Double the Lockouts, Double the Not-So-Fun!

Okay, so I apparently missed a lot while I was gone. Thursday afternoon, negotiations between the NBA and the players union basically gave up early on doing an eleventh-hour CBA save. Now as I type this, two major sports leagues in the world are now under lockout, and people are thinking that it can't possibly get any more worse than this.

Today, we're going to be delving into each lockout issue, and how the other major leagues are showing awareness to the situation yet secretly partying about not having to go through it at a rough economical time such as this. We'll also talk about the other additional issues that could spring up from this, and trust me there's a lot of them.
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Is this the first time this has happened to the NBA?

Nope. This is the third time it's happened--the most recent one happening in the 1998-99 season which shortened the season to 50 games from the usual 82 games. Of course, the two before it were work stoppages and labor disputes occurring in the early-mid 90's, but of course this form of work stoppage now is much more rough and destructive. Because there was such an abrupt stoppage in negotiations, critics are having a dark outlook on how this CBA is going to be made before the season starts.
(I bet they all wanted to watch the coverage of the Casey Anthony trial instead of coming to a consensus.)
With the harsh economy and the wants and needs of money among players, owners, and the sports centers/merchandise providers, nobody knows how to truly split it. I'm pretty sure they knew they weren't going to come up with something before the deadline. With that said, I think they're going to try to walk into their respective cubbyholes after the July 4th (or Canada Day) holiday and figure out how to reinvent the wheel in their league. How long is it going to take them? Hey, look at the NFL...they're still walking around in circles wearing dunce caps. According to a source that worships Skip Bayless, players are thinking that there won't be a season at all starting in the fall. There is a serious lack of faith among the players, isn't there? Considering there were the degree of labor disputes that existed about 15 years ago, if there's no even negotiations next week, this could get ugly reeeeeeal fast.

What's going on with the NFL?

I seriously don't know. I don't think the NFLPA and the owners even know what's going on. From what it sounds like, commissioner Goodell's proposal didn't go through with everyone. We're now into July, and the first preseason game is scheduled for August 8th. There is so much to do with so little time to do it. Although players are holding mini camps for themselves, a lot of team building, trades, and salary business has to happen before preseason starts. Things don't look very well for these guys. At this rate, it looks like preseason may either be bypassed, shortened, or utilized in full--resulting in a shorter NFL season. No joke, kids...it really looks like the short season is going to be happening now.
PS - Did anyone notice that people are still keeping count of the days since the beginning of the lockout just as intently as the days when the people were held hostage in Iran back in the 80's? It's well past 100 days now. Whoop.

So what's next for the other major leagues (i.e. NHL, MLB)? What about the "lesser" leagues?

Honestly, this is the best thing to happen to the Canadian Football League and the Arena Football League. In the case of the NBA, the WNBA is going to be feeding off of this for the time being since they're the only functioning basketball league working in the country. Because these leagues are more-or-less "The Replacements" for the fools in lockout, ratings are more than likely going to rise. Also, lost revenue from this season will be going to them, and they will most likely have the freedom to expand. The early bird gets the worm, I suppose.
As far as the other major leagues go such as the NHL and MLB, now is their time to shine. There's no competition for either of them on Monday nights because the juggernaut known as Monday Night Football normally kills ratings and usually messes up postseason ratings in baseball. Week in and week out, the NHL may not have to worry about big NBA games coming up. It'll be like the NHL and MLB are in The Twilight Zone--they'll be saying:

Where's all of the competition?

One thing's for sure, televisions are going to be wondering what they're going to be doing if they premiere a show and then have to replace it with a revived season in basketball and football. What should they do? Sit on their hands? A lot of the TV deals are going to be messed up with this, and unless if there's a surefire backup plan in case if the lockouts don't end by the time their respective regular seasons start, we're going to be seeing a lot of awkward reality TV shows and more unnecessary coverage of the lockouts and the stupidity behind them.
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Nowadays, this is what the business is all about.
It's brutal to think about it from the money aspect, but deep down, that's really what these hard negotiations are really for. It's the whole "what's in it for me" type of thing. No matter how you split it, I'm more than certain that people are going to be dissatisfied with what's going to be brought to the table.

You can say: "Well, I don't think the stadiums and sports arenas are given enough revenue--they need some of that profit for themselves," or "The owners and general managers make too much money--give the players better salary caps so labor disputes could be eliminated," and either way somebody's going to like it. No side will want the shorter end of the stick.
I wish I could have an open forum (a la Harold Camping without the end of the world stuff) and we could just point, laugh, and pull our hair out watching people argue and not be fair to each other. It could be fun. We could make tee shirts and stuff.

This is undoubtedly the craziest thing you will probably ever live through in the world of sports. With two major leagues down for the count, it seems like the world of sports and entertainment is really thrown for a loop, and you start thinking, "well, now what?" Even if you don't follow the NFL or the NBA, there is that little empty feeling without hearing something about a trade or whether there's a huge game coming up.
Dude, could you imagine no Super Bowl this year? Oh man, that would really be the apocalypse. Every person around the world that watches the NFL will be so stir-crazy that they will probably start eating people.
I couldn't even imagine what the Miami Heat will be thinking at this point. Let's not start blaming LeBron for being a walking championship curse or something. As the summer lurks on, expect a lot of arguments and doubts rising from sports critics and a lot of questions being ousted from the players not really knowing what they're in for.
Buckle up, boys and girls, we're in for the long haul.

For now, all you can really do right now is watch. If you believe in God or some other higher power, start praying if you really want football and basketball in it's entirety this year.

--AZ