I saw all of this coming three years ago in Palm Beach, Fla. at the NFLโs annual winter meetings amongst owners, NFL front office leaders and coaches. The ownerโs voted to terminate the collective bargaining agreement, the words โuncapped yearโ become all the rage and here we are now at the fringe of a full-scale work stoppage, meltdown and the end of the world as we know it.
Iโve spent a LOT of time over the past three years talking to virtually everyone I know in the NFL community about every facet of this negotiation in the hopes that Iโd somehow be โexpertโ on whatโs happening down in D.C. this week. I really thought that fans would be thirsty for whatโs really happening behind the scenes and that somehow, there could be a happy ending behind the red, white and blue shield for 2011 football.
Now that the witching hour has arrived itโs become very clear to me that the issues that are making the fight โ percentages, salaries, trust, open books, medical insurance and a myriad of other arguments that have made 66 rounds of negotiating feel worthless โ none of these are of any interest to most NFL fans.
It took me three years worth of education and analysis to try to be one of a few who could discuss the issues at hand with any kind of expertise but itโs all been for my own personal edification and self-development.
The more I read pieces like Peter King (and Jim Trotterโs) MMQB on SI. com and see how contentious this thing was even on Thursday afternoon the more I believe that it will be very hard for these two sides to come together this week, even if they all realize how unpredictable it would be if someone pushes the red button before Friday night.
So more than opining today โ and I did 20 hours of that last week on WNST-AM 1570 when I filled in on the morning show โ I thought Iโd leave this forum open today to ask a few simple questions that I failed to ask on the radio:
Do you care about this fight?
Are you following the issues?
Is this a soap opera โ a courtroom brawl involving de-certification and anti-trust warfare โ that you are going to grab the popcorn and care to witness?
My gut says no. My inbox says no.
And more and more Iโm hearing the same thing from Baltimore sports fans. As much as we love the Ravens and the NFL in general, if these two sides decide to take it into litigation this spring weโre just going to step aside and suddenly become interested in the Orioles.
Itโs kinda crazy in this winter of discontent. But Iโm hearing a lot more about the Orioles these days than Iโm hearing any real fear of the Ravens not playing or any interest in knowing how the sausage is made in the NFL.
What do you think?