Professional football has been blacking out games since 1953. And for nearly just as long, fans have opposed the practice and have sought ways around blackouts.

With the NFL and NFLPA on the verge of reaching an agreement, do you think that new agreement will include an end to the blackout rule? ...Yeah, me neither.

Since the NFL doesn't feel that fans should have their own representatives and the NFLPA is unwilling to respond, it's up to us to let them know what we would like to see in a new collective bargaining agreement.

Thanks to the NFL's blackout rule requiring home games to be sold out at least 72 hours before kickoff, the rest of the Chargers' games this season are expected to be blacked out.

It's time to put and end to the practice of using blackouts as leverage once and for all. But that's why it's all the more important to have someone representing the interests of sports fans here in Washington.