That seems to be a fait accompli, and I couldn't decide if I should call that the Scoop or I should call it sneaky big news because I don't feel like people are talking nearly enough about this.

The ramifications of making a change of that magnitude are overwhelming.

We're going to talk a lot about the impact on the players, bodies and player safety and all that.

And that is to the players, obviously overwhelmingly the most important thing.

And to all of us as human beings, that should be the most important thing.

But hold everything we're about to make a fundamental change to the sport.

That almost never happens.

How long has the NBA been playing 82 games?

How long has baseball been playing 162 games?

How long has the NFL been playing 16 games?

Answer.

A long, freaking time.

I'm old enough to remember when the NFL played 14 games in a season, but they went to 16 and 1978 changes a lot.

I'm here to tell you it changes a lot the way we perceive numbers, records, all that kind of stuff just completely changes you're talking about, guys.

I remember what it was like when someone ran from running back, ran for 1000 yards in a 14 game season.

You're adding now three games to that.

We're going to have to completely revamp the way we look at some of this stuff.

Obviously, the impact that it has on the playoffs and everything else.

The CBS stipulates they can go to 17 regular season games this year.

They will cut it to three preseason games.

That's in the C B A.

That's there.

They can't expand it beyond 17 games until 2031 at the soonest.

So they're going to 17 games this year, and it's going to stay there for a while and a very quick explanation of what that 17th game is going to be, which I have long assumed was the perfect opportunity for them to add an international game.

For example, let the Jaguars go play in London again without it costing their fans a home game.

That's not the way it is being planned initially.

Basically, they will line up divisions and just for the sake of argument if the A F C West would have played the NFC North.

The extra game would be the matchup of the teams that finished in each of the respective spots.

Number one would play number one and on down the line.

And each year, like one year, the NFC would get all the home games the next year.

The A F C.

We get all the home games, so that creates.

I hate the idea of an odd number of games.

Everything about that just feels awkward and wrong.

So if you're asking me my opinion on this, I don't love it.

I don't hate it.

Don't get me wrong.

I get it.

All these things are done in the interest of making more money, and I'm not here to tell you.

That's a bad idea.

And I'm certainly not forecasting this becoming a problem for the league.

But I don't love it.

16 is enough.

The odd number is weird.

International expansion doesn't do anything for me, but it's going to happen and obviously I'll watch it and so will you.

And it'll be fine.

Let me bring in hashtag bubba on all of this because my disheveled board operator, Brendan Bubba Peregrine.

Many may not know this, but but Bubba, before you decided to become a board operator, you were considering a career as a noted financial analyst and an expert and and and really sort of a world class economist.

So, in your opinion, is this a good thing or a bad thing as a football fan that the NFL is going to 17 games next year?

You know, I'm kind of with you on this one.

I'm not a fan.

I think I like it is 16 and really, honestly, just because I don't think the odd numbers, I mean, what's with the odd numbers can have an odd number of schedule.

That's insane.

I'm with you, Hem.

Bo is with me today as well.

You did some of the look looking back on this.

Has any sport ever had an odd number of games?

There was a six year stretch of the NFL played 11 games.

That's true.

That's 1937 in 1942 and then in 1942 the fifties.

Didn't Jim Brown playing 11 games schedule?

Do I have that wrong?

He played 12 12 games and at that point it's before my time, so that's an interesting point.

So they did have that at one time, but the even number?

Just so you have the same number of home games, same number of road games.

No one has one advantage over anybody.

That's just something unsatisfying about an odd number would be fine.

With 18 games.

I would be better with 18 games than I would be with 17 games.

But that would be bad because I'm also worried about injuries like no one wants to see these guys hurt all the time.

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