryan Farris , Baton Rouge, La.

I agree with your general view of the issue. No one in football is concerned that the new football teams and players have totally blown away the individual and team records of those who played in years past. The purists in baseball yearn for a level playing field when actually very little that is relevant has stayed the same -- balls, bats, stadiums, conditioning of athletes, etc. Football as a business understands that it needs to focus on putting a good product on the field and not in trying its integrity in the court of public opinion on issues which are not even particularly relevant to the game on the field. I personally would pay to see Barry Bonds play and took great pleasure out of the McGwire/Sosa HR race, and don't really feel that steroids played a role in anything other than the long term health of the individuals involved, which in this country -- last I looked -- was their business and theirs alone.
-- Rey More , Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

The NFL is not pure-as-the-driven-snow asportrayedd in Andrew Perloff's column. The length of games is now closer to 3 1/2 hours and moving toward four hours due to the increasing number of television commercials. They disrupt the flow of the game, stall momentum and make it hard for viewers to engage completely in the telecast.
-- Chet , Chandler, Ariz.

I could not disagree more. Between mediocrity (oops ... "parity") and lousy officiating football has become a bore. At least people talk about the game when reminiscing about a World Series, unlike the Super Bowl where the commercials and boring half-time shows are more memorable than the game itself.
-- Wade , New York

No question, just some comments. I don't think there is any question about the NFL being more popular than baseball. And even though it has a lot to do with the leadership of the leagues, the main point is that football is much more exciting to watch than baseball. Period. Think about it ... a casual sports fan or even someone who doesn't watch sports could sit down and watch a complete football game, but I dont see that happening in relation to baseball games. You have to like and understand the game of baseball to watch it, in order to get past the boredom, where with football the excitement of the game allows anyone to watch a football game.
-- James , Boston

They're right when the call baseball America's past-time. It may have been the favorite sport decades ago but nothing is more American than football.
-- Kevin Barlow , Hyrum, Utah

Baseball needs to do what NFL has done and I will not support it until there is parity. Who cares which ball club is richer?
-- Bob , Pittsburgh

I think you are absolutely correct. And I think most anyone can see that difference by looking at the two commissioners of the NFL and MLB. At the bewitching hour for the NFL, PT pulled the owners together, gave a resounding speech on the importance of keeping this thing going and basically just made it happen. What did Selig do in the same circumstance? Pretty much what he's doing now. Nuttin' Honey!
-- Wil Gibbs , Scottsdale, Ariz.

The NFL's massive popularity over other leagues has less to do with great business management and more with the following two elements:
1)Gambling. Like it or not, this is the game that brings out the bets. People develop a closer relationship with the sport because it relates to their hobbey (or career).
2) The religious cult atmosphere. The league plays one day a week (sans a Monday night game) where the fans partake in rituals of eating, drinking and celebrating their heroes.
-- Jersey Pete , South River, N.J.

The perceptions are there and even though baseball has made strides in competitive balance, the sycophants who cover the NFL will never cop to that. Really it is all perception. The NFL is perceived to have parity, although the Patriots should be favored to win every Super Bowl as long as Tom Brady is playing and Belichick is coaching. The NFL is perceived to not have a drug problem, although if that were true, then nobody would be getting caught, and furthermore Bill Romanowski would never have gotten through an entire career. Baseball is doing fine, but as long as there is gambling and fantasy football, the NFL will always have a leg up.
-- Sriram Krishnan, Norwell, Mass.

Both football and baseball are great sports. The problem with baseball is they play 162 games while the NFL only plays 16. Its a lot easier to watch 16 three hour games than 162. Once baseball cuts back on its schedule it just may draw a little more interest.
-- Brian Mueller , Lake Zurich, Ill.

