I'm a Football Junkie and Need My Football Fix

Finally it looks like by the end of the week there will be an agreement between NFL Players and Owners to end the lockout.  Once the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is approved, players will be starting camp and the NFL season will start on time.

I am not one to care much about the finer points of the CBA, they all make to much money and no one is going to starve playing in the NFL.  As a fan I need and want my football.  Even though it is only July, once the CBA is signed fans will enjoy the frenzy of the free agent market and seeing who their teams will sign.  The Seahawks have a huge hole to fill at quarterback, they need to either re-sign Hasselbeck, make a trade or look at the free agent market?

This will have me hooked on the local sports blogs and sports talk radio shows for the latest updates on player signings. With so many free agents hitting the market at once it will be fun to see where they all end up. 

Including the Three Stooges of Wide Receivers: Plaxico Burress who shot himself in the leg and was released from jail during the off season, Terrell Owens who use to be a team distraction, has quieted down the last few seasons but is at the end of his career at 37 and Randy Moss who thanks to his outburst spent last season with three different teams.  There is talk of Plaxico going to the Eagles; he would then be playing with Michael Vick.  Would that then qualify the Eagles for a tax break for hiring ex-cons?

I knew I would have College football to fill the void if the NFL season did not start on time.  College football is a nice warm up for the NFL and they even have some overpaid players of their own.  I can catch College games on Thursday and Friday nights and then all day Saturday as the lead in to NFL Sunday with dessert being Monday Night Football (MNF). 

For me as a football junkie the season will start once the CBA is in place.  Watching where free agents land, the start up of training camp, seeing what players come back in top form and which players may have lost a step.  Then along comes the pre-season games and keeping my fingers cross that no key players get injured.  Fantasy Football Leagues will be starting and fans will be getting ready to make their weekly football picks.

Labor Day weekend is the last hurrah for camping but is also the opening of the College football season.  With the following weekend being the first full weekend of both College and Pro football.  Once the season has started you have all week for Monday morning quarterbacking, sports analysis on what teams did right or wrong and the highlights of the amazing plays from the past weekend.

I finally wised up a few years ago and now take Monday and Tuesday off after the NFL opening weekend.  This allows me to catch the early game on MNF and when I stay up late to watch the second MNF game, I know I can sleep in on Tuesday.  I have also learned not to allow my daughter to take a dance class that ends the same time as most MNF games. (Sorry Tabitha for picking you up late a few times last season, especially that OT game.)

I know it is only July but I am ready for football!