Take the cited Santanio Holmes touchdown as an example.  Instead of an official making a call on the field, we were subject to minutes of review which broadcasters fill with speculation if there was a hair-width of space between one foot and the ground.  It was obvious to me that the official made the best call with the visual information available and the time on the review was unnecessary.  Since this was not a blatant blown or missed call by an official, the review process actually suppresses the celebration as well as delaying it.  I appreciate my memories pre-replay of many touchdowns scored late or last minute goals where you knew it counted if it was not immediately waved off.  I would not trade catches waved off or goals disallowed for teams I supported if it meant replacing it with a long drawn out review process.

Regarding The Atlantic article on NFL broadcasts, it shows to many Canadians the NFL broadcast production is not just about the quantity of cameras, technology and money they throw at it.  The whole televison crews are specialists for broadcasting football, from the camera operators to directors to the commentators.  Using all specialists for their broadcasts is easy not just because of the money in the television contracts, but because of the economies of scale.  In Canada, in an eight to ten team league, and one or two broadcasters you are not going to to see the hours of coverage needed to develop specialists.  It shows in the camera work and direction of CFL games.  It was worse when the CBC had the broadcast rights as their camera operators from across the country would work across all kinds of genres, from sports to news.  Hockey on the other hand does not require as much skill to broadcast.  Nothing has worked better than the pan up and down the ice method that has been in use since the first televised hockey broadcast over 50 years ago.

The Super Bowl is notorious for producing less-than-entertaining games yet the hoopla and growth continue to rise.  The ability to market the day to the masses and attract viewers who have little interest in the NFL during the season is commendable from a marketing perspective.  The game has become so secondary however, and that can not be good for the sport.  A number of people asked me if I was watching the Super Bowl this year.  When I replied negatively and they positively, I inquired to their reasons since many were non-NFL fans, if not non-sports fans.  The resounding answer was the commercials.  Really, the commercials.  Now I view commercials like the flu, something to avoid.  Commercials have become despicable in their methods in manipulating people’s thoughts about what they need, which has led to some of the issues we are facing now.  Some people don’t see commercials as such (even arguing the whole economy would collapse without them) and find entertainment in them.  To spend five or six hours on a Sunday to see a few 30 second clips when they could see the highlights on the news channels or YouTube the next day if they wished seems very wasteful to me.  Surely commercials are not that high on the entertainment scale.  The entertainment value of the sport has been eclipsed by just entertainment in general (and if it is on TV, it must been entertaining!).

Many of those watching the Super Bowl on television will be there for the commercials, the half-time show, the party and the approval (I’m American, Hollywood because I watched the game all the Americans, movie stars watched!) and will have no idea about the players, the teams or even how the game is played.  It has become a sad reflection on our society, and in Canada, an example of the cultural influence of the US on us.  Interest in their football championship would be one thing, but a mass audience to be spoon fed thousands of corporate messages to buy more, need more, want more is the wrong kind of cultural influence.  I think Canadians should think about what they could do with that time and not be sheep for the sake of being sheep.  The only American approval that comes with watching their biggest game is in your mind, otherwise it does not exist.  There are other days and ways to gather with friends.  You may find other ways to connect with people without the television pumping messages at you.

There have been a lot of account creations, but not as many entering the contest. I will outline the procedure in case it is not clear. First, you must create an account, which requires a valid email address (I do need to contact you if you win!). I hate spam too, so don’t worry, your email address will not be sold. After creating an account and signing in with the password emailed to you (check your spam filters), enter the contest by entering a team name, selecting the Pick ‘em Challenge contest and accepting the terms and conditions in the sidebar Contest Signup section. After you have entered the contest, a link to your entry home page will appear in the sidebar. Follow the link to see the contest status and make your picks. Not as easy as it could be; I will work on improving the flow in the future. If you have any suggestions, please leave a comment here.

Our initial free contest open to the public, cfldb.ca has graciously stepped forward to provide $150 in prizes for this contest. First place will receive a 2GB iPod Shuffle, second place a $50 Sony Store Gift Card and third place a $25 Ciniplex Gift Card. Call this our first toe in the water. The success of this contest will determine the free contests we hold in the future and the quality of the prizes.

The season starts June 26, so check out the rules, get entered today, then tell your friends. This is a public contest, so feel free to post and link to Overtime Central. In 2008, “This is Our League” is the CFL‘s new motto, so show off your CFL pride by entering our contest. You just may win a prize while you are having a good time.

