All Good Things...

... must come to an end. And with the passing of Super Bowl XLIV in Miami two Sundays ago, that's exactly what has happened to the NFL Season.

Super Bowl Sunday is always a bittersweet day for me. I enjoy getting together with friends and family to watch the game, I enjoy the two weeks of hype building-up to the game, and of course the game itself is a blast to watch as the NFL does a great job of making their championship event into a true American spectacle.

At the same time, the Super Bowl also signals the end of the NFL season, ushering in 8 months of darkness also known as the "offseason".

Ugh, what am I going to do now?... I ask myself after the final whistle.

That same feeling of sadness is actually magnified when the Packers play their final game of the year as well. This season, the Pack made an early exit from the playoffs and afterwards, I found that more than anything, I was upset because that meant I had to wait until next August to watch my favorite team take the field.

How dark the offseason is...

But you see, there are a million reasons why NFL football is the greatest sport in the world. One of those reasons...?

Because the NFL offseason is more exciting than than most other sports' regular seasons.

That's right I said it. I'd rather follow the off-the-field happenings of the NFL than watch the NBA, NHL, college BB or even MLB (although I really do enjoy college hoops and baseball). How can that be? Because even after the games end, there's something exciting happening for at least 4 of those months between the Super Bowl and August. That's something that no other sport can say.

Here's a quick run down of the NFL Offseason:

Feb 11-Feb 25: Teams can designate franchise or transition players.
Feb 24-Mar 2: NFL Scouting Combine held in Indianapolis
March 5th: Start of Free Agency
March 21st-24th: NFL Annual Owners Meetings
April 22nd-24th: 2010 NFL Draft
Late July: Training Camps begin

*If you're confused about what these event are, click on the links to learn more about them from Wikipedia

So while nothing can compare with the actual games being played on the field, at least I will survive through the end of April. The real struggle will come in May, June and the first part of July when players are training on their own and there's not a lot of NFL news.

So if you're planning to send a small consolatory gift -- perhaps a movie, game or fruit basket -- I would that you hold-off until May or June, when I'll really need it.

Here's to hoping for an exciting baseball season! Bring on August already!