Lockout looms over NFL
By Gabe Taylor
Sports travel a bumpy road. Whether professional athletes are being accused of rape, or indicted for being involved with dog fighting, no season or offseason simply cruises along without conflict; this offseason fails to break the mold.
Forget the blissful times of watching the cheeseheads take the SuperBowl and cross your fingers in hopes that the NFL might actually take place next season; the potential NFL lockout is upon us. With no agreements being made between the owners and the NFL Players Association, the future of the NFL sits on a teeter-totter.
What must be resolved is simple at first glance: owners want to increase the regular season to 18 games from 16, while players argue that they need to be compensated for expending more miles and possibly shortening their careers due to potential injuries. The bottom line is that sports are a business and businesses are centered around profits. That makes the matter all the more complicated.
If no agreement is made by March 4, the offseason will likely see its days of trades and training cut short – potentially carrying over to the regular season.
Free agents will be left out to dry and teams will be fractured and unprepared.
The only trade option remaining if the agreement is not made by the deadline is shopping draft picks, and where's the fun in that?
Players want money. Owners want money. Fans want games. This picture is awfully distorted.
With all the questions buzzing around regarding the morals of specific athletes, it seems odd that greed is consistently passed over. When players throw tantrums over a contract that reads $10 million a year instead of $15 million, that is unethical.
Here's an idea: players and owners should start thinking about their fans instead.
It is safe to say that the majority of Americans tuning into the NFL are making chump change in comparison to a professional football player. But they still readily pull out their wallets, despite the consistent increase in ticket prices.
Dedication. It's what drives fans, and it's what should drive players. But businesses will be businesses. We have little reason to assume the NFL and its employees will operate any differently than Nike or Walmart.
At what point will fans lose interest? The NHL experienced the side effect of a lockout following the 2004-2005 season, when support vanished.
As fans, we should expect better from the NFL. It's all about the green off the field, rather than the green on it.