So basically, this is day 5 going into day 6 of the NFL lockout, and life is rather sad for fans and players. Players are getting locked out, the NFLPA is trying to cause a ruckus, and the prospects are like, "Dude...what's going on?" Even though this case is not as scary and as life-threatening as the crisis in Japan (I'm not trying to pull a Gilbert Gottfried here, people) it's still a big deal. Athletes are out of jobs, and they may not have a season to play, and well, some people just won't know what to do on Sundays during the Fall and Winter. Amid this turmoil, they're still releasing a season schedule next month. Are things looking up just yet? Not sure.
Meanwhile, other players are trying to keep themselves busy. Chad Johnson Ochocinco is trying out for MLS with the Kansas City Wizards [EDIT - Apparently the MLS team is now called Sporting Kansas City. What? Sounds stupid, if you ask me.]. Not everybody is working in peace like this. Some players are actually rearing their ugly head at this. Some like Adrian Peterson is comparing this to slavery and that it's unfair. Why he said this I don't understand because honestly, did slaves get paid? No, although they got paid in beatings, but that's besides the point because players get beat up in some ways.
What I'm doing here is venting--venting on how (for the lack of a better word) retarded this whole players lockout is.
The behind the scenes stuff for this fallout is making me crack up. On the other hand, it looks rather childish to me. The NFLPA is coaxing prospects to boycott the draft, almost mocking the NFL officials and preventing them from completing a season and doing anything else productive. I know there's a big deal about money in this, which makes a difference here, but c'mon...you're gonna whisper into prospects' ears into not letting them play in the NFL even if an agreement is made in the near future? Please, we're not in the fifth grade. We can figure out better ways to go around this and fight to get an agreement. This kid fought for freedom and good things, you should try to do the same. Oh wait, he got slammed. Never mind. This still doesn't mean you should go around and persuade people to fuel a really bad forest fire that's eating up deals that have already been finalized.
If you didn't wait until last minute to figure something out, you wouldn't have to push things back like, two or three times. Good heavens, now we're back in college with procrastinating stuff. Okay, we might have grown up a little here, but still. You aren't getting anywhere with making excuses and fighting over budgets and being slap-happy. You're shutting out players that were looking for agreements, you're angering agents and contractors, etc. Honestly owners and the like, you make the business world look like dirt. You can't at least meet halfway with these guys? You're grown up, you should know how to compromise money. Good God, you're a part of one of the largest organized sports organizations in the world, and you can't avoid something like this? Even the MLS avoided this last year, and they haven't been around nearly as long as the NFL. Money talks, and it's telling you guys to stop being ridiculous and be fair and not split hairs. Whoa, I rhymed.
In any case, get the players back in. They're not stupid. The veterans know what needs to be done, and they're smart enough to know how to fix things up with the owners and the like. It's not fair to leave them hanging on something they're involved in. If not for them, this business will cease to grow.
Now stop being moneygrubbers and play nice.
[In short, arena football officials are loving this.]
--AZ
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