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NFL commisioner Roger Goodell (right) and NFL referees such as Ed Hochuli (left) have been fighting over money like a bunch of babies.
LOCKOUT: Collective Bargaining DisAgreements and ensuing lockouts have run rife in the world of sports.
by Isaiah Murtaugh, Sports Editor
A few weeks ago, on September 26, 2012, our nation emerged from the ashes of some of the darkