NFL is back
NFL LOCKOUT: No pain, any gain? What a waste of time.
We, The Sports Bros, have hesitated to write anything about the NFL lockout because, frankly, we feel like there's not much to say. Lord knows there's been enough said already: Hot air, more hot air, rumors, half-deals, more hot air. We all want football, but we also know it's a business ... blah blah blah.
Handle your business and get back to us when you're done (which appears to be now, with the NFL and the Players Association reportedly agreeing to end the lockout Monday).
These men are acting like children. So, in honor of them and their child-like behavior, we'll write about them in the most child-like way we know how: an acrostic.
N: Never-ending cycle-of-crap. Owners release one statement to try and strong arm the players. The players refuse. The owners try and make them out to be bad guys. Wash, rinse, repeat.
F: For crying out loud: Don't try and make me feel sorry that we're missing the Hall of Fame game. This is a preseason to a preseason to a preseason game. Hell, part of us has always wanted the preseason to be shorter anyway. Bring on Week One.
L: Labor issues are complicated. They always have been, and it's always hard in any business. Some of this stuff may seem trivial, but it matters. We just need to be patient.
L: Love the players when they come back. They have a union and they need to protect themselves. Yes, they make a ton of money to play a game, but we pay a bunch of money to watch them play that game. Don't hate the player. Hate the game.
O: Owners may seem like the enemy too, but they're still businessmen. To them, this isn't about the fans. It's about then next 10 years. It's about two business entities trying to get a fair deal for each side.
C: Crying over fantasy football doesn't do anybody any good. Stop trying to figure out how the lockout will effect your team. The season will happen and so will your fantasy season.
K: Kiss NFL labor disputes goodbye for a while. The new deal will go through 2021. Nobody wants to go through this again. The sport's popularity has never been higher and the owners are making tons of money. And although it may seem like 10 years is just 10 years, think about what YOU were doing 10 years ago.
O: OH MY GOSH stop releasing reports every five minutes! I know we live in the Twitternet age, but can we collect a few facts before we release a new article? Can page views really be at that much of a premium on football sites?
U: Under no circumstances has this hurt the game. Fans will come out as strong as ever. TV ratings will be at all-time highs. This won't be like the Major League Baseball strike. The NFL is the strongest sports entity and it will only get stronger. Halfway through the season, you won't even remember it. You'll just get to be reminded about it every 10 minutes by the color commentator.
T: Time will come when we have football. This week. There will be a full season of games — there's just too much at stake for either side, too much money to be lost and gained.
With the risk of sounding redundant, this whole thing is not about the fans. I know that the NFL— and this goes for any sport, for that matter — is inherently about the fans, but these discussions are just part of the deal.
Remember the Hollywood writers strike a few years back? It's not that the writers resented the viewing public. They didn't want to starve the viewers from good TV until they got a fair deal. They just wanted to get paid what they're worth so they can coyld entertaining millions of people. Same thing here.
The NFL players wants to entertain, but they want to get paid too. That's their prerogative. When regular season games are missed in some future negotiation, maybe 10 years from now. Then we can get upset.