Is NFL thinking about fans, or itself?

Is the NFL really, truly thinking of its fans?

Or is it just thinking of desperate measures for desperate times?

The suggestion that league owners may add one or two regular season games to each team’s schedule within three years is a great idea for NFL sports enthusiasts.

After all, as Commissioner Roger Goodell says of meaningless exhibition games: “A key point is the fans also recognize players they want to see are not in those preseason games. That's why they are not attractive. They want to see those players play.”

Funny, that after all these years, the NFL would think in such terms. Remember, it didn’t think twice about ripping off fans with four exhibition games per team (six exhibitions as little as 30 years ago) until the economy went south.

Do you know any season-ticket holders? I know two families with season tickets to the San Diego Chargers, and neither is renewing its seats in 2009 with a long list of reasons that start with the poor state of our economy.

There’s one other item for owners to consider: If players play more games that matter, they are going to want more money.

And with a possible lockout already looming after two more seasons, adding games (without adding to individual salaries) will not go over well with players.

For years, the NFL has continued with its high, haughty ways; getting away with murder on the fans while times were good. Now that times are bad, the NFL is feeling the pinch like everyone else.

It’s sad that so many families are hurting in America; but believe me, these NFL fat cats won’t be hurting no matter what transpires.

San Diego Padres: Pitching staff is a mess!

Imagine this: Opening Day is less than two weeks away, and the San Diego Padres still have five openings on their pitching staff.

That’s not good news, especially if you are a San Diego sports enthusiast.

There are seven spots filled on the staff … with even some of those being less than what you would expect at this level.

For starters, Jake Peavy and Chris Young are solid. After them are presumably (No. 3) Cha Seung Baek and (No. 4) Kevin Correia, both of whom would be long relievers at best on most teams.

And it gets even worse in the bullpen.

Heath Bell will be a closer for the first time.

Cla Meredith, who was sent to the minors for a time in 2008 for being ineffective, will be one of the two main set-up men.

The other – Duaner Sanchez – was already cut by the New York Mets this year and hasn’t been the same since suffering a serious shoulder injury in a 2006 taxi cab accident.

After those seven, the final five spots are up for grabs. Even General Manager Kevin Towers says the Padres will be looking for pitchers cut by other teams.

So there you have it: The best the Padres can do is hope for people on the scrap heap elsewhere to suddenly become successful Padres in 2009.

Put it this way. If you are the opposition, you have to like your chances unless Peavy or Young pitch at least eight innings vs. you!

Arizona's Russ Pennell; College basketball's new Steve Fisher?

Is head coach Russ Pennell of the Arizona Wildcats the new Steve Fisher of college basketball?

For sports enthusiasts who don’t remember, Fisher was named “interim” head coach at Michigan 20 years ago just before the NCAA Tournament.

Wolverines coach Bill Frieder had decided to take the job at Arizona State after the season, so Michigan athletic director Bo Schembechler responded by saying he wanted a “Michigan man” to coach Michigan. (Ironically, Frieder was an alumnus of Michigan; Fisher was not.)

We know that improbable situation ended with Fisher winning his first six games as a head coach in leading the Wolverines to the national championship.

Now we have Pennell as the “interim” head coach at Arizona, replacing Lute Olson last October when Olson retired due to health issues.

All Pennell has done is lead the Wildcats to a nearly impossible spot in the Sweet 16; especially considering that a multitude of people believed San Diego State (Fisher’s current team), Saint Mary’s or someone else deserved to be in the NCAAs instead of Arizona.

Despite being in the Sweet 16, Pennell is not even going to be considered for the permanent job … why not?

He was an assistant coach at Arizona State from 1998-2006, as well as an assistant at the University of Mississippi for six seasons (1992-98).

He began his coaching career at Oklahoma State University from 1990-92. The Cowboys advanced to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 in both of Pennell's seasons in Stillwater.

The past two seasons, Pennell was a radio analyst for Arizona. And that’s not a bad background, considering that opposing coaches are more likely to spill their secrets to a radio analyst than a current coach.

All things considered, Pennell should at least be considered for the permanent job at Arizona.

After all, he may become the next Steve Fisher!

World Baseball Classic: Do American sports enthusiasts care?

Do American sports enthusiasts really care about the World Baseball Classic?

We’ll find out Sunday when the USA meets Japan in the semifinals at Dodger Stadium.

It certainly seemed like Americans cared when their team rallied from two runs down to defeat Puerto Rico, 6-5, and advance to the semifinals. Yes, the crowd in Miami went wild.

But before that, apathy seemed to be the word of the day.

USA pitcher Heath Bell, among others, expressed bewilderment that the USA fans were outnumbered the first time they played Puerto Rico in the US city of Miami. (It appeared that way in the second game; but American fans rallied when their team did.)

During the first round in Canada, USA fans were obviously in a minority vs. the Canadians. Yet that doesn’t explain why Venezuela appeared to have as many (or more) fans than America when the teams met in Toronto.

Don’t be surprised if the Japanese have many more supporters than the Americans when they meet in LA.

After all, the WBC is a much bigger deal to them than USA backers.

Sports enthusiasts: Being nice has its rewards

Being kind and thoughtful has its advantages.

Just take the relationship between San Diego State University and the University of San Diego, for example.

Thanks to the generosity of USD, an SDSU sports enthusiast will now be able to watch the Aztecs play a “home” game in the second round of the NIT on Friday night at USD’s Jenny Craig Pavilion.

Two years ago, USD was in a similar bind. The Toreros were hosting a four-team regional in the NCAA Baseball Tournament but couldn’t play at home because they do not have lights.

USD thus turned to SDSU, which allowed the Toreros to play their “home” games at Tony Gwynn Stadium.

Lesson learned: Never expect a favor to be returned when you do a favor.

However, if you do someone a favor, you have a much greater chance of them returning the niceness.