Probably Wrong

I'm probably wrong in speculating on the ridiculous delay in the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals decision on the NFL lockout. Circuit Court Judges Steven Colloton, Duane Benton and Kermit Bye are probably enjoying their time in the spotlight. Kicking off their loafers. They "temporarily stayed" Judge Susan Nelson's ruling against the lockout way back on April 29th. I kind of figured that a temporary stay meant, well, temporary. Like in short, before they made a final ruling. It's been over a week. I was probably wrong to think that "legal time" was anything close to real time. I've been wrong throughout this whole mess. I thought that the negotiation extensions back in February were promising. I was wrong. It simply gave both parties more time to get more pissed at each other. For the record, the trio of Appeals judges voted 2-1 in favor of the "temporary stay". Bye was the dissenting judge, and according to his strong wording against the NFL will remain against the lockout. I'm probably wrong, but the delay seems to be due to the other two debating their positions. If that is true, then they may not be as firmly on the side of the league as some may view their decision on the "temporary stay" to be. Only one needs to side with the players. I just want to see the business of the NFL move forward. That has not been happening. The draft gave us all a brief break. A bit of a positive in an otherwise brutal offseason. The draft was no break for Commissioner Roger Goodell. He was apparently quite shaken by the response of the fans at Radio City Music Hall. I don't understand why he would have expected anything else, but I think that their reaction towards him was a bit misguided. Goodell is hired by the owners and oversees the players, but he really has no official role in these negotiations. He can be a catalyst in negotiations, but he has no vote one way or the other. Pete Rozelle never got involved in labor negotiations. A decision that he later regretted. He advised Paul Tagliabue to take a more active role. There was relative labor peace throughout his time. Being a lawyer may have helped Tagliabue a bit. Goodell has tried to take the same active approach. It still comes down to the owners and the players and Goodell is neither.

I'd rather see the lockout lifted and the league year started while the owners and players resume negotiations on the 16th. If this doesn't happen soon, the level of football play in September will suffer. No one wants that. An NFL season doesn't just happen, spring to full bloom suddenly in the fall. It starts as soon as the Super Bowl ends, three months ago. I may spend too much time thinking about this crap. It just needs to end and I just can't understand why it hasn't.