The end of the summer has meant one thing for me during the past few years. Without fail, there has come a time each August or September when I have no choice but to give up on my hope that the Mets will make one last push for a playoff spot. At this point, I begin to prepare myself for another exciting football season. Like millions of Americans, I start following the preseason progress and injury reports of my team as well as those of the other 31. Of course, there is also the much anticipated fantasy football draft, which has become a staple for many football fans during the last decade.
This summer, however, poses a unique problem for fans of all bad baseball teams and of football teams in general. The building excitement, hours of fantasy research and finally the season itself are all in serious jeopardy. The NFL and NFLPA have yet to agree to terms for a new collective bargaining agreement, and despite NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's self-inflicted salary cut - from about $10 million to $1 until the situation is solved - no end is in sight. The NFL remains mired in an unprecedented lockout which, in all likelihood, will extend through what otherwise would be the 2011-12 NFL season.
So what should we do with our 17 free Sundays and a January without playoff football? For starters, we all can do a little more homework each weekend during the upcoming fall semester. Maybe the Virginia football team and its top 25 recruiting class will surprise us all next year with a .500 record or better and a trip to a bowl game. During Thanksgiving, we actually will be forced to converse with our family members rather than partake in one of America's most celebrated traditions. At least for me, waking up Sunday mornings and not hearing the sweet yet coarse sound of Chris Berman's voice will be scarier than Ray Lewis at a Super Bowl after-party.
An equally intriguing question is how the NFL players will be spending the football-less season. They train day in and day out to play for their diehard fans each Sunday, and that enviable employment opportunity may soon be taken from them. But fear not, giants of the gridiron - to ease the sting of the looming locked-out season, I came up with some ideas for how a few NFL players and coaches should spend the next year.
Reggie Bush should return to the college ranks and play for his alma mater, USC. The Trojans certainly could use his enviable skill set after they squeezed past Virginia by a paltry three points last year. I figure USC should have no problem creating a loophole which allows Bush to play for the team this year even though he does not have amateur status - after all, he was already a professional player when he attended the school in the past.
Chad Ochocinco may have earned a reserve spot on Kansas City's MLS team, Sporting Kansas City, but I have bigger plans for the Cincinnati wideout than f
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