NFL Lockout Continues, sort of

The NFL has the first win of the year in the labor fight with the players and the former player’s union the NFLPA. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has granted the league a stay. This means the ruling hat forced NFL teams to reopen their doors this week has been put on hold. Even though the top of NFL.com states the lockout is back in effect, the league has not yet shut everything down. Part of that is to avoid bad press while the NFL conducts its very popular NFL draft, but part of it is for them to decide their next move.

In my opinion is it far past the time where the NFL should use their one victory to widen the divide between itself and the players. They should use this little bit of leverage to get the players back to the bargaining table. Then the two sides should grow up and get a deal done. The fans will no longer tolerate these two parties squabbling over a 9 billion dollar pie.

Sure it may not matter right now, it may not even matter in a month, but once a NFL fan sits down soon his couch this fall and flips his remote to Sunday football and it is not there that fan will find something else to do with his time. The NFL, its team, and players will then have to work very hard to win that fan back. It took nearly five years for the NHL to recover from its disastrous labor strife and it is a lesson both sides in the NFL fight should have already learned.

Related Links:

• Joshua Lobdell.com