Feb. 15, 2011
The surest sign that the NFL is headed for a work stoppage and a long standoff between the owners and players is that both sides are sending their lawyers and spokesmen into battle.
It's briefcases, rep ties and opening statements at 40 paces.
Oh, and maybe someday the owners and players will get down to serious negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement.
The current agreement expires at 11:59 p.m. on Mar. 3. I used to be one of the optimists who thought the chance of avoiding a lockout by the owners could be measured in grains of sand slowly drifting downward in an hour glass.
I was wrong. Now, it's more like an avalanche roaring down the Rockies. And try stopping it. No way.
I say there is a 100 percent chance that the owners will lock out the players on Mar. 4.
My target date for negotiating a new CBA: Aug. 8. That would be one month before the traditional Thursday-night season-opener featuring the Super Bowl champions.
For now, the two sides are engaged in a meaningless game of positioning for position's sake. In other words, they're playing a shell game, with no winner.
Monday, the NFL filed an unfair labor practice charge against the NFL Players Association with the National Labor Relations Board. The NFL is claiming that the players' union is not bargaining in good faith.
Also Monday, a spokesman for the union told ESPN that the NFL had failed to reconfirm two negotiating sessions scheduled for this week.
Tuesday, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello was quoted as saying the union's claim that bargaining sessions had been scheduled was "complete fiction."
The next meaningful agreement will be on a date to negotiate.
There is no sympathy here for either side in a sport that is drowning in fan popularity and money.
There are smart men on both sides of these negotiations, which have been characterized as millionaires (the players) arguing with billionaires (the owners).
No matter what side of the wealth ladder they belong to, both sides need to act like adults.
Word of mouth: My advice to commissioner Roger Goodell and Kevin Mawae, president of the Players Association, is the same: Choose your words carefully. Someone's listening and remembering.
Goodell has characterized exhibition games for what they are