I agree with most of what you've written but one thing that bugs me is that there is too much parity in the NFL, which leads to mediocrity. Which would you rather watch, a Game 7 ALCS battle between the Yanks and the Sox or another Super Bowl between the Seahawks and the Steelers? Though I'm a huge football fan (prefer football any day over baseball), I would still watch the Game 7 rather than a dull Super Bowl between two mediocre teams.
-- Sathish Jayakumar , Chennai, India

Less is more: 16 games vs. 162. You watch a football game all the way through because there just aren't that many and you can only watch them on certain days of the week. Each game is more likely to matter. Say I miss a baseball/basketball/hockey game. So what? My team will still only be a game or two back with 40 to go and there will be another game tomorrow night. Wake me up when the playoffs start. Or not. Whatever.
-- Kirk , Austin, Texas

I think you are right on the mark with your analysis of why the NFL is light years ahead of MLB. I think one other thing that affects fans' thinking on this subject is the saturation factor. The NFL is (basically) one day a week of wall to wall action and six days of anticipating the next one day of wall to wall action. And it is over in 20 or so weeks leaving us the rest of the year to anticipate the coming year. Baseball is seven days a week for approximately 4,890 days a year, or roughly three-quarters of the NBA season. Its all about making people always crave more of your product, something the NFL has always been a master of.
-- Doug Johnson , Franklin, N.C.

The great thing about being a Royals (or Devil Rays, or Rockies or Reds) fan is that there is always hope that they can make it above .500 this year. Maybe one year we'll make the series. Maybe not.
-- Lee Elrod , Greensboro, N.C.

The great thing about being a Royals (or Devil Rays, or Rockies or Reds) fan is that there is always hope that they can make it above .500 this year. Maybe one year we'll make the series. Maybe not.
-- Lee Elrod , Greensboro, N.C.

I wish there was a salary cap in baseball, so the yankees would turn into the Knicks of baseball.
-- Wash , Oakland, Calif.

My sons -- who are video gamers -- feel the same thing about football: boring. They would rather PLAY Madden than WATCH a Super Bowl.
-- Joe Garbarino , Cannon Falls, Minn.

Baseball benefits from being played when doing nothing else happens. If baseball was played during the fall and winter and had to compete with the NFL and the NBA, MLB would fall apart.
-- Andrew , New York

Take away fantasy football, gambling, and booze and tell me you want to watch the Saints play The Cardinals?
-- Jim Smith , Cleveland

As for Paul Tagliabue's comment that baseball is boring ... football is worse. A play, running or passing, lasts for five seconds, then the whistle blows and everyone stands around for three minutes, then five more seconds of play and more standing around. What I never understood is why a football game, with a playing time of one hour takes three hours to play.
-- Tom , Sudbury, Ontario

First, Kirk from Austin hit the nail on the head when he mentioned the number of games. The wait list to get a live-game ticket for most NFL teams takes more years than my nephew has lived! Supply and demand ... Also, each game counts more, so every moment is precious. Furthermore, the characters in football are, well, more interesting than the pansies in MLB. I'm sorry, but I am actually entertained by football players' personalities as compared to baseball players' (lack thereof).
-- Ron , Boston

In the NFL, any team in a given year has the opportunity to go to the playoffs. In baseball, it is the teams who spend the most money, with the rare exception. The NFL is far and above the most popular sport in America.
-- Brad , Independence, Ky.

Football is better than baseball in their playoff system alone. Football doesn't need 7 games to decide a winner. You have one game, you play all out, and you leave it on the field. Football is a team sport, no "no hitters" or walk off home runs.
-- Joey , Spring, Texas

I love pro football, but I hate the NFL. It is the most arrogant, money grabbing organization there is. Personally, I would have liked to see a work stoppage if only to see Tagliabue get knocked down a few pedestals. Tell me this, Andrew: if the NFL is so great, why did they put the NFL Sunday Ticket exclusively on DirecTV instead of giving it to digital cable as well? I'll tell you: money. God forbid the NFL looks out for its fans. All that deal did is keep people like me from getting the package because I cannot get the dish. I can get the MLB, NBA, and NHL packages, however, if I so desire. So chalk at least one thing up for baseball.
-- Tom , Westlake Village, Calif.

How can anyone decry parity in football when they watch the "made to order" billion-dollar Yankees play the "little league" $20 million Devil Rays.
-- Joey , Houston

Football is the best game ever. Period. And thanks to the excellent work of the NFL's front office, it will stay that way forever and ever and ever. Baseball tests your patience. Why sit through game 192 (I forget how many there are now), and watch the Yankees, who got more money than some governments, take on the Devil Rays, who can barely afford bottom-of-the-barrel players, when I could watch the Colts take on the Pats or play a great game of Madden? Bottom line is that baseball should be called BOREball.
-- Max , San Diego