Check back for the announcement of the full slate of Overtime Central 2008 CFL contests in the next week. There are some great prizes this year and I believe this will be Overtime Central’s best year yet. As always, if you have feedback, suggestions or something to get off your chest, leave a comment or use the contact address.

In Fans should be wary of Bills shuffle, Dave Perkins alerts the public over his perception of the owners-in-waiting motivations and the price for the public taxpayer while stating fan support will decide the flavour of football in Toronto. Jerry Sullivan of the Buffalo News (republished in the Toronto Star) explains why Bills fans have the right to be very worried while Garth Woolsey reports on the reaction in Buffalo. We find the Argos were less than willing partners but forced into trying to make the most out of the situation after the deal was done before they were ever informed. As details on the ticket packages are still lacking, it appears the formal announcement was meant to launch the hype with ticket package details, schedules and on-sale dates still to be determined.

From a Western perspective, Paul Friesen portrays the announcement as the CFL‘s worst nightmare. A more positive look comes from Steve Simmons in Enough fans for both CFL, NFL.

The range of issues are being covered, from the arrogance and motives of wealthy owners and oligopoly moguls to the unspoken cost to taxpayers. Most reports take the tact that either an NFL team or CFL team in Toronto will survive, and bet on the NFL team. In reality, there is nothing precluding both from being successful. While Ted Rogers and Larry Tanenbaum may now be taking a quieter approach to their long term goals to acquire a permanent NFL team for Toronto, specifically the Buffalo Bills, it is apparent that they feel they are on a clear path to that goal and only time stands in the way of that accomplishment. I believe there are a lot more hurdles to overcome both in acquiring a team and keeping it. So it is far from a certainty that these partners will every bring an NFL franchise to Toronto.

So what can someone who enjoys and supports the CFL do?

• Recognize that you can watch and enjoy both leagues if you are so inclined and that this series of games is not any reason to abandon the CFL as a dying league. The CFL will not close its doors overnight. It is a vibrant and growing league, stronger than it has been in 25-30 years.
• Support your local CFL team by attending games and support the CFL by watching the television broadcasts.
• Be vocal and passionate about the CFL. If you want to see improvements to the experience, the game or anything CFL related, let them know. If more offence, more Canadian content or local exposure is your thing, let them know. One voice may not make a difference, but a crowd of people saying the same thing is hard to ignore.

• If you have not signed up as of yet, check out the contest rules and consider giving one of them a go.
• If you have signed up and made all your picks already, consider posting on one of the contest forums.
• At the bottom of your contest page, there is an entry preferences section. You can sign up for emailed reminders, pick confirmations and status updates.
• I have noted roster moves in this forum post and have updated the draft list with some missing players now that rosters have been set. Please let me know if I am missing anyone you wish to draft.
• Pick reminder emails are being sent out tonight, a little late the first time as I was waiting for additional entries.
• There will not be any Overtime Central season or week previews this year as my time will be spent on other things.

Search for CFL Commissioner Continues

The search for a CFL commissioner has been narrowed to three or four candidates with an appointment expected by the end of March. Of interest is the revelation that one of the finalists is an American. I hope that the CFL will not go the route of the NHL with an American executive talking the helm for the sake of their US business contacts. The CFL has no need for someone to break into the US market; it is not going to happen. Instead, a candidate with a strong understanding of Canada and the uniqueness of Canadian football is needed. The desire to make this hire a long-term position also translates to not taking chances with an unconventional hire.

Window Opened on Transparency

After statements from the CFL director of salary expenditures earlier in the week claimed the Salary Management System would not be transparent to the public the CFL backtracked, with COO Michael Copeland stating public disclosure has not been determined yet. Gene Dunn, acting commissioner, said that the transparency of the system will be decided by the incoming commissioner. While publishing player salaries was raised, the league would need to come to an agreement with the CFLPA since the current labour agreement does not allow the league to publish these numbers, with the CFLPA privately sharing them with agents and players.

With the doubts raised about adherence to the cap over the lack of transparency, more claims came from those responsible that the cap will be in affect.

Rule Changes Proposed

Recommendations for rule changes from the CFL Congress will be drawn up and brought to the board of governors in April. Two major changes from last year are getting serious support for reversal in 2007. The first to revert kick blocking rules to those in place in 2005. The other change will be to switch back to a football with standard painted stripes rather than sewn in painted sections for stripes.

