The upcoming realignment is much less complicated and contentious, however. The NFL has far surpassed its fellow professional leagues in terms of egalitarianism and fairness towards all. A committee of seven owners, one from each division, (the AFC Central gets two because it's bigger and better) has been working out the details.

Already, they have agreed to a radical revenue sharing plan in which 40 percent of gate receipts earned by each visiting team will be split evenly among all 32 teams. This alleviates the complaints of teams like Arizona, who will miss out on playing a big market team like Dallas twice a year under the new format.

Since the suggested distribution keeps three former division rivals together in every division but the NFC West, there is very little room for contention. Although some owners, namely those of the newer southeastern teams, would prefer radical geographic realignment, there is no indication that any such plan is being considered.

In contrast, Dallas owner Jerry Jones has refused to end his team's ancient rivalries from the NFC East. Every indication points towards him getting his way.

The AFC East will similarly want to keep its division together, thus making a Baltimore-Miami deviation from the above plan highly probable. If Baltimore prefers to stay in the same division with Tennessee and Jacksonville, it just might work.

Also open to debate is whether to expand to the playoffs from the current level of 12 to 14, thus giving only regular-season conference champions a first-round bye. 16 teams, is, and absolutely should be, out of the question.

Although the NFL plans are different, they will certainly disappoint those who wanted a more radical plan. Among those ignored suggestions is team grouping by nickname. NFL.com writer Craig Ellenport suggests such groupings as the Bird Division, Cat Division, and the Old West Division. My personal favorite is the Fighting and Plundering Division, featuring the Buccaneers, Patriots, Raiders, and Vikings.

But stability is a good thing, and I appreciate the NFL's tendency not to change its look too rapidly. Be happy that these days the NFL is "expanding" only into markets where it has failed before. For those of us who stare at the NHL standings every day and still can't quite fathom where all those awful southern teams came from, the NFL is a welcome sight.