Americans crave football more than any other sport in existence.What other sport could bring respective fans together at their office water-coolers on Monday mornings to either hang their heads in shame or cash in on bragging rights? What sport has attention year-round, and when in season, coverage around the clock?Perched high above any other sport in America, football is king. So why would the NFL jeopardize its crown and possibly lose its reign?The answer is greed. How naive of us to think the blue-collar sport of football would relieve us from the issues that have lead to the decline in popularity of other sports. Get ready for an acronym like “PSL” to be as ugly to football fans as the word “strike”.Personal Seat Licenses are sweeping the land, affecting nearly half of NFL teams, and are either already in place or will be with the opening of new stadiums. Notable teams include the Dallas Cowboys and the 2008 Super Bowl Champion New York Giants. The PSLs are a one-time fee in order to exclusively own your seat(s) It doesn’t sound so bad.

It actually makes the license sound like a good thing or profitable investment. Don’t be fooled.For fans eager to step inside Jerry Jones’ monstrosity, or the Mistake in the Meadowlands Stadium, they’ll have to get ready to pony up some serious cash, in addition to the cost of tickets for 10 games, which by the way, will be climbing as well.Owners claim that the building costs are incredibly affected by the poor economy, and are too substantial for the multi-billionaires to take the hit Instead, they are passing the buck to the fans. How noble.Since the Giants share their stadium with the New York Jets, Jets fans will be hit with the PSL as well.How do you explain it to the loyal Jets fans that have so faithfully put up with mediocrity for all but one fateful year? These fans toughed it out through the days at Shea Stadium, and then walked into a stadium with another team’s name on it to serve as a bitter reminder of being second-class tenants.Now tell them that because of their fanaticism, they’re being slapped with an ultimatum: make with the dough or thanks for the years of business.It must be the costs of all those Super Bowl appearances and Championship parades since 1969.What a time for such a trend to start. Gas prices soar, stocks plummet, but there is money to be made for people that can’t think of what else to do with it.NFL owners, here is your reminder that pride comes before the fall In this case, your hubris is greed.

In the kingdom that is the NFL, as usual, the fans come out as the jokers.. SAN CARLOS, Calif.–(Business Wire)–Jeremiah K. Owyang, one of the world`s foremost authorities on Social Mediamarketing, will be the featured presenter at a free interactive webinar at 11 AMPDT on Thursday, May 7, 2009 sponsored by Zuberance, the leading provider ofon-demand solutions that turn Word of Mouth into sales. The webinar, entitled “Harnessing the Power of Word of Mouth & Social Media,”will also feature a real-world Word of Mouth marketing case study presented byDiane Beaudet, senior director of customer engagement marketing at Symantec, theglobal leader in security software, and Best Practices in WOM & Social MediaMarketing by Rob Fuggetta, Zuberance founder & CEO.Owyang, a senior analyst for Forrester Research, is one of the top 1% ofbloggers, according to Technorati. Over 40,000 marketing professionals andothers follow Owyang on Twitter.

Forrester is a highly influential, independenttechnology and market research company that provides pragmatic, forward-thinkingadvice to global leaders in business and technology.”Leading companies like Symantec and others are harnessing the growing power ofconsumer influence to amplify Word of Mouth and drive sales,” said Rob Fuggetta,Zuberance founder & CEO. “Our goal for this webinar is to provide practicalguidance to marketers and others they can use now to boost sales in a downeconomy,” he said.To register for this interactive event, please visit About ZuberanceZuberance is the leading provider of on-demand Word of Mouth/Social Mediamarketing applications that drive measurable increases in sales. Global 2000companies and others are using Zuberance`s WOM & Social Media marketingapplications now to mobilize their highly-satisfied customers, cost-effectivelyboosting sales and ROI. Zuberance`s powerful management and tracking tools keepmarketers in control. Headquartered in San Carlos, CA, Zuberance is backed byEmergence Capital Partners, the leading venture capital firm focused on earlyand growth-stage Technology-Enabled Services companies. For more information,visit Zuberance at , call 800.962.0590 or eranceCharles Orlando, 650-610-1190Sr. Dir of Copyright Business Wire 2009.

It’s no secret that the Fourth of July hot dog eating contest is a spectacle.It is broadcast on one of the most popular television networks in the world, ESPN, and is watched by millions of people. Most of these people are cheering on  Japanese hero  and professional eater Takeru Kobayashi, the perennial Nathans Hot Dog Contest champion.However, last year when Joey Chesnut snatched this coveted trophy from Kobayashi, he was dominating headlines the next day and was deemed an American hero.The question is simple, not only about competitive eating, but about many other contests that are deemed to be a sport. Poker is now televised daily on ESPN, along with pool and golf. All of the above require training, but are not as athletically demanding  as say football or baseball.As  New York Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora recently stated on Mike and Mike in the Morning, he does not consider Tiger Woods to be an athlete because he plays golf.So what defines a sport?  Is it training? Is it athletic ability that is needed? Or is it skill level and mental toughness?Sport is defined as physical activity that isgoverned by a set of rules or customs, and is usually done competitively.Kobayahi and fellow competitive eaters have to find ways to stretch their stomach, and “workout” each day by eating meals that could feed a family of five with leftovers.The only way to “train” for poker is to play, to see what hands favor your style of play and will help you win money. Golfers spend hours practicing drives, and putting to make sure on that  they are prepared for the Final 18 on Sunday.As an athlete I believe it is quite obvious eating is not a sport.