The CFL is supposed to have a competitive committee to look at and recommend rules changes, but there was no mention of the committee in this week’s stories. It appears the general managers are making the recommendations here and they are sticking with reverting those two changes last year to correct the scoring drought that occurred last year with both special teams and offensive touchdowns way down.

2007 Schedule Released

With team approval at the CFL Congress received, the CFL released the 2007 schedule today. A nice compromise to getting teams a bye week but eliminating the silly schedule juggling it has caused in the past (20 week seasons, long breaks with no games followed by 3 games in 12 days, and season ending byes). Instead of shutting the league down for a week, two division rivalry weeks in August, with the other division taking the bye, were drawn up. This is a fair compromise. While it does reduce the CFL‘s exposure at the end of the summer with only four games on TV over two weeks, it avoids many of the other scheduling issues that come with trying to insert byes into the schedule. I do not believe byes improve the play on the field, and should not be necessary since rosters are expanded more than 15-20 years ago when small rosters and no byes were in affect, but they seem to be here to stay.

The schedule is not perfect however. Continuing a tradition best left to die, the CFL once again starts the season with a rematch of last year’s Grey Cup. In an effort to shoehorn B.C. and Toronto into the schedule on the opening day, they have a June 28 opening day game in Toronto starting at 6:30 PM local time on a Thursday night. An early start on a regular weeknight will likely hurt the Argos crowd, while the B.C. TV audience will be at work and on the commute for most or all of the game. The CFL needs to learn that more interest can be built on the rematch if it occurs later in the season and there is no need to force the schedule in such a fashion.

Otherwise it is a very traditional CFL schedule with Labour Day weekend classic matches, the Hall of Fame game in Hamilton, and Thanksgiving match ups.

Update: More background on this year’s schedule.

Other Notes

• Talks with the Palmer group continue regarding returning a team to Ottawa for 2008.
• An agreement with the Arena Football League regarding respecting player contracts is close to being announced.
• The television schedule is expected to be announced in the next two weeks.
• CFL free agency starts tonight at midnight Eastern time.

94th Grey Cup

CBC has sold all the commercial time available for the Grey Cup and will have unprecedented global coverage of Sunday’s game. With one game, the CFL/CBC cannot screw it up and schedule games three hours apart like the Semi-Finals and Finals. The CBC saying it is a CFL decision shows what kind of partnership they have. As a broadcaster, should they not be working with the CFL with explanations that this will provide more and proper coverage? If the CFL was offered eight hours of coverage by scheduling an hour between games would they turn it down?

Strong audience numbers are expected and the production values will be up to par with 32 cameras and a High Definition broadcast. The CableCam returns for the second year and promises a better look at the game from a higher vantage point in Canad Inns Stadium.

The week started slow with the arrival of the teams Tuesday. The coaches’ press conference brought little substance. Very disappointed that there has been very little coverage of the match ups besides the old fallback of Cavillo has to prove he can win big game. Winnipeg has yet to welcome the Grey Cup festivities, leaving some Argo fans to try to liven things up. Perhaps the CFL needs to go to smaller markets less frequently, or does hosting the first make any other just another Grey Cup?

With a partnership with web start-up geosmack, the CFL offers a lame 3D virtual tour of Canad Inns Stadium in Winnipeg prior to the Grey Cup. The geosmack EarthSkin software requires the Google Earth software. I am sure geosmack EarthSkins have many uses, but I wonder what anyone would get out of viewing a 3D model of the stadium.

Get a position-by-position break down of the Grey Cup finalists before you make your trades in the FSN Future Shop Pick 10 Playoff Edition contest.

The Grey Cup week brings with it lots of league talk and speculation, and the focus this year has been on Danny Barrett rumours and opinions, Eric Tillman, and racism and Roy Shivers. Saskatchewan is not even in the game, can you believe it?

Interesting fact: Montreal kicker Damon Duval married Alouette President Larry Smith’s daughter this spring.

State of the League Address

As expected, very little can be learned from the annual commissioner State of the League address by Tom Wright. Despite the still growing popularity of the game (increased attendance, increased Alouette numbers on RDS, increased sponsorships, outdrawing TV competition) the private owners seem bent on destroying the league in efforts to get a big windfall. Rumours that David Cynamon and Howard Sokolowski are looking to sell the Argos after two and a half years of ownership may be directly related to the direction other owners have taken the league in voting out Wright, increasing a salary cap, blocking expansion, talking about US expansion and making a protection for market entry deal with the NFL.

