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Weekend Links with Jon Marthaler: Why so little football?
- Blog Post by: Michael Rand
- September 14, 2013 - 7:09 PM

Knowing this, though, why isn't there more football? I don't mean expanded seasons for the current leagues -- they're long and punishing enough. But it's strange that football is only an August-to-early February effort in America.
The Canadian Football League and Arena Football have variously been broadcast on TV, but neither has earned a particularly wide following, in part because they are weird and different from good old classic football. And various non-affiliated minor leagues -- the UFL, the XFL, even going back to the WLAF, the USFL, and the WFL -- have tried, and failed, either because they tried to take on the NFL (bad move) or seemed more like a carnival sideshow.
I suppose there's an argument to be made that Americans just don't like to watch a minor league, which a spring football league would definitely be. Still, it seems like there's room for another. It could be in college towns with no pro team, or maybe just in large non-NFL markets. Given the sport's popularity, surely there has to be a way to make it work - and end our long spring and summer without football.
*On with the links:
*Nick Nelson at TwinsCentric thinks the Twins have so much money to spend this offseason that they can't help but spend. Personally, I think the Twins are like that old geezer that remembers when hamburgers were a nickel and a pair of shoes cost $10, and so even though he knows prices have gone up, he just can't quite bring himself to head for the shoe store or the McDonald's drive-through, because things are just too darn spendy these days.
*The win, in baseball, is a stupid statistic. Here is more evidence of that.
*Bill Barnwell at Grantland breaks down Chip Kelly's awesome new Eagles offense.
*Also at Grantland, Zach Lowe makes a strong case for the 40-minute NBA game. (I would support both this and an NBA regular season with fewer games. Both would make the league more awesome.)
*The Economist says that women's sports are starting to make up some ground in the areas of TV viewership and commercial support. (I link to this partially - maybe mostly - because the University of Minnesota's Tucker Center, and its director, Mary Jo Kane, are heavily mentioned. Hey everyone! They're talking about us!)
*And finally: you may not be able to appreciate the genius of this old-timey-ified Arsenal roster in full, unless you're a soccer fan, but I think everyone can laugh at pictures of people with outstanding mustaches and/or funny hats.
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