Stalemate

 

Just when you thought you could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Right when we all let out a deep sigh of relief. We woke up and realized, nothing had changed, and are left wondering what is really going on?

Thursday night around 7:30 it was breaking news, Friday morning around 7:30 it was back to the same old routine for the past 4 months. Breaking News: The NFL is still locked out!

Here is what we do know: The owners voted 31-0 (the Raiders were the only ones to abstain from voting, and then everyone remembered that Al Davis owns the team and wasn’t really surprised) in favor of a 10-year collective bargaining agreement. Included in this new CBA is new revenue sharing models, a new salary cap and salary floor to help make the playing field even, a rookie pay-scale, and new rules on veterans eligible for free agency. Seems great, let’s get this signed and the players back on the field! Wrong, the players needed to have a majority vote in favor of the CBA and then reinstate the dissolved players’ union in order for this to take effect, and well last night; the players were not seeing eye to eye with the owners.

Here is where the media is leading us astray. This is all nonsense! The real story is the owners got together and voted on this before the players so that the players now look like the bad guys. When in reality in this deal, the players are getting a smaller percentage of the revenue (46-48%) and are being forced to explain why they did not vote. ESPN’s Chris Mortensonreported that many unnamed players association representatives are not happy with the new agreement, while some owners felt like there was an agreement on both sides about the deal.

Commissioner Roger Goodell said in his press conference this is about getting football back, that is what everyone wants. Well excuse me Mr. Commish, but clearly that is not the case. If it were the case, then there wouldn’t be a “one side votes then the other side votes” atmosphere. If everyone was thinking about the best interests of football, and the people who help put money in the owners’ and players’ pockets, the fans, then there wouldn’t be the bickering, and banter from the two sides. If they really wanted football back a deal would have been done four months ago when the last CBA expired. These two sides don’t care if football is back; they just want to guarantee they are getting more of the pie.

One of my favorite quotes came from Carolina Panthers ownerJerry Richardson who said, “We believe we had a handshake agreement with the players.” This is almost laughable. It is certainly hard to shake hands from over 800 miles away. The owners are in Atlanta meeting while the players are in Washington DC. How can you have a handshake agreement if the two sides aren’t even meeting in the same place? You can’t shake hands on a conference call. To say there is a handshake agreement when you haven’t shook a hand is a bold faced lie Mr. Richardson.

What the two sides still cannot agree on is how to split up the $4 Billion in TV revenue insurance that the owners were withholding from the players. That must be rough; I can’t imagine how hard it could be to split up 4 billion dollars. Is this a joke? This is where all of the fans get fed up, 4 billion dollars? Really? And they are arguing over who gets what percentage. It is almost embarrassing, actually. You could give every citizen in America a million dollars and you would still have over three-and-a-half billion dollars left. If they cannot figure out what to do with 4 billion dollars, here is a novel idea: how about we give half of it to charities across the United States, and give the other half to America’s schools so that kids no longer have to pay to play high school sports, or worry about their sports getting cut because of lack of funding. This is the part of it all that I cannot forgive; these two sides are fighting and complaining over how to split 4 billion dollars, while we are in the midst of an economic recession. I feel no sympathy towards either side at this point.

The “story” that the media has been hand feeding us is an absolute joke. I wish the media would just quit talking about it. There is no NFL right now, until there is a signed agreement, just don’t talk about it. Pretend like it’s not there and then maybe they (the owners and players) will get the point and really try to figure this out. If they really wanted to get something done, they would get together in the same room, and not come out until the deal is done. The problem is these guys do not really care about football; it is just a bunch of rich people arguing over how to get richer.

I have tried to stay away from talking about the NFL lockout because there is no point to talking about it if there is no season, but this was the last straw. The fact that these two sides would throw their fans under the bus even when the NFL was at the pinnacle of its popularity is appalling. The Commissioner should have made both sides come together in his office like a principal and forced them to figure out a deal, instead he is running around like a puppet trying to tell us that everyone wants football back, when the reality is, we are no further along than four months ago when this thing all started. 

It’s All in the Eye of the Tiger

Earlier this week Tiger Woods decided to cut ties with his long time caddie Stevie Williams. Shocking? Eh, not really. What was more shocking was the fact that it was announced on Tiger’s website. And to add another twist, apparently, both parties knew of this for weeks but decided not to leak it until after the British Open. After the stories of affairs, and eventual divorce between Tiger and Elin it never seemed as if the golfer and caddie were on the same page when Tiger returned to golf.

