Lockout? What lockout? Joey Porter's Pit Bulls are pretty much tuning it out, as if it never will happen. And it probably never will.
"Nevermore," quoth The Ravens. There's too much money at stake.
In this era of rampant unemployment, continuing crises overseas, skyrocketing gas prices, chainsawed government services, ongoing layoffs, non-existent health insurance, transit cutbacks, burgeoning inflation and an uncertain future for so many, why should we worry about how $9 billion annually will be split among the likes of Jerry Jones, Peyton Manning, Roger Goodell, DeMaurice Smith, Daniel Snyder, Michael Vick, Bill Bellichek, Adam "Pacman" Jones, et al?
Why, really, should we fans care about so few arguing over so many billions?
As we explained in correspondence with our blogging friend Gordon over at UK Black and Gold, Joey Porter's Pit Bulls feel ill-equipped to speculate how it will shake out. There's almost certainly more going on behind closed doors that any of us could possibly know.
Granted, it's more complex than money. Then again, usually when somebody tells you it's not about the money -- it's about the money.
The NFLPA isn't really even a union (not a real union like, say, the Teamsters or the United Steelworkers). Still, it does represent the players ("labor"), and they do, or should, have some rights with respect to working conditions. Issues other than money presumably include: the number of games played per season (and pre-season); player safety; health insurance and other benefits, roster size, pensions for retired players, etc. And, for what it's worth, Commissioner Goodell, Joey Porter's Pit Bulls HATE the idea of an 18-game season.
Whatever. We'll turn to the Post-Gazette's Gene Collier for perspective, as he presents his typically cogent take in Thursday's column titled, "Fans, reality not part of NFL spat."
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