Interestingly there was mention of a league wide code of conduct which could be approved tomorrow. No details as to what this means, it may have been questioned in the media Q & A session, but no additional info was available at the time of this post.

Update: Apparently this is just the rule preventing CFL clubs from signing NFL players under contract or suspension. Hardly news.

Ten Questions Facing the CFL

Stephen Brunt and David Naylor propose ten fundamental questions the CFL must address in determining the future of the league. It is likely the league is not even listening and if they cannot even acknowledge these questions then the future does not look bright. The most disturbing is question 10. “Is the threat of the National Football League real?” The fact that surprises and disturbs me is that there are CFL owners willing to make a deal with the NFL to save the league. Such a deal would obviously turn the CFL into a farm league. This has all kinds of ramifications, from whether a farm system can use very different rules to whether there will be any interest in such a CFL outside of Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto, assuming Toronto is interested with an NFL franchise. The NFL will not provide prop-up money without getting something in return, and if the franchises lose support, how long will the NFL be willing to write the CFL‘s ticket? The owners making such a move for protection seems to predict an NFL move to Canada since there would be no resistance.

With no league resistance challenging such a move, there would be no government intervention on anti-competitive behaviour, especially with the American-in-Canadian clothes Stephen Harper in office. If this does come to pass, and my childhood CFL is destroyed and the NHL a shell of its former self, I will be like Taylor in the Planet of the Apes “You maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!”

Memo to CFL: Kill Video Review

The calls are in for the CFL to abolish video replay reviews of plays, but will they listen? Overtime Central was opposed to the implementation from the start, but since it was likely the CFL would implement a system, we tried to influence the implementation (no luck there, but considering our readership that is not surprising). Still, the CFL implemented a flawed system that slowed down the game this season and led to un-reviewable calls being reviewed such as fumbles after the whistle had blown the play dead. The system must be severely scaled back for 2007 to one challenge per team per game. To prevent the abuse of retractions, they must not be allowed, or only allowed within a reasonable amount of time, such as 10 or 15 seconds. The set of challengeable plays must be more strictly defined as those that occur during the whistle. Challenging an unchallengeable play will cost the coach his challenge and timeout. Coaches will be required to know the rules or be penalized. To help accomplish this, the list of challengeable calls needs to be reduced and simplified. These things will improve the game, provide a challenge system for plays that the system was intended, and leave judgement calls such as whether a player’s knee was a half an inch above the turf before the ball came out to the officials.

CFL Notes

Not being officially implemented provides the first loophole for CFL salary cap. This is starting to look like how things were run in the early 80′s, with big spenders counting on a large TV payoff. When reality hits there may not be a CFL for us to watch. Some trust holders those franchise owners are.

Jim Popp got his CFL start as an assistant coach in Saskatchewan. Two seasons with Don Matthews (’93/’94) as Director of Player Personnel/Scout/Assistant Coach before he followed Matthews to Baltimore in 1995. Who remembers that?

The best commissioner of the CFL since G. Sydney Halter (yes, I am aware of Jake Gaudaur) and instead of a lifetime appointment they show Tom Wright the door. Yes, the CFL looks foolish replacing commissioners at the drop of a hat. Therefore, when you find someone that is the best you will ever find, you keep him. Yes, I am very bitter about this.

Shutting down CFL looks to be a possibility, if only for one week. At first, you think it is some dummy’s idea to provide an equal bye week to all teams, same time during the season with no long breaks or multiple games in a short span. They have actually thought it through though and are considering a skills competition week during the break. This is acceptable if they arrange for the skills competition with the Players Association and networks. If not, it takes the CFL off the radar for a week right prior to when it needs to carry momentum against its fall competition. The other option, a 20-week season with two bye weeks per team is worse however. In an even-team league, there is no need for byes. Sure, because of stadium schedule dates this year because of Ottawa folding it was necessary, but the CFL has never had bye weeks as an 8-team league. There is no proof bye weeks make the play any better, either during the season or in the playoffs. If there is no bye week for an All-Star Skills competition then an 18-week season with no byes and a late season start of around July 4th or 5th is necessary.

As predicted, promised and needed, the CFL implements a rule to honour NFL suspensions.

Tyrone Jones is in Winnipeg for the Grey Cup, dying of cancer. This has to be the worst news year for the CFL I can remember.

“Pinball” Clemons has confirmed he will coach the Argos in 2007. Keeping the Argo defence together and settling their quarterback controversy will be large off-season questions in a year when they host the Grey Cup.

