For complete details of the prime time schedule that has been released, click here.

My first reaction in glancing at the first games is that Green Bay and Oakland will have at least two national games; one each on opening weekend and another on Thanksgiving as the Pack head to Detroit and the Raiders off to Big D.  The Raiders also cap off a Monday night double header against San Diego on September 14th.  Oakland with two national games?  Did I miss something?  Since when do they merit even being shown in Oakland.   So get ready for plenty of shots like this one.

More details from the NFL owner’s meetings should be forthcoming this week, while the rest of the schedule should be released in April.

BEAR DOWN!!!

The common folktale among the NFL is the infamous Ice Bowl of 1967 when the Dallas Cowboys played the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau when it was -13.  You may not know the game but you certainly know the nickname “frozen tundra” given to Lambeau after the game.  Thanks in large part to the NFL Films franchise, the phrase is recognized in every household.

The problem is I know for a fact that these are not really the coldest games.  I’ve been a season ticket holder at Soldier Field for many years and I have sat through some sickening weather.  Just a few years ago the wind was whipping through the field so bad off the lake that the jumbotron actually read that we were all sitting outside when it was -20 with the wind chill.  That is damn cold my friends. 

Have you ever seen beer freeze?  I have….at that game.  If you picked your beer up to take a drink out of it the top was completely frozen and required poking a hole to take a drink.  This was easy compared to getting a new beer, which upon being poured by the vendor would have all the foam almost immediately freeze solid into a more literal interpretation of the word foam. 

The funny part is I sat through that entire game.  When you know it’s going to be cold you dress appropriately, which means basically everything in your wardrobe made with wool, fleece, or a thick cotton material.  I sat with my frozen beer, my flask of Crown Royal, and approximately 3 square inches of exposed skin and watched my Bears play.  That’s what you do when you love your football team, you go out and brave the extreme cold.  Certain fans get exempt from having to brave the cold elements like children or older fans that can no longer take the physical abuse.  But any Bears fan of proper age should be considered less of a fan if they can’t take a little cold.  I don’t want to hear about girls not be able to handle it because I’ve seen several girls put on a brave face for a football game, including my own girlfriend. 

It’s football.  You play it in the winter.  It’s cold during the winter.  So quit your bitching. 

I’m sick of seeing the major news stations and papers talking about how cold it will be this weekend.  I’ve sat in worse and I will continue to sit in worse.  The game in December between the Packers and Bears was described by Brett Favre as the worst weather he has ever experienced in all his years in the league.  Yeah, I was sitting at that game too. 

I’d offer you a swig of my Crown Royal but I save that for the real fans that show up to the game.

There is a certain hatred that develops when you play a team year in and year out.  You develope a growing desire to see your team kick their ass and shut up the fans that make the trip to your stadium just to act like idiots.  However, there is also the idea that you want other teams in the NFL to respect your division.  If any given team from a divison can go to the NFC championship game then it reflects well on the rest of teams in the division.  Even though the remaining teams didn’t make the playoffs, it reflects back upon them that their division is that much tougher and competitive. 

I’m a big respect guy, I think a big part of the game of football is making the 11 players on the other side of the ball respect you.  The Seattle Seahawks make the playoffs every year but don’t get any respect from the league when they are not playing at home with their fan base that needs to be tested for rabies.  Getting to play the Rams, Cardinals, and 49ers twice every year is the type of schedule that makes teams turn their nose up a little.  If the NFL switched the Seahawks with the scrappy Buffalo Bills or Houston Texans and there is no way the Seahawks make the playoffs.  The Texans have to compete with the Colts, Jaguars, and Titans, all playoff teams that play great football.  Houston still managed an 8-8 record.  I doubt you could say the same if Seattle had to play that trio twice a season. 

So there is something to be said for respect of the division.  I may not like seeing the Packers win, but if the Packers can step in where the Bears left off than there leaves little doubt where the strength of teh NFC plays its football on Sunday.  Not to mention, real men know how to play in the elements.  If the NFl really wants to have a fun super bowl they need to quit scheduling panzy domes and southern stadiums and put a Super Bowl at Soldier Field or Lambeau and see what team can battle on the football field in February.  Now that’s a football team. 

That being said, I still don’t think I can stomach rooting for the Packers.  Right now I’m going to go be a Jaguars fan for a couple hours and see if they can knock off Tom Brady so he can hurry back to spreading his seed with random women. 

Oh, and when did taking your girlfriend to Mexico for vacation become more scandalous than getting a girl pregnant, breaking up with her, and dating a supermodel?  Just wondering.