NFL Lockout Looming: 10 Reasons We Need The NFL

It has been the topic of discussion for some time now. The war of words and wills between the owners and the man representing the players, DeMaurice Smith has gone from threats to potential lockout as the current CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) gets closer to expiration in March.

If no new agreement is in place by then, we will be running head first into a lockout of our beloved NFL.

How could this happen? How could a multi-billion dollar industry not be able to come to some terms about how the money is distributed amongst the players?

Football is one of the biggest, most watched sports in the world and is central to many Americans lives. Whether you follow a team or just love the game, losing it will adversely affect American culture, especially on Sundays.

As the potential for a lockout increases exponentially day-by-day and comes closer to fruition, let's look at ten reasons why we need the NFL for our Sunday entertainment.

Oh, and our sanity.

10. The Jay Cutler Face

We have to have this. There's no way we can go an entire year without seeing the Jay Cutler face. You know, that look that he does that says, "I don't care what anyone says I'm Jay Cutler and I'm bigger than football, you, or anyone or anything else and I can prove it."

Only to go out and toss a horrible interception that makes you wonder what he was looking at.

Soon as he removes his helmet, Cutler looks the same every time. Oh well, I'll just forget about that as if it never happened, and then it happens again.

Not to make fun of Cutler, but it was this face that many times in his career have drawn scrutiny, including this year's NFC Championship game against the Green Bay Packers.

Cutler was taken out of the game early in the third quarter with an apparent knee injury, and did the Jay Cutler face the whole game on the sideline, sometimes even standing on the injured knee.

Because of this, many fans and players criticized and questioned his toughness, even after it was revealed that he had a MCL sprain.

We need the Jay Cutler face.

9. Buffalo Wings and Beer

Not to say that you can't eat buffalo wings and drink beer anyway, but it just doesn't feel the same without football.

In other words, football gives us the excuse to drink and eat like a pig in the name of tradition.

If your wife watches you stuff your face with 10 buffalo wings and 6 beers while watching The Big Bang Theory, she will undoubtedly think you're disgusting and won't hesitate to tell you as much.

Contrastingly, if you do this with buddies while watching a Sunday slate of games, she might join you in eating badly for just one day and give the excuse of watching reruns of The Bad Girls Club.

With no football, you have to face the fact that consuming thousands of calories in a short span of time is probably not healthy with no good excuse for it. Everyone loses.

8. "Man Time" With Friends

What is the main sport that brings men together everywhere? Football.

Whether it's at the local sports bar or at one of your buddies' house on his awesome 50-inch plasma high-definition television, football brings friends together even if for one or two days.

Everyone wishes they could go back to the days when they were teenagers with little to no responsibilities once they finally become a grown-up.

Football gives grown people with otherwise little time to themselves in a busy world a day of peace, fun and good times.

Without football, Sundays will have to be spent at home doing housework while watching the inevitable "NFL Films presents..." reruns that will flood the airwaves. No thanks.

7. Intense Best Player and Team Debates

Isn't it great to walk into a store, see someone wearing a Joe Flacco jersey while you're wearing a Troy Polamalu jersey and snicker while he looks at you in disgust?

It feels good, and when he's behind you in line he says with frustration, "The Steelers' run is coming to an end, bro."

You're response is something like, "Not yet, BRO. Tell Flacco to get rid of the football faster."

A debate is sparked.

Without football, these debates will start to fizzle out with nothing current happening and will fall out of existence until the point the mere mention of football will hurt the soul.

6. Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen

These guys are great. At first it was annoying to have two people reporting as insiders for the NFL, but they have turned into a mildly entertaining information machine regarding football.

Schefter's weird smile is almost weird enough to have a patent similar to the Cutler or Peyton Manning face, and Mort is like the seasoned veteran teaching the protege the ropes.

Mort's training camp tour before the start of the season is must-see TV, especially his interviews with players on the tour bus.

Without football, these guys will have nothing to report but rumblings about the next CBA which will quickly become agitating until something actually happens, like a signed new CBA.

5. The Prospect of Watching the UFL

This is self-explanatory. Nothing compares to the NFL, and there seems to be very little to no chance any big NFL players will sign on for this boring league. Paul Pelosi seems to believe he can reincarnate the USFL and survive along side the NFL.

Okay. The USFL had no chance without the star players signing on, and neither would the United Football League.

If this is all we have to watch, my television will be burned-out from the picture of Madden NFL '11 on the screen too much.

4. The Super Bowl

For some reason, the Super Bowl is still not regarded as a holiday, but it is to football fans and many Americans alike.

Even people who don't follow football all season get geared up for the Super Bowl, and great parties and food ensues.

With no NFL, the Super Bowl will create a huge void in culture and society, which directly leads into...

3. Impact on Economy

It is estimated that millions of buffalo wings are consumed on Super Bowl Sunday, with other finger foods such as pizza and potato chips registering record numbers of consumption also.

With no football, grocery stores will lose millions of dollars on pizza, wings, beer, potato chips, dip trays amongst other popular items.

Employees would lose money because the demand to schedule them on such a busy day would disappear.

Sports bars, who report that their business more than doubles on Super Bowl Sunday will lose countless money and business, meaning beer and alcohol companies will also lose out.

That also includes all of the money advertisers and television stations will lose not just on Super Bowl Sunday, but all season long.

Some economists have reported that the impact wouldn't be big as some believe (http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/feed/2010-09/nfl-labor-talks/story/nfl-scoffs-at-unions-estimate-of-lockout-impact) but that seems impossible.

2. Camaraderie With Other Fans

How many people can you think of that you have a bond with because you like the same team? I have a few buddies that I either met because or are closer friends with because we are Dallas Cowboys fans.

Football gives people who may not otherwise believe that they have anything in common friendly ground, and gives rival fans something to converse about.

For example, you can meet someone and not know how to break the ice. Bring up the fact that you are a 49ers fan, and more often then not they'll hop into conversation about their favorite team.

If it's the same, you just broke the ice wide open. If it isn't, a fun debate can make the conversation fun and progressive.

Even strangers can have insightful debate and conversation about their beloved football team, and with no football it may become awkward over time if their is no games in which to talk about.

1. Sundays Will Never Be the Same

That feeling that we football fans get when the season is over on Sundays will become a year-round reality.

When the Super Bowl concludes, the following Sunday feels empty, like breaking up with someone and missing their presence.

Eventually it becomes a bit normal, but the countdown starts in February to the next NFL season. Another thing you realize after football ends is that there really isn't anything else to watch.

If you are a fan of basketball, the NBA starts to show games on ABC every Sunday once football concludes, but the latest games usually start at 3:30 and are over by early evening, with no 8:00 game like "Football Night In America."

Even so, the NBA Finals concludes in June and leaves July and August with no meaningful football games, and that seems like an eternity.

Imagine no NFL kickoff in September.

This, my fellow NFL fans, could get ugly. Hideous even.

Someone tell DeMaurice Smith and Roger Goodell that football is too important to our culture to lose. Would England let Soccer lockout? No way.

We need the NFL like Jay Cutler needs knee surgery. Oh yeah, he doesn't.

Bad analogy.