Why isn’t this move very surprising? Well, for one Williams hasn’t been working. He has worked this year’s Major Championships, caddying for Adam Scott, but other than that he has been out of work. And the fact that the two never really got that old chemistry back that they had before Thanksgiving 2010. But to me, this is the last step in turning over a completely new leaf, while some argue that Williams was Woods' last line of security, I would argue that this marks the beginning of a completely new slate.

And let’s face it, golf needs Tiger. But, not just Tiger, the Tiger that pumped his fist, the Tiger that chased his putts into the hole knowing they were good, the Tiger that made PGA events the hottest tickets around. And he has shown us glimpses of that this year, albeit shortened by injuries, but at the Masters firing a 30 on the front nine to climb into contention, and his performance at the Ryder Cup. He just needs to get healthy, because let’s face it, you can’t ask a lame horse to win the Kentucky Derby.

Most people probably figure it’s golf, you don’t need to be that healthy, and those are the people that are riding around in the golf carts once every couple of weeks. I can only imagine what walking 18 holes (7,000+ yards) for four straight days must feel like on your legs. Then throw in the fact that your knee and heel is bothering you that would make it difficult to golf I would suspect.

Tiger needs to come back healthy, and get back to the old “Tiger style” of golf that he used to absolutely dominate golf courses. I agree 100% with what Bubba Watson said earlier this year about Tiger over analyzing his swing when he was quoted saying, “Tiger’s swing is so mental". He’s exactly right!

I remember when Tiger Woods went out there, hit the ball straight as an arrow, and made some of the world’s hardest courses look like putt-putt courses. Now, he’s changed swing coaches, he’s switched putters, he’s worried about shaping his shots more, blah blah blah. What happened to the Tiger that went out and gripped it and ripped it? The Tiger that hit the stinger’s about 6 feet off the ground right down the middle? The Tiger that would crouch down, put his hands around the brim of his cap, and get that “Tigervision” where you just knew he was going to make this putt? That is the Tiger that I want back; that golf needs back!

Anyone who doesn’t think he’s still one of the best golfer’s in the world is crazy. We were all just spoiled by his dominance for the last decade+. He needs to be healthy, he needs to come back with that enthusiasm and moxy he used to play with, and he needs to win! And once he does that we will get to sit back and enjoy one of the greatest ever, go against the up and coming greatest to be in McIlroy. Then we all win.

The View from Out Here....Weekend Observations

Here are some of my observations from the weekend of 7/15-7/17

·       Funny how the US Women’s National Team invited President Obama to watch them play for the women’s world cup in Germany  and they got a tweet apology back. Hmm..guess Michelle and the kids must have been using AF1.

·       Why on earth would you want to live in the UK? Thethird round of the British open featured driving rain, mid sixties temps, andwinds of 25-30mph, and it’s mid-July! Kudos to Darren Clarke for emerging from the elements during that 3^rd round to go on and win the Claret Jug on Sunday. He had the quote of the day after his 3^rd round stating he was going to go “stuff his face, and try not to drink to much.”  But hey, at least you could say you live in a town called Sandwich!

·       So far my pick for race of the year goes to Saturday’s $750,000 Delaware Handicap. Great stretch duel between KY Oaks winner Blind Luck, and rival Havre de Grace.

·       I hope the NCAA and Conferences start using pencil for their record books, because it seems every day somebody new vacates wins/championships. Georgia Tech is the newest member on the list vacating its 2009 ACC Championship in football over $312.

·       I am sold on the Pittsburgh Pirates as legitimate NL Central contenders. Huge series starts today with division rival and pre-season NL Central favorite Cincinnati Reds.

 

·       The NFL appears to be coming out of hibernation. Apparently some last minute “minor” issues need to be nailed down. Really? Last minute minor issues? This has been going on for over 3 months, what could have possibly popped up that these guys weren’t expecting?

Winner of the weekend:

Darren Clarke – the Northern Ireland native won his first Major in his own backyard, and then celebrated at the press conference the only way a Irishman knows how! Brilliant!

Loser of the Weekend:

Has to be the US Women’s National Team. To come up short after all of the dramatics has to sting. The fact that they played, probably, their best all around matchof the tournament and still lost, stings even more.