NFL Lockout--ho hum

The NFL rules America, blah, blah, blah. We all know that. The seemingly fireproof league gets more and more popular every year, at least in terms of objective measures like TV ratings and subjective measures like "buzz," time spent talking about football on ESPN, and shouts heard form your neighbor after the Redskins give up yet another interception return for a touchdown.

Now, however, there is a lockout. Ooh, lockout! Basically what this means is that the greedy owners are trying to bust the players union and force them to take a deal less favorable one than the owners and players agreed to during the previous labor negotiations. See, the owners locked out the players, so it's their "fault," but they don't care if fans blame them, and I'm sure they're banking on the fact that many fans will ignore the reality and give a knee-jerk jeer or two to the "greedy players" for striking (which they're not) and asking for money to play a fun game (and the game may be fun, but the injuries aren't). So there is a lockout, and the season, still a ways off, could be in jeopardy. To this, I say...so what?

I'm sure I'll miss pro football a little more once autumn approaches, but for now, I'm fine with baseball. I think the NFL needs to be taken down a peg or two, anyway, and some humility might be good for this vast corporate entity and the several dozen rich dudes who oversee it. I do feel sorry for all the working people who make a living off NFL games--bartenders, ticket takers, vendors, etc.--and it really stinks that their well-being is threatened by this labor negotiation process. I do recognize that is a significant terrible effect of the lockout. But that's all the more reason to blame the league officials and the owners.

The NFL is fun, sure, but even when fall comes around, baseball, the national pastime, carries us through October. I have a college team to root for every Saturday. I have other interests. Life goes on without pro football, and it could even be better for a while. Hey, maybe an extended cessation of games would force NFL Network to unearth more vintage game broadcasts from its archives, thus making that channel instantly more useful. Maybe ESPN Classic can run some more USFL games. Maybe we can all just read a book, watch a movie, or spend more time with our families outside instead of getting drunk and yelling at the TV or the field for 3 1/2 hours.

So, yeah, right now, I'm fine with a lockout, especially if somehow the players can hold some ground and get concessions and not just roll over for the owners. Unless the Steelers could somehow get a quality offensive lineman or two and a defensive end or an impact defensive back. Then they could well win the Super Bowl this time, and by God, they had better get the chance to do it.