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Mike I actually applauded in my car on my way to work and said several "amens" when you were addressing this on the air this morning. The integrity of the league is destroyed. There aren't enough tourniquets to stop the bleeding that is going on now. And the NFL could care less about everything. In fact, they LOVE that they have completely screwed everything up! It's just going to increase viewership and those viewers are just hoping to witness another screwup at the hands of the officials and in hopes of seeing the outcome of a game determined by a bad call. Fans can do all their boycotts they want. The fact is, the NFL knows that fans are a bunch of suckers and they know that no matter what happens, fans will be back. Have you heard ANYONE say "I will no longer watch the NFL?" No you have not because people WILL keep watching! All the NFL cares about are their corporate sponsorships and TV ratings. If they lose viewers, all they can say is "psssh, so what." The owners get paid, the players get paid and contracts will still be signed. And yes, fans will still get their butts in seats and those TVs tuned in. I would love to say that I will not be tuning in to any games in Week 4 and beyond. But me being a long time viewer and fan of the NFL, I know I'll be doing what many many millions of people will also be doing and tuning in.

So I'm late to this topic discussion but I just had to comment that the position is 100% accurate. I've felt for years now that the NFL doesn't give too craps about me. I haven't been able to afford going to a Bronco game for 5 years now. I stopped buying "souvenirs" long ago. Last time I went to a Bronco game was about 5 years ago. Even then the price of a beer stunned me! Now it's a joke. And yet, people buy them. Not me. I don't buy Bronco anything anymore because the prices are so ridiculous. I would love to buy a Manning jersey, I even went shopping for one recently but was knocked on my backside by the prices! For me, $100 for shirt is so out there it leaves me speachless, and my income is well over the average. I just refused to get raped simply because I can "afford" it. I could see $50 for a jersey and at that price point, they're still making a healthy profit margin. But it's not just the NFL. I've noticed since the economy tanked that a lot of companies are focusing their sales efforts on the so-called 1% ers. Companies now seem more than eager to sacrifice sales (revenue) volume for fast and very high profit margins. As a sales guy myself, I watch the market trends with deep interest. Businesses are making a conscious and intentional move to sell to high income people exclusively. While I see very few examples of targeting the middle class with quality products at reasonable prices and still respectable profit margins, there is a market being ignored there. This will change eventually, but currently it feels like all the focus is on the quick sale/profit that can be achieved by selling to the wealthy. The problem is, there isn't enough people at that level to sustain 99% of the businesses for the long term. At the moment though, many, many businesses seem to be willing to risk failure to win over a large enough segment of those people who will throw money away. In the meantime, I have made a very conscious decision to reward businesses who treat me fairly, and provide good service with my loyalty. They don't have to have a loyalty card or program. Just make me feel like they value my business, and give me a fair deal. I have found very few companies willing to do that, but the ones that have I tell them about it personally. And I write about them on Yelp! to help them get the exposure they deserve. Millionaires and Billionaires will continue to do what they do, I won't change that. But I can help local or regional companies do better when they treat me with respect and provide value rather than making me feel like the next "mark". I don't spend any money on the NFL, NBA, or companies that leave me feeling molested after dealing with them.