NFL a tough sell in Florida

Once upon a time, the likes of Larry Csonka and Nick Buoniconti dominated Sundays in the Sunshine State (and across the nation). Later, Dan Marino, Warren Sapp, and Mark Brunell had their time in the sun.

Nowadays, pro football in Florida is having a hard time getting on TV. The Jaguars, Buccaneers, and Dolphins are all facing local blackouts in the first two weeks of the season.

In Miami, the Dolphins still have 3,000 tickets available for the Monday night season-opener against New England and 15,000 for a Week 2 contest vs. Houston, according to CBSMiami.com. On their website, the Jags say they are more than 9,000 tickets shy of a sellout for Week 1 against Tennessee. As of Friday evening, none of their games were within 7,500 tickets of a sellout. The Tampa Tribune reported that Bucs cochairman Bryan Glazer expects Tampa Bay's Week 1 opener against Detroit to be blacked out.

Are the tickets too expensive? Is sitting at home in front of an HDTV too inviting?

Or do Floridians think the Miami Hurricanes are the state's top play-for-pay team?

One interesting nugget that rose from the ashes of the NFL lockout's devastation - some of us will never forget the Hall of Fame game that wasn't - was the decision to begin testing for human growth hormone. The deal was supposed to make the NFL the first major professional league in the United States to test for HGH.

And someday it may be, but not today.

Predictably, the league and players union have not been able to come to an agreement on the testing procedures, so there will be no tests before Week 1. The NFLPA says it needs more information on the safety and reliability of the tests from the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Conveniently, this eliminates the possibility of any bad publicity from the league's handing out its first-ever HGH suspension during its kickoff weekend.

Got any good tattoo jokes? Send them to Indianapolis. The Colts hired former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel as a game-day, replay-review consultant, coach Jim Caldwell announced.

Conflicting reports arose Friday about the condition of Hall of Famer Lee Roy Selmon. According to a Fox TV affiliate in Tampa, a statement released by his restaurant reported Selmon, 56, had died after suffering a stroke. But other stations reported that Selmon's brother said the former Buccaneers defensive end was alive and "showing signs of progress." The University of South Florida, where Selmon once served as athletic director, confirmed his hospitalization. . . . Former running back Fred Taylor signed a one-day contract with Jacksonville so he could retire a Jaguar. . . . Unhappy with his contract, Chicago Bears Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs told the Chicago Tribune he is seeking permission to look for a trade.