The NFL Lockout impacts each and every person who cares about the NFL in some way. It impacts players, owners, agents, team employees, fans, sports writers, bloggers. Anyone you can think of who is connected to the NFL in some way either will -- or has already -- felt the impact of the current stupidity known as the NFL labor dispute.
All of you are impacted on a personal level in some way, shape or form other than just being annoyed by the whole mess. You know what that is and maybe it is worth sharing, maybe it isn't.
I thought it was time that I shared the story of how the lockout is affecting me personally, and by extension the many thousands of you who read Big Blue View every day.
The Albany Times Union Sunday wrote about the fact that the Giants will not be able to hold training camp at UAlbany, something they have done for the past 15 years, unless an agreement of some sort is reached soon. The Giants take over at least one entire dorm during the August training camp, as well as several football fields, a dining hall and other facilities used for office space. They can do so because there are no classes during training camp. Any delay and UAlbany will not be available to the Giants.
"We are sitting on the sidelines, waiting," UAlbany athletic director Lee McElroy told the Times Union. "At some point we have to make a decision.
"We are in a state of limbo. ... We just don't know. ...
"The clock is running. If they are going to strike the deal, or at least reopen negotiations, at least we will get some indication of where we're going."
If you have been reading Big Blue View for a while I think many of you know how not having camp at UAlbany will directly affect me, and you by extension.
I live across the Hudson River from UAlbany, a 20-minute drive over to the practice fields the Giants use every summer. Giants' PR Director Pat Hanlon has been gracious enough to credential me for those practice sessions the last two summers, meaning I could provide first-hand practice reports and player interviews for you here at BBV.
If the Giants have to train in East Rutherford at the Timex Performance Center that is not going to happen. The Giants, hopefully, will still be willing to allow me access to practices and players. New Meadowlands, though, is a three-hour plus drive for me. So, if training camp is held there I will likely not be seeing much -- if any -- of it.
There is one other impact I have not yet mentioned. Many of you remember that prior to the 2010 season the great folks at Maple Street Press asked me to edit and produce a Giants Season Annual preview magazine. Well, with no guarantee of when -- or if -- the 2011 season will actually get underway, publication of a 2011 Giants Season Annual has been shelved.
That saddens me, as well as makes my wallet lighter, but it's a decision I understand. Producing a magazine to preview a season that may not happen is a huge risk. Plus, even if there is a season with no guarantee of a training camp or pre-season, the window of opportunity for a publication like that to sell simply might not be there.
So, yes, the lockout stinks. Mostly. of course, because we have to talk about legal mumbo-jumbo rather than football. Also, though, because it will likely end up hurting the quality of what I can bring you here at Big Blue View.