That was pretty interesting. I watched it on NFL network out here in California. I actually like Goodell. I don’t really have a problem with him. You can always tell in his interviews though that he is a lawyer. He is very cautious and calculated in his answers. Some are frankly kind of dull. Sometimes he answers a question without actually answering it, while you are left scratching your head. I wonder how the fans there took his response to Green Bay hosting a SB. In which he basically said GB does not have adequate infrastructure. That was the one response by him I thought he could have handled a little better. Though it is probably true, he could have been a little more vague and sympathetic.

… and not just for the Super Bowl! It was probably ten years ago when my family took a trip across Lake Michigan via the Ludington ferries to see other family in Wisconsin. We were planning on arriving on the WI side about 12 midnight, and figured we’d just grab the nearest hotel….

About 4:30am we finally found a spot. Hadn’t planned on there being a Packers pre-season game the next day. PRE-SEASON and every hotel was booked in a 50 mile radius from Manitowoc. Pretty much had to head to Madison until there was a vacancy sign.

So… yeah. I think the commish is right. For the love of jebus!!! Build some hotels!

What I appreciated was that he made time to talk about the need for improved drug testing in the league. Nice to see that he’s not going to let that become the 800 lb gorrila in the room.

PED use aggravates many of the other hot-button issues, such as concussion damage and schedule expansion. It’s also relevant to player salaries in the sense that teams don’t want to pay bloated salaries to no-talent cheaters who fake their way into stardom. PEDs are the greatest threat to the long-term health of the game. Good to see that Goodell isn’t letting the issue get lost in the shuffle. It’s exactly his job to make sure this issue is addressed and resolved. Even though I’m sure that most of the pressure he faces revolves around how to divide up the pie (making sure everybody gets a big enough piece), the more important concern is making sure the ingredients with which it’s made up are as healthy as possible.

I wonder if the management asked Goodell to not kill the idea just so they could use it as leverage for getting more money for the stadium. If the NFL does give the Packers a Super Bowl…it would shock me a TON!!