# Do we really need preseason football? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 13, 2010, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-preseason-football/550112 "2010-08-13T02:51:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-preseason-football/550112/21 "2010-08-16T19:58:20Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Players need to practice under game conditions. Thus, all sports have preseason games that don’t count in the standings. Baseball is honest about it – they call them exhibition games. College football does not. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-preseason-football/550112/22 "2010-08-16T20:03:34Z")
I think that a 2-preseason, 18-regular season format is inevitable and probably in the works for 2011 (assuming that we actually have a 2011 season). Money drives football. I think charging full-price for preseason tickets is heinous. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-preseason-football/550112/23 "2010-08-16T20:18:44Z")
> [@furt](#): > > > [@RealityChuck](#): > > > > Players need to practice under game conditions. Thus, all sports have preseason games that don’t count in the standings. Baseball is honest about it – they call them exhibition games. > > College football does not. No, but the top teams usually start out against easily beaten cupcakes, so it’s the same as a scrimmage. Florida State, to pick one, starts out the season playing Samford College, a school with about 5000 students (FSU accepts twice that number each freshman class). ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-preseason-football/550112/24 "2010-08-17T19:56:22Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > (assuming that we actually have a 2011 season). ! is there something I don’t know? ---
**Author:** ![Enuma\_Elish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Enuma\_Elish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enuma_Elish)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-preseason-football/550112/25 "2010-08-17T20:14:34Z")
Speaking as a fan, I have noticed that my armchair quarterbacking skills get rusty in the off-season. I need a few pre-season games (I think 3 would be fine - then add another bye week into the season just to mess with the fantasy football players!) to hone my critiquing skills. If I say something completely outrageous about my team in the pre-season, it soon gets forgotten - because the games don’t count. But if I say something craaaazy in the regular season, my friends may never forget it. So, as a fan who probably loves my team too much, I need a few weeks adjustment time. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-preseason-football/550112/26 "2010-08-17T20:55:59Z")
> [@JSexton](#): > > ! is there something I don’t know? Do a google search on “nfl 2011 lockout”. Right now, it’s pretty much a coin toss if we’ll be watching pro football 13 months from now. But hey, biggest fricking sport in the country – why _not_ give that golden goose a nice punch in the beak? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-really-need-preseason-football/550112.md?page=1)