Tragedy In The Works

OH NO!!! This can't be happening! With the current Collective Bargaining agreement set to expire in September, the NFL is in danger of a player's strike. Let me set the stage for you here:

1) The player's union has to opt out by November 8th of this year, but it may come as soon as Tuesday. What does this mean?
2) The current contract is scheduled to run until the end of the 2013 season, but if they opt out of it, it will expire after the 2011 season. Phew, at least two more years of football at least.
3) But, the league will not be the same. If there is no agreement in place by the start of the 2010 season, the salary cap will be removed. Now, I don't know about you folks, but I think this would be terrible for the game. Former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue worked so hard to get the cap in place, and helped bring unheard of parity to the league. It would be a shame to take all that work and basically destroy it. And sorry to any Bills fans out there, a cap free season would not be friendly to small market teams. Cities like Dallas, San Francisco and New York would spend like crazy, hoping to buy a championship. I, for one, don't want to see a Super Bowl bought.
4) After the cap-less season, the NFL would be no more until a new agreement is reached.

WOW! Scary stuff, eh? I think the players need to stop all this squabbling, and get back to what matters: the game of football. The NFL has risen to become one of the most popular sports in the world, and it would be a shame for a player's strike to ruin this. Look at the MLB. It has never been the same since their player strikes. The NHL has come back, but, lets be honest, it was wayyyyyyyy down long before the strike occurred. The Player's Association needs to get their greedy paws back onto the field (and out of the board room) where they belong.

That is just one guy's opinion on the complex issue that is collective bargaining. Jeez, what a mess this could be.

Criminal Counter: Surprisingly, still only 1.