Bad sports, good sports: NFL owners and players have stopped talking

Posted on April 25th, 2011 by Alan Spoll

The owners and players that make up the National Football League only need to do one thing to keep the fans from completely deserting them. They need to keep talking. It’s a very simple concept, really. It’s obvious that major differences remain between the two sides, and I still have not examined their positions closely enough to form a real opinion, as far as on whose side I am. It is clear to me, though, that as long as they keep talking, I can believe that there will be a normal NFL season this fall. What is clear to me must not be clear to them, though. On Wednesday, the two sides announced that talks would be adjourning until May 16th.

Excuses were made, of course. The judge in charge of the mediation, Arthur Boylan, reportedly has a full schedule over the next few weeks. So the judge in charge of the case in which the players asked for the lockout to be lifted, Susan Nelson, appointed a mediator who would not be available one week into the mediation she ordered?? I don’t buy that at all. Even if it’s true, find someone else to mediate. Get Judge Nelson herself to do it. Or talk without a mediator. Skipping a few weeks at this point in the process is ridiculous and should not be a consideration. I guess it’s possible that both sides are awaiting Judge Nelson’s ruling on the legality of the lockout, which could come as soon as today. If she rules that the lockout is illegal, things could get pretty crazy pretty quickly. Sure, there will be appeals, but there will likely also be some quick movement on trades and free agency, as the teams will have a lot to get done in advance of this weekend’s draft. If the sides were waiting for this ruling, why did they even bother going through the charade of mediation at all? Just to seem like they were doing something? Maybe it was to keep people like me calm, since, as I said, it is easier to remain calm if they seem to be talking.

In the end, I just want football. I don’t really care who gets what. I won’t watch games with replacement players, if it goes that way, but it doesn’t matter much to me who makes out better in the battle between the rich and the richer. I want to be able to sit down on Sundays in the fall and watch the games, follow my fantasy teams, and scream in agony if the Eagles don’t win. This is not a lot to ask. So start talking, folks. Do it for me.

Bad sports, continued:

2) Imagine this: you are such a good high school football player that a major program like Georgia invites you to campus for a visit during an open house. What do you do when you’re there? Talk to people involved with the team and try to impress them? Walk around the stadium and soak in the atmosphere that could one day include you? If you are Deion Bonner, a high school player from Columbus, Georgia, what you actually do is steal a bunch of stuff from the lockers of current players. Not the approach I would have taken.

3) Things with the ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers have gotten so bad that Major League Baseball has now taken over the operations of the team. What a bad scene.

4) The fan who set fire to Auburn’s Toomer’s Corner oak trees a few months ago was attacked and beaten after a hearing on the matter in Alabama on Wednesday.

5) I am pretty sure that we had several plays like this back when I played Little League Baseball. Hunter Pence messed that one up in a big way.

6) Miami Dolphins wide receiver Brandon Marshall was stabbed by his wife on Friday. He underwent surgery on Saturday and is expected to fully recover.

Good sports:

1) Bobby Ryan, a forward for the Anaheim Ducks, scored one of the best looking goals I have ever seen on Friday against the Nashville Predators. Check it out.

2) Rafael Nadal continued his clay court dominance on Sunday, beating countryman David Ferrer in a final for the second time this month to win the Barcelona Open, a tournament he has now won six times.

3) Roy Halladay again showed why he is the best pitcher in baseball on Sunday. He struck out fourteen San Diego Padres in the Phillies 3-1 win to complete a four game sweep.

Bad sports, good sports appears every Monday.

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Alan Spoll

Alan Spoll is a software quality assurance director from the suburbs of Philadelphia where he lives with his wonderful wife and children. He has spent his entire life as a passionate fan of the Eagles, Phillies, Sixers, Flyers, and Penn State. Recent Phillies success aside, you will understand his natural negativity. Follow me on Twitter - @DocAlan02