The NFL is in a rut. It's not about protests. Not about ROGER GOODELL. Or about another bungled domestic violence punishment. Parity is finally real. No unbeaten teams. No juggernauts. Even the PATRIOTS are beatable. Don't need an obvious SUPER BOWL winner but there should be compelling teams. Instead the league is mucked up. Ratings keep dipping. Upticks in streaming haven't outweighed audience loss on TV. WALL STREET is worried. Is this a trend or an outlier? It's more than one season. Doesn't help that stars keep getting hurt. NFL isn't dependent on them like the NBA but how much can it take before fans stop watching? ODELL BECKHAM JR. is out for the year. AARON RODGERS and ANDREW LUCK might be too. Who knows if EZEKIEL ELLIOTT will also miss time. Quality suffers. Watchability drops. Or is the NFL built to withstand those losses? Is there an anthem protest outcome that'll satisfy each side enough to avoid further fan unrest -- even if disaffected fans aren't to blame for audience slippage? Is the NFL just not interesting enough? The league has historically had issues with individuality -- forcing players to diminish personalities for the sake of the team -- but should it embrace that to build up new stars? Scoring is down more than a point per game per team from 2013; should the league tweak the rules to try to fix it? How does the NFL get its fun back?... DOCK ELLIS is the guy who threw a no-hitter on LSD. That's all I really knew him as. Then I watched NO NO: A DOCKUMENTARY on NETFLIX. Ellis was a character. He'd be a TWITTER star if he pitched now. Love that he bluffed SPARKY ANDERSON into giving him an ALL-STAR GAME start. The doc isn't a hagiography. Race is an underlying theme. Ellis' no-hitter is the hook but everything else is what keeps you watching... KATIE NOLAN returned to TV. Still not clear what her role is gonna be but hope ESPN doesn't smooth over her edges. ESPN is in a weird place right now, promoting opinionated talent but boxing them in. Nolan pushes boundaries. One of the most interesting voices out there and not afraid to criticize anyone. How will that play at a network still not sure how much its talent is allowed to say?... Got an invite to a wedding on a weekend in the fall? Awkward... The PISTONS' new arena is on the right side of EIGHT MILE... Ineligible animal on the field... This is not good parenting.