I am interested in NFL football. I'd like to have a Spark that I can click on and see updates, information, and breaking news about the NFL, so I searched "NFL" in Sparks. The top link was about a retired NFL player who had passed away, though. I just want to know what's going on with NFL players and teams today as it relates to the 2011-2012 NFL season--not everything remotely related to the NFL.

I found better results by refining my Sparks search to "NFL 2011 season". But, what would be better is if Google could incorporate channels--similar to the way I have NFL and MLB sections added to my Yahoo News page.

I don't think I will be using Sparks to constantly track specific keyword searches--in other words I don't really see the value of the "Add interest" button. However, I think it is nice to have the Google search capability integrated within Google+ so I can search for and share information without leaving the social network site.

What do you think? If you are using the Google+ Field Trial along with me, feel free to comment and let me know how you use Sparks, and whether it seems useful to you. Maybe I am missing something?