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I don't like the idea of an increased season. Not just because of the injury situation. But because you use the preseason to figure out what kind of team you are starting to have. Two games is not enough time to get that straight. I also think that more money needs to go to the retired players. I think were Gene Upshaw still alive this wouldn't even be a point for discussion.

I happen to agree with you, I only watch preseason to see how draftee's, walk-ons and free agents are performing alongside the players that are already on the roster, I give no significance to the outcome of the game. I feel that all rookies and free agents that are not signed by july 31 should not play that season. If you are cut or traded by a team after July 31 you can still negotiate and play for another team.

Sounds like things are heating up between the players on how they stand on the CBA. Crowmartie has threatened to punch out Hasselbeck. I guess knowing that you have 9 kids and no paycheck coming in is kind of frightening for Antonio. Maybe he shouldn't have lived for the present each time he became a father but instead should have invested in the future and had a smaller family.

In the end this is really about money and nothing else. I think the NFL and the players need to sit down and come up with something that will work for all sides. They will probably hammer out a deal for this season then see what happens later.

You say "for talented players they can count on 10 year careers that will make them more money than most people make in a lifetime" - but that's not the average. The average players career is 4.1 years or something like that. We think about the superstars and all the money they make, but they are less than 5% of the rank and file.
You also say they have the added benefit of a college degree, if they pursued it - yeah well, most of these guys are coming from college football puppy mills, where the players education is nowhere near a priority. That's nice of you to say, "if they pursued it" but out of touch with reality.
The middle of the road, guy in the trenches does make good money compared to you and I - but in a short few years he is done. Add to that the additional healthcare he will need in later years. If there are other jobs more dangerous and their benefits and pay are less - well, too bad for them. The owners are making millions in this particular profession. If in these other professions you speak the owners are making millions also, then those folks should tried to improve their positions. If they happen to be in businesses that are barely getting by, then that may explain why the benefits and pay are less than an NFL players are.

It really is all about money, and hopefully they work it all out. Seems to me there is plenty of $ for everyone.

Unfortunately the negotiations are beyond our control. It would be easy to say that these pros are just being whiny rich guys, but there are legitimate points in their disagreements.

The NFL turned into a business as most sports have done already, The problem is money and how it's distributed. It takes both to make the ball roll, owners and players one is no good without the other. The problem arises when one or the other try to get a bigger piece of the pie as happened back in 06, the players snookered the owners, and now the owners want to level the playing field.

The owners voted in a bad deal in 2006, primarily since they weren't inclined to deal with rules of the last capped year, which would have required multiple teams to suffer the short-term consequences of past mismanagement of the salary cap. In the end, 30 presumably smart and shrewd owners agreed to the deal, and only Mike Brown and Ralph Wilson, stood firmly against the new proposal.

Now the Players fear the league owners are trying to one up them and make up for the moneys they lost in the prior C.B.A. like a tug of war until there is some compromise from both sides are at a stalemate. Funny thing is the Union and Owners both admit the NFL Owners made a mistake in 06 and neither are willing to work out a new contract due to the fear one side or the other will get the upper hand and lose sight of the fact a stoppage will put money in neither sides pockets.

Here are my thoughts
1.I want to see my favorite players play longer, no 18 game season
2.I like preseason because the players are fighting for a shot to prove themselves and I find that interesting and I like the underdogs to get air time
3.I hate greed, which is what the root of this is. Owners are after money and that is it. $200 to stand OUTSIDE of the Super Bowl. Screw owners and their blood money.

No NFL next year wouldn't bother me. As a Browns fan, we've already seen that. I discovered there is an entirely different life outside the couch on a Sunday afternoon.

I like what Bill Maher said about football being a prime example of Socialism. Although many right wingers will say Football is the American way, The league makes it so that owners cannot go out and make their own television deals, the money must be divided equally among teams, there is a salary cap, and that the winner of the Super Bowl isn't necessarily rewarded because they have to pick last in the next years draft. This is so that all teams get a chance to be equal and have better chances to win the championship than in baseball where a rich team like the Yankees have roster salary 10x what most other teams have and buy all the best players.

I love watching baseball at the park. I never used to like watching games on TV, but having a high definition, large screen TVs make the experience much better. I like listening to the play by play announcer but I really wish the color commentators would shut up, most of them are the reason people think the sport is dull.

QUOTE(#9):

Originally posted 04:42 PM ET  01.28 by GSH1

Funny thing is the Union and Owners both admit the NFL Owners made a mistake in 06 and neither are willing to work out a new contract due to the fear one side or the other will get the upper hand

I think that is one of the major problems. Distrust.

Watching baseball on a warm summer night, Some BBQ a few beers, friends and family is like heaven. The slowness allows relaxing conversation with intermittent bursts of excitement.