Choice of 55-200 or 80-200 for high school sports headache

[Dana C]

I am returning to photography after a few years of point and shoot. I have owned three DSLRs in the past however. I bought a Nikon D80 initially which came with a 18-135. I bought a 55-200 VR as well along with a 70-300 without VR which I just sold.
I bought a D90 to get additional flexibility with ISO, burst photo improvements and a few other things. I went to a high school football game and the 55-200 was great until daylight waned and the lights went on. I just couldn't get a fast enough shutter unless I pushed the ISO which created a lot noise.
Here is the $ 64 question from a newb...me.
Would buying a used 80-200 VR 2.8 be a good choice for a faster lens that I can afford, (less than $600)?
Should I sell the 55-200?
What other lens' would you recommend in general to round out an amature set up?
I am thinking about the 80-200 which should work great for wildlife, games, etc.

I should say that the reason that I wasn't happy with the 70-300 was the lack of VR and I didn't use it as much as I thought I would. I may replace it at some point with a VR model.

Thank you in advance for making the "choice headache go away.
Dana

 

[ronlane]

After shooting my first game last night, I'd suggest the f/2.8. I shot with a 70-200mm f/4 and had to really push the ISO to get the shutter fast enough. Now, I've got to get the gear.

 

[goodguy]

70-200mm is a great range, I use it all the time, the lenses in this range are heavy but that's due to letting a lot of light in.
Nikon 80-200mm 2.8D is the older lens but still got lots of followers, its not as sharp as the new models like the Nikon 70-200mm 2.8VRII but it is still very sharp and should do the trick nicely especially considering that you have only 12MP camera.
Another lens you can consider is Sigma 70-200mm non OS, its a good sharp lens that should be had for around 500$-600$