Monday, July 25, 2011

Ready for some football

The NFL lockout is over, and if you're like me you feel like autumn just got a guaranteed contract.

With this new collective bargaining agreement, we are now guaranteed NFL football not only this season but for the next nine seasons after that. That means this ridiculous dance of lawyers and owners up and down various courthouse steps and through expensive hotel lobbies is almost over.

That means autumn has its mojo back.

That means we'll soon be back to the highlights that made us all fall in love with the NFL in the first place. No more suits and ties. Lots of jersey numbers and fantastic catches and juking runs. It sounds like the Panthers will be reporting to training camp in Spartanburg on Friday, just as originally planned.

Free agency is also about to start, and that will be wild. According to ESPN.com's rankings by John Clayton, two of the top 10 most-wanted free agents played for Carolina in 2010 -- No.3 Charles Johnson (DE had 11.5 sacks in 2010) and No.6 RB DeAngelo Williams.

The Panthers want to keep both badly, but there will surely be other suitors. (Carolina used its franchise tag on center Ryan Kalil, who also needs a new contract but won't be going anywhere because of that tag. I thought they should have used it on Johnson because he plays such an important position, but that point is moot if the Panthers manage to re-sign all 3 as they would like to.

We all could have made it through a season without the NFL, of course. There are many more important things in life. But the world would have seemed grayer, and many of us, including me, would have been grumpier.

There was no sense in this dragging into the season. The local result now is that this will be the second-most anticipated training camp in Carolina Panther history, trailing only the one in 1995 when the team was brand new. (In case you've wondered where I've been and why I haven't been writing, incidentally, I just came off vacation today in time to see the end of this lockout. Good timing, huh?)

I can't wait, and I bet you can't either.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Darn. Just got the tv cable in and it jumped another 20%. Gas up 200% and going higher with taxes. Baby milk doubled in price with food and clothing and shoes. Theres a 20% unemployment rate and America swimming in red ink in DC by over 100 trillion with 15 trillion immediate debt.

But at least the professional pigs got another big raise of billions. Spread it out so they wont notice right?

What does 100 trillion look like?

http://www.wtfnoway.com


Gina

Anonymous said...

OINK OINK ...

Anonymous said...

Now Obama can dedicate all his time to picking his fantasy football team and who will win the Super Bowl. Only the important things are put in writing.

Anonymous said...

america nauseated with these nfl thieves and their sports reporter lapdogs

oh boy. scam newton and rev pappy must be lickin their chops again down in georgia ...


praise da lawd ... halalewya and pass the loot...

Anonymous said...

Did the same person leave a comment about this? This labor issue is as far away from socialism as possible and is in the right seat of capitalism (supply and demand). Don't get mad, then comment on the billions this industry makes. It's an industry (entertainment) that even folks in dire straits use to put their minds on things that are less depressing that their situation.

Anonymous said...

Wow. So much anger around here. If you want to post about the sad state of the world, pick another story to comment on. The NFL is a distraction for ME and with all the things going on, thank god for distractions. I am looking forward to watching NFL football! Good Article Scott!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Glad to see the NFL owners and players compromise to a deal! Now it is Obama's and Boehner's turn!
The veteran teams will do ok with short preseason, ie Green Bay and New Eagland, etc. But the Panthers will have the same problem this year as last, young and inexperienced, not to mention a new head coach and a new offence to learn. Cam alone might win them one or two games, but overall they will struggle to win 5 games as a team; and mid-season even before they look like a team.

Anonymous said...

Billions more will now be stolen off the nation by these NFL union parasitic thieves who also ditched the union and reformed a new trade organization so they can file future lawsuits against owners separately. Extremely serious.

In other words owners will have ZERO control on these criminals and cant decertify them plus the new trade group can sue for billions in ransom extortion as early as next year. The other leagues will follow.

Owners take note. These bandits will try to steal ownership of the teams before it is over as that is their ultimate goal. Of course this will bankrupt and destroy the whole league in the end.

Owners must take charge and OUST all these scheming bandit rogues. Clean house and rehire new. If they want their own league and have 50 billion let form it but they have nothing except what they are pilfering off the GP with their crook attorneys.

formula 1 said...

This will not have effect as a matter of fact, that's what I suppose.

bm pharmacy said...

I'm hoping that the Saints reach the SB again, they are a tremendous team.