Complete Breakdown of the NFL Labor Battle

I have several thoughts on the various issues at play in the NFL Labor situation.  First, let me break down the 20 point contract bargaining agreement that the owners proposed at the last minute.  The revenue sharing included in said proposal can only be described as NOBODYCARESABOUTYOURSTUPIDDISAGREEMENTJUSTDONTCANCELANYGAMESANDYOUBETTERNOTFUCKWITHMYFANTASYFOOTBALLNEXTSEASON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As we've already seen, the labor battle will not to any favors for the league's perception.  Having star players like Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady, that are among the most popular athletes today, lead a lawsuit against their bosses will be damaging to their popularity, and therefore the league's as well.  Adding to the controversy is the immature plan to scare incoming players from attending the NFL draft and publicly celebrating their accomplishments.  One viewer of "Mike and Mike" this morning aptly compared this to a teacher's union pressuring students to skip their high school graduation to thumb their nose at the administration.  Finally, the official start of the lockout coincided with one of the worst natural disasters we've seen in recent years.  Released statements, press conferences, Twitter come-backs, and reports from various sources regarding a legal battle between millionaires and billionaires is not good PR, especially when it is competing for news airtime with scenes of towns being washed away and nuclear plants on fire.

I don't mean to be pretentious or smug, but nobody is going to win the public relations tug-of-war that has started.  We're five months away from losing games and fans are already tired of the rhetoric and party-lining.  We all know negotiations don't heat up until deadlines, so we are far from a resolution.  The best thing both sides, especially the players, could do at this point is shut up and deal with this behind closed doors.

And since there are more important things going on in the world right now, I want to focus on those issues.  I came across this article about how the Japanese aren't looting and found it very interesting.  Isn't looting part the government's motivation for stresses disaster preparedness?  Certainly they want people to have the proper supplies when something unfortunate happens, but indirectly that is meant to curb people from resorting to disorder and lawlessness to fulfill their needs.  Proof of our culture's self-centeredness could be found in the media's reporting of the earthquake and tsunami.  I found in numerous places that the typical reports on the immediate devastation in Japan, the resulting affect on neighboring countries, etc. were accompanied by articles on the affect that had on oil prices.  One reporter theorized that oil and gas prices should go down since this would surely stall the world's third largest economy.  Well good - that should counteract the price increases from the civil unrest in Libya! (Warning: if you couldn't tell that was seething with sarcasm, you need help.)

Again, to avoid being smug, I am not sure how I would react in a crisis situation.  If I need food or supplies and I am facing an empty store window with a brick in hand, I don't think I would concern myself with trying to find the owner or cash to pay them.  This report, if true, is certainly admirable and unfortunately uncommon.