Next Tuesday is decision day for area residents around Molson Stadium on McGill University campus in Montreal. If at least 191 residents sign a register of opposition to the proposed stadium upgrade, it will be forced to a referendum.

The growing number of nationalities represented by CFL reflects Canadian multi-culturism, especially the three large metropolitan areas. It is probably true that football is more attractive as a sport to immigrants compared to hockey due to the unique skills hockey requires that many Canadian kids pick up at a young age.

The Last Ricky Williams Notebook Entry

Will it be the last? Unless Ricky returns to the CFL, it probably is. Some called Ricky’s attitude to the end “nonchalant”. It appears Williams really enjoyed his stay and was a model teammate.

No Majority for NFL Team in Toronto

A survey conducted by the Toronto Star showed 50% of greater metropolitan Toronto area residents say they oppose to bringing an NFL franchise to Toronto. The survey also revealed 76% of residents have no interest in the NFL, the highest of any league in the survey (which the CFL appears to be excluded from), 50% against a franchise in the 18-34 age group, 42% against in men aged 18-34 and 40% against in men aged 18-34 who consider themselves NFL fans.

While it can be said a franchise could be successful with 60% of 18-34 male NFL fans in Toronto, the greater message in the survey is that the people of Toronto will not be ready to fund any public infrastructure to land an NFL team. People only have to look at the current San Francisco ’49ers situation, who have announced they are negotiating to move the club to a new stadium, perhaps in Santa Clara, California. Infrastructure costs for the City of San Francisco to incur with the building of a stadium at the current Candlestick location was expected to exceed the $600-800 million USD cost of the stadium. Los Angeles is proposing building a new stadium inside the walls of the Los Angeles Coliseum at a cost of $800 million USD. Dallas is constructing a new 75,000-seat retractable roof stadium in Arlington, Texas at a projected cost of $650 million USD, half of which is funded publicly by voter approved sales, hotel and car rental tax increases. These staggering figures should send any Torontonian running, for there will certainly be a call for an at least partially public funded stadium after a NFL franchise comes to Toronto. Anyone who believes a franchise could survive playing out of the SkyDome is not realistically looking at the other stadiums in the NFL, and the plans for new ones. The NFL likes (requires?) large, cash-sucking stadiums paid for with public money and Canada would be no different. Expecting seat licenses to pay for such a stadium seems a little steep for the Toronto market (can they sell 20,000 seats at $40,000 a license for an $800 million stadium). It is for certain Canadian investors could not afford a $1 billion dollar franchise cost and then finance a $1 billion stadium cost.

Suspiciously, the Toronto Argonaut stadium deal kyboshed last year after they agreed to stay at Rogers Centre may be related to a future Toronto NFL bid. Paul Godfrey, the point man for Toronto NFL interests, would know that a stadium being built for the Argos would hurt his chances of getting public money and approval to build a new stadium for a NFL franchise once one was landed. The Argo deal with the Rogers Centre was brokered by none other than Paul Godfrey, CEO of the Toronto Blue Jays, owned by Rogers Media, which also owns the Rogers Centre. The deal promised the Argos something better than third-class citizen treatment, and once the deal was signed that has turned out to be largely vapourware.

NFL Slates Games for Foreign Soil

The NFL announced this past week that it will hold two regular season contests at neutral sites in Mexico, Canada and Europe annually starting next year, although the earliest Canada could receive a game would be 2008. No specific sites have been selected and it is possible that Pacific Rim countries will be added to the list after next year’s exhibition contest in Beijing, China. NFL owners will be compensated for the loss of a home date and all teams will cycle through neutral site games every sixteen years, although the program is only committed until 2011.

The immediate reaction of many is that this is a forward step for Toronto bidders for an existing or expansion franchise. This does not seem to be the case. The CFL issued a press release on the announcement which confirmed the CFL and NFL continue a good relationship and the NFL believes the strength of the football in Canada requires a healthy CFL. A game for Canada has been pushed to 2008 at the earliest due to the presence of the Grey Cup in Toronto in 2007. Also, no specific sites, only countries, were named by the NFL, meaning Toronto may not be an automatic for getting the first game (or every game) when larger 60,000+ seat stadiums exist in Vancouver, Edmonton and Montreal. Since gate revenue must be compensated to the clubs losing the home date, the greater number of seats could be a factor. Considering the NFL’s first regular season experiment in 2005 attracted over 100,000 fans in Mexico City, it is not even likely Canada will receive a game every year, let alone Toronto, with our 60,000 or less seat stadiums.

As the NFL seems to be very considerate of CFL requests when it comes to business in Canada, I would hope the CFL could influence the date of any games in Canada to occur after the CFL season. If after the season is not possible, then certainly early in the NFL season (September) is much better for the CFL than deflecting attention from the CFL during the stretch run and playoffs. If the CFL is accommodated in this way, then I believe this bodes well in the future for the NFL not overwhelming the CFL in the Canadian market.

The plan for neutral site games including sites in Canada sounds like a way for the NFL to satiate fan demand for the NFL in Canada without moving a team there. Expansion is not likely in the NFL considering where they want to go (Los Angeles) and the need for two owners and two teams for balanced conferences. I totally believe that any attempt to buy an existing franchise and move it to Toronto will be met with severe resistance, as the fellow owners see no positives to such an arrangement and many negatives. This plan is a way to meet some demand in Canada, show the weaknesses to achieving a permanent franchise and maintain a relationship with the CFL and grow football in Canada.

CFL Notes

Everybody is coming out with their CFL Grey Cup odds. While the B.C. Lions are heavy favourites, and I agree, but I also take into account how hard it is for favourites to win the Cup. I certainly would not rule out whoever comes through the East to put up a good fight against any Western opponent. Playoff time also brings out comparisons of past match-ups. Unfortunately, history has a way of not repeating itself, so hopes of your team making a run just as they did when they were in this situation back in whenever are just hopes.

Watch the Grey Cup on your cell phone. The teen demographic just went through the roof.

The results are in. CFL officiating still stinks. More at eleven. (We will have more on this in a future article.)

Now that old, conservative Hughie has left the building, LeLacheur reveals new plans to grow the Eskimos organization. This may be the harbinger of a struggling Edmonton franchise. If they burn through their capital, install artificial turf, and grow the organization (read more employees, investments outside football) when all they need is to focus on the football business, Edmonton could soon become a poor cousin of the league with nothing that makes them the model franchise they are today.

Does this Ricky Williams article title sound sarcastic or is it just my pessimistic nature? I think by these articles Ricky has worn out his welcome in Toronto, and I do not know why. He did not meet the media expectations, but the problem there was in the expectations.

Campbell calls out CFL owners on Tom Wright situation. Should not Campbell have done something long ago at the league level to correct the commissioner confidence vote when he wielded the power? All the clubs are to blame for leaving this rule on the books during eight franchise times. It was not because it was unimportant; it was because they thought it might be to their advantage one day.

The Eskimos are already planning a rebuild, and are looking to the free agent market for next year. First on their wish list is a ‘Rider DB.

Other Sport Notes

Against all odds, bartender collects over $400,000 on Pro*Picks lottery picks. While the payouts are not so large, we have more fun at Overtime Central.

The St. Louis Cardinals win the World Series. They are now the second most World Series winning franchise, behind only the New York Yankees. That does not explain why the baseball playoffs were so boring this year. I usually will catch the last few innings of a few games where the score is close and someone will come back or something. This year I never bothered to watch anything, there was no drama.

With steroids raising there ugly head again after the San Diego Chargers’ Shawne Merriman was suspended for four games (now under appeal), Stephen Brunt weighs in on a double standard. Brunt has been known to pontificate about how steroid use can get politicians (and purists) up in arms about the game, but it does not stop fans from going through the turnstiles. His basic theory is that fans do not care if their team’s players are juiced or not. In fact, they may be more concerned if their players are not taking every advantage available to them. I do not think this is the case. First, there has been no major number of players testing positive in anti-doping testing. The NFL and NBA suspend more players for illegal drugs than they do for steroids. If a large number of players were caught, affecting teams and displaying a larger problem than what is apparent now, fans may be more vocal. Second, when one Charger is caught cheating with performance enhancing drugs, do you really expect the seats to be empty the next home game? Should the remaining 59 players be painted with the same brush with no evidence? By the next season, all is forgotten, which is a trait in our society relied upon by politicians and corporations. Finally, with the size of fan bases of many sports, for every fan that stays home or turns off the TV, there is another ready to take his place, who has not been able to get in the door previously. I know players circumventing the system, both in amateur and professional sports, offend me. I have little influence, however, since I do not attend or watch the leagues with the most drug controversy surrounding them. Am I on an island here?