Admittedly, I assumed by now the National Football League “lockout” would have long been over.
And while we are not in the critical stage of losing the 2011 season, my ever-aging mind is beginning to play “what if” scenarios concerning the upcoming season.
Part of me says there would be no way the season would be cancelled. In many ways, Major League Baseball has still not recovered from its situation in 1994 which resulted in the loss of a World Series. While many fans have forgiven that incident, others have not and will not.
One has to think the powers-that-be in the NFL realize cancelling a season would be the worst option possible. However, it can be debated just who is right and who is wrong in this ongoing scenario.
First, you have billionaire owners going against millionaire players. Your average blue-collar fan, the one who buys tickets and the overpriced hot dogs at the games, is left scratching his head on this one. Billionaires want to keep the millionaires from getting more money. The millionaires are protected by a powerful players’ union, which also leaves the average working man wondering how the world ended so upside down.
While the working man who makes $50,000 isn’t entitled to a union (as any millionaire right-wing talk show host will be glad to tell you), hardly a peep is heard about millionaires fighting for more millions.
But back to the action or lack of it on the field for 2011.
The NFL, despite the tough economic times has continued to thrive. Fans still manage to show up for games because the product is so valued. Even with ticket prices reaching a laughable level, football is as American as apple pie. Fans will always be there.
At least they probably will be. If you take someone for granted then who knows. We all can be overlooked for some length of time but eventually we want credit for being the fans and supporters we are.
I still believe this “lockout” will end before any regular season games are played. In fact, I believe once we turn the calendar to July and training camps are set to begin, the “lockout” will magically come to an end with both parties making a few concessions here and there.
However, if the worst case scenario does happen and we don’t have the NFL this fall, all is not lost. First, there will always be college football. I think losing college football would be a bigger personal loss for many fans, especially in the South. I say move a few big-time college games to Sunday, televise them on the four-letter network and see how much the NFL is missed.
Second, and I know to some this may be stretching it, the new UFL will be in its second season this fall. With former big-time NFL coaches such as Dennis Green, Jim Fassel, Marty Schottenheimer and Jerry Glanville guiding franchises, the league will be worth a look, especially if the NFL is not with us.
For me, I refuse to be held hostage by the battle between millionaires and billionaires. It’s laughable really. I will still have plenty of football to choose from starting on Friday nights at the local high school stadium and continuing throughout the week with college play. Will I miss the NFL if it disappears for the season? Sure. However, life and football will go on.
Chris Bridges is sports editor of the Barrow Journal. You can reach him at cbridges@barrowjournal.com.
