With no progress apparently being made in labor negotiations between NFL owners and players, multiple media outlets have reported that the two sides have called off a scheduled round of negotiations for today.
Ugh! When will the posturing by both sides and the playing of the media by both in an effort to gain public sympathy end and the real business of making a deal that gives us football in 2011 begin?
Yahoo! Sports Jason Cole this morning posted some ideas on ways to solve the labor dispute. First, though, he took both sides to task -- using, incidentally, some of the same verbiage I did. Great minds and all that.
Here is what Cole wrote:
As the NFL grows from what is currently a $9 billion business to what it hopes will be $20 billion in the next 10 to 12 years, there are plenty of creative ways for the owners and players to solve what has become a two-year stare down regarding the CBA that ultimately threatens to hurt the momentum the league has built.
In fact, it’s a largely idiotic stare down driven by a bunch of owners who have never gone through labor strife (16 of 32 owners weren’t in the NFL in 1987 when the league last had a work stoppage) and a group of players who also don’t know that pain (no current players were active and some weren’t even alive in 1987).
In short, as the clock ticks toward the March 3 deadline for a new CBA, both sides need to realize one thing: It’s time to stop posturing over who has the power in this relationship. An attempt by either side to exercise power will ultimately lead the league down a damaging path.
Exactly. A deal is not going to get done -- now or six months from now -- until both sides stop trying to "win" this fight and start trying to come to an agreement.