<div align="left">The older I get the more I appreciate and respect the athleticism of professional basketball and football players. I think the NFL is the right length of schedule, but I have become convinced the NBA is at least 15 games too long. Sure I love to watch my team as much as possible. But as a fan of the sport of pro bball, I can think of more than a few players who would have been stellar and who only had one or two seasons of greatness and never had the opportunity to have a long career with a shot or two at a title. Grant Hill comes to mind. Currently Jerry Stackhouse's body is telling him to take it easy. Not everyone can bounce back from a real ankle sprain like Josh Howard. You can tell he's a little double-jointed (Rasheed would still be on crutches). Darrell Armstrong was quicksilver and a sudden star a few years ago when he burst on the scene with his caffeine fueled performances, but a few injuries later he's a role player. Injuries robbed the careers of Reggie Theus and Bernard King and even shortened Larry Bird's legendary flight. Already many players are admitting their bodies are hurting and getting through the season with will power, fear of losing their jobs, and with the help of the team doctor (with prednisone and toradol even Barkley could probably make a comeback.) You all can probably think of many more pros who came on the scene and once they began playing with great passion and dominating and winning and looking like they were going to be the next great star their knee starts nagging them, then a toe, then an ankle, their achilles, their back, and then you wonder where they are. These guys have been playing on concrete and asphalt since they were 7 years old, and as they move to each level they have to push their bodies and fitness levels more and more. The season needs to be shortened and more teams, heck why not all teams, should be in the playoffs. Give the four best teams in each conference a bye, and if we must exclude teams then only those in the lottery. I am weary of seeing great players in the NBA, particularly Jerry Stackhouse and Marquis Daniels on my favorite team, and in the NFL miss games and sometimes careers. If you bothered to read this far, thank you and Merry Christmas! </div>
