ACCOUNTABILITY, COMPROMISE & MUTUAL RESPECT ARE JUST MEANINGLESS WORDS.....APPARENTLY
Are you weary of being patronized, disrespected, lied to & just generally taken for granted? I sure am, as Howard Beale(Oscar winner Peter Finch) shouted in the movie Network, "I'm mad as hell & I'm not going to take it anymore!" The State of Minnesota shut down their entire government this morning, closing all state parks right before a holiday weekend. The NBA instituted a lockout at 12:01AM this morning. The NFL lockout continues, the gridlock in Washington over the debt crisis continues unabated & unemployment is killing our middle class. Yet nothing ever gets done, why is that? To divert our attention, we're fed a steady dose of the Casey Anthony trial. I know that will make all our troubles go away.
Accountability, compromise & mutual respect. Just meaningless words now, at least to the people who need these qualities most. Meanwhile the claims of "we know this is really about the fans," "now our focus is on jobs, jobs, jobs" & all our troubles are the fault of the "other guy" continue daily. At no time in my life have I felt so completely helpless almost bordering on hopeless. It's not just the NFL mess, it's so many things that plague our society.
I told you the other day about the economic impact the lack of a working agreement between players & owners is having on the fantasy football industry. I've found out it's worse than I thought. Very selfish people fighting over scraps from a $9 billion pot have now cost working people their livelihood. No problem for them, sign a new deal & the millions begin flowing right back into their grimy hands. The rest of us? Tough sh*t. "We care, but honestly, we really don't" ought to be the phrase coming out of the mouths of every player, owner, congressional representative, etc. etc.
An online football site was pitching a writing job to me, it appeared we had a deal, but because of the lockout's length, their dropdead date for rollout has passed. Now they're forced to wait till 2012. They're not alone, investors aren't willing to take a risk on a startup without knowing when the season will actually kickoff. A proper debut takes months to organize, build & advertise. Thirty-seven days until the Hall of Fame game is just not enough time to accomplish all these tasks. So more & more working stiffs will have to find another way to pay their bills this fall & winter. Should be no problem, jobs seem to be plentiful right now.
After a 16-hour session yesterday, the players & owners meeting lasted until just noon today. Then they scurried to the airport to get home for their holiday weekend. No need to rush, the billions will be there next week, "we'll get it done"......eventually. No one wants to blink in this stare down. I received an email from someone who just goes by "Bob." He had quite a suggestion for ending the labor negotiations in less than 36-hours. Bob said "put both sides in a conference room, give them an endless supply of bean burritos & lock the door. They'll get it figured out in a hurry." I'm guessing this won't happen, but I like Bob's creativity & frankly I'd like this to be the solution, they deserve this kind of treatment.
Derry sent an email saying I was overstating the impact of the lockout, it wasn't going to make much difference come September. Sorry Derry, but I believe we'll see a number of out-of-shape players & even some borderline obese guys who haven't had someone prodding them to workout. I think special teams will suffer mightily, because they rate the least amount of practice time to begin with & with no off-season work & the distinct possibility of shortened training camps, special teams will suffer. Special teams have a number of undrafted free agents playing on them. Not a single undrafted free agent has been signed since the lockout began. Fringe veterans are also a big part of special teams & since we've had no free agency period, coaches around the league will be challenged to field dependable special teams. Teams with new coaching staffs & coordinators will suffer as well, no off-season work, no new playbooks for many on the roster & the reps that make blocking schemes & pass patterns work, just haven't happened. Sorry Derry, I have to disagree. I will say this, come September, the fans will be back, they love the game so much they can block out memories of how they've been treated.
I've found out the Oregon recruiting question is no longer that, it's a full blown mess, possibly even bigger to the NCAA than the Ohio State "Tattoo-Gate." I have a long report to read, but I'll have more on this breaking story later tonight. Time to shower so we can go to dinner & watch a big fireworks display out at Old Kinderhook. I never miss an opportunity to recommend this fabulous golf course development & it's restaurants since it really is a fabulous golf course & it has two awesome dining options. All that & they employ my wife. Back later.
Accountability, compromise & mutual respect. Just meaningless words now, at least to the people who need these qualities most. Meanwhile the claims of "we know this is really about the fans," "now our focus is on jobs, jobs, jobs" & all our troubles are the fault of the "other guy" continue daily. At no time in my life have I felt so completely helpless almost bordering on hopeless. It's not just the NFL mess, it's so many things that plague our society.
I told you the other day about the economic impact the lack of a working agreement between players & owners is having on the fantasy football industry. I've found out it's worse than I thought. Very selfish people fighting over scraps from a $9 billion pot have now cost working people their livelihood. No problem for them, sign a new deal & the millions begin flowing right back into their grimy hands. The rest of us? Tough sh*t. "We care, but honestly, we really don't" ought to be the phrase coming out of the mouths of every player, owner, congressional representative, etc. etc.
An online football site was pitching a writing job to me, it appeared we had a deal, but because of the lockout's length, their dropdead date for rollout has passed. Now they're forced to wait till 2012. They're not alone, investors aren't willing to take a risk on a startup without knowing when the season will actually kickoff. A proper debut takes months to organize, build & advertise. Thirty-seven days until the Hall of Fame game is just not enough time to accomplish all these tasks. So more & more working stiffs will have to find another way to pay their bills this fall & winter. Should be no problem, jobs seem to be plentiful right now.
After a 16-hour session yesterday, the players & owners meeting lasted until just noon today. Then they scurried to the airport to get home for their holiday weekend. No need to rush, the billions will be there next week, "we'll get it done"......eventually. No one wants to blink in this stare down. I received an email from someone who just goes by "Bob." He had quite a suggestion for ending the labor negotiations in less than 36-hours. Bob said "put both sides in a conference room, give them an endless supply of bean burritos & lock the door. They'll get it figured out in a hurry." I'm guessing this won't happen, but I like Bob's creativity & frankly I'd like this to be the solution, they deserve this kind of treatment.
Derry sent an email saying I was overstating the impact of the lockout, it wasn't going to make much difference come September. Sorry Derry, but I believe we'll see a number of out-of-shape players & even some borderline obese guys who haven't had someone prodding them to workout. I think special teams will suffer mightily, because they rate the least amount of practice time to begin with & with no off-season work & the distinct possibility of shortened training camps, special teams will suffer. Special teams have a number of undrafted free agents playing on them. Not a single undrafted free agent has been signed since the lockout began. Fringe veterans are also a big part of special teams & since we've had no free agency period, coaches around the league will be challenged to field dependable special teams. Teams with new coaching staffs & coordinators will suffer as well, no off-season work, no new playbooks for many on the roster & the reps that make blocking schemes & pass patterns work, just haven't happened. Sorry Derry, I have to disagree. I will say this, come September, the fans will be back, they love the game so much they can block out memories of how they've been treated.
I've found out the Oregon recruiting question is no longer that, it's a full blown mess, possibly even bigger to the NCAA than the Ohio State "Tattoo-Gate." I have a long report to read, but I'll have more on this breaking story later tonight. Time to shower so we can go to dinner & watch a big fireworks display out at Old Kinderhook. I never miss an opportunity to recommend this fabulous golf course development & it's restaurants since it really is a fabulous golf course & it has two awesome dining options. All that & they employ my wife. Back later.
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