College football does not.
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.
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).
! is there something I don’t know?
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.
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?