And Now We Wait
By JohnRehor on May 01, 2011 with 19 Comments
Did everyone get their NFL fix over the last three days?
Will it be enough to satisfy for a while?
Let’s hope so, because now we have to wait.
The three day nirvana of the NFL Draft has once again been replaced with the on again, off again lockout, leaving the NFL in limbo for the time being as the issue is handed over to the lawyers to decide on the future of the league. The 2011 league year has yet to begin, the players can’t work out, the rookies can’t sign contracts, and everything associated with the NFL sounds more like a Tom Petty song then the normal process post draft.
Normally after the draft, the rookies report to Green Bay for rookie orientation, followed by Mini Camp at the end of May. This year, barring a miracle, the normal hustle and bustle around Lambeau Field by the coaches and players will be replaced by echoes in the Atrium, with a few fans taking the stadium tour and visiting the Pro Shop. The same fans who would be camped out in the parking lot autograph seeking before walking over to Ray Nitschke Field to take in practice are now left with little to do except wait.
There are two groups of losers in this mess. The first is the fans. The die hards who view their fandom as borderline obsession. The fans who make the trip to Lambeau Field just to experience it. The people who devote 4 months a year for football season, plus the entire offseason. The lockout hurts them, because it drives at the very core of their fandom. They cannot get what they want, and that is football.
The other group who falls into the loser category is the players. This is their profession, their livelihood, and it has been taken away from them. From a fan’s perspective, they are unable to practice with their teammates in any official practice setting. For the Packers, they are losing valuable practice time which would help prepare them to defend their title. What about the undrafted free agents, who cannot sign with any team until the lockout is lifted? Their careers have literally been put on hold until further notice. Now I am not saying that I am siding with either the owners or the players in this case; I have my own opinion which I am keeping to myself. What I am saying is that the players at this moment are not benefiting from the lockout, and who knows if they ever will.
Three days of all NFL has been replaced with the eerie quiet of the lockout. The optimism of new NFL players achieving their dream of playing in the NFL silenced, albeit temporarily (we hope), until owners and players can agree to play nice again. The all NFL mentaility of the fans for draft weekend has turned into empty stadiums across the country. No practice, no rookie camp. Nothing. Everything has stopped yet again.
We all must do the same thing now: wait.
Filed Under: John Rehor
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Rookies will be at a particular disadvantage this year as they won’t get as much opportunity to impress the coaching staff. Increases the likelihood teams will lose good young players, possibly opting to go with the more known quantity of vets already on roster.
could be a benefit for the Packers, TT has had some luck getting guys off of the street.
The rookies lose rookie camp, but the true rookie losers are the UFAs-they cant sign with anyone until the lockout is over. What if the lockout goes until July? Think of all the practice time those guys lose-a huge disadvantage trying to make a team.
Its a real shame they have to go through this.
The real losers here are taxpayers, all of these fancy new stadiums that people have been forced to pay for now are going unused because the owners, having already fleeced the common man, are now setting their sights on millionaires (although the players have a very limited career to be making that kind of money)
After that the fans are the losers since most teams are requiring season ticket holders to pay for their seats already, imagine McDonalds charging for a burger that may or may not exist (or may exist months later than expected)
In Summation
Losers
Taxpayers
Players
Fans
Greedy Bastards
Owners
I just don’t know how anyone sides with the owners. Shouldn’t be much of a decision.
Your stadium perspective is very good-you filled in the blanks I left regarding stadium usage.
Oh, how I want to comment on your greedy bastards comment, but I made a vow not to give my opinion until the lockout is over.
I don’t cheer for those owners.
I cheer for the Green Bay Packers. If the current deal makes it impossible for the Packers to remain in business in the next 10 years, I don’t care if the players are screwed, I even don’t care if that sob Jerry Jones gets richer.
I want what’s best for the Green Bay Packers. If I have to side with the owners to get that, so be it.
Abso-freaking-lutely!!!!!!
“I want what’s best for the Green Bay Packers”
This part I absolutely agree with. All Packers fans should. And since they are the only team not run by any one douchy owner, they are the anti-Jerry Jones/Dan Snyder. But you would seriously side with owners like that to get football back?
I want a solution that is equitable for both sides. Will that happen? Probably not, one side will undoubtedly come out on the losing end.
“But you would seriously side with owners like that to get football back?”
Never said that. The best chance to get football back is the players getting what they want.
I do am sick and tired of both sides.
But my point is, IF it is unsustainable for the Packers‘ future the current deal, we should all be siding with the owners. IF.
Sorry-read too much into what you wrote
Yeah, still not going to say what I really want to say-still going to wait until it is over once and for all.
It may be poetic justice that the owners have inadvertently screwed themselves depending on how all the legal wrangling turns out. Professional sports leagues routinely skirt the edge of anti-trust laws. By re-opening the CBA early, they tossed aside rules that made them far and away the most successful league and opened up areas for negotiation that they hadn’t bargained for.
My fear is that the Packers were better off under the old system than the one that will emerge from any new agreement.
Of course the players were the ones who walked away from negotations..
Damn it, said I wasnt going to comment until after the lockout was permanantly over
WE WANT FOOTBALL!!!!
CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP
Repeat over and over and over…
While we’re waiting I was hoping that somebody out there could give me some advice.
Does anyone know how to cancel a bid on E-Bay?
I put in a $20 bid for a “Mickey Mouse Outfit”
Now it seems I’m only 7 hours away from possibly owning the
Minnesota Vikings.
I saw a similar ad-a jackass costume. Little did I know it was actually for the Chicago Bears
Weird
Damn, my bid was the highest. Now what am I going to do? Move to LA I guess. Worst $20 I ever spent.
Could you imagine the Vikings and the Raiders in the same vicinity? Talk about an NFL trainwreck waiting to happen
A friend of mine from Dallas was in bar at the airport in the Twin Cities not long after the North Stars moved to Dallas. He said to the bartender “just when you think we’ve milked out everything we could from the Hershel Walker trade, they through in some second rate hockey team”. He said the bartender almost came over the bar after him. True story.