Allow me to spin a yarn (I’ve always wanted to say that). It’s kind of boring but trust me; it will all make sense in the end.
Let’s go back to when I was in eleventh grade—obnoxious voice, acne, unabated self-confidence and all. Here’s the first thing you need to know about my academic habits: I like to procrastinate; a crap load. Procrastination and I go together like spaghetti and meatballs; if I had the $10 million winning lottery ticket I’d probably procrastinate turning that sucker in. Here’s the second thing: I have the miraculous ability to convince myself that everything will be alright, that at some point I’ll fly through that big assignment like it was naught but a coffee run; that once inspiration hits nothing can stand in my way. Of course—that rarely (err, never) works.
In my eleventh grade English class we were assigned a large project that we were supposed to work on continuously through the school year. Students were to select a novel written in the early-mid 1900’s (preferably not written in America), and construct a fifteen page essay explaining the archetypes—or something like that. Well, I chose the Lord of the Rings, mostly because I had already read it like five times. Instead of spacing the project out and spending the requisite amount of time sacrificing my oh so precious weekends on the piece, I wrote it in one night—the night before it was due. Predictably, my final mark on the paper was less than stellar—a 78 from what I remember.
Even though the paper constituted a large part of my final grade, and would clearly require time and effort, my sense of urgency was about as non-existent as, well, the NFL’s resolve to get a new labor deal in place before the season begins.
ZING!!! The greatest, and most vexing difficulty facing both sides isn’t their differences of opinion, but that neither side feels an over bearing sense of urgency to get this deal done. A report surfaced several days ago that every team plays an opponent in week three that has the same bye-week later in the season. Because there’s a week off between the conference championship games and Super Bowl (according to ProFootballTalk the NFL has booked hotels in Indianapolis for two weeks) the NFL can essentially have a full season even if the first three weeks are missed due to the lockout.
Sure, I’m really glad you’re “prepared” for everything guys, but actually getting a deal done would be super. There isn’t a hard and firm deadline. Remember when March twelfth came and passed, the day we were led to believe was doomsday and the beginning of the lockout? Well, it wasn’t. That was the perceived day the NFL aimed to get a deal in place—so none of this mess would happen in the first place—yet it came and went without even a scrap of progress. And then Judge Nelson, presiding over the NFL’s injunction against the players, decided to wait a couple of weeks and take the case “under advisement”. She “advised” the NFL to continue mediation with the players in the meantime, but of course, both sides politely agreed it would be a good idea and then did absolutely nothing for two weeks, because, you know, it’s not like the NFL’s livelihood is at stake or anything.
According to an Associated Press report NBA commissioner David Stern believes football’s labor situation was worsened by a lack of urgency to get a deal done well before its collective bargaining agreement expired.
Stern said, “It seemed that at the end of the bargaining between the NFL and the players, one got the sense that in the last day or two they had closed the gap. I don't know if that's accurate or not, but that's what I read. And you wonder as an outsider whether it would have been a good thing to close that gap a few days earlier, a couple of weeks earlier so that you had the opportunity and the plan to do that.”
As Marv Albert would say, YESSS!!!!!! Neither side is willing to give ground; each is content to wait until the last minute, believing that is when they can obtain maximum leverage. Unfortunately, if a deal isn’t reached until we start losing games, one side is going to be completely SCREWED. And it won’t be the owners. The more time they waste, the more games we lose, the more ground the NFL gives as the top sport in America. I can’t believe I’m talking about the NFL’s lack of urgency when a multi-billion dollar enterprise is at stake, but this is what it has come to.
When Judge Nelson gives her (expected) ruling Monday, let’s hope it is a step forward in the process. Let’s hope they realize this deal needs to get done NOW, not two or three weeks into the season.
Let’s hope they don’t pull an all-nighter; high on Pepsi, drunk on aplomb, without a care in the world.
Trust me, it doesn’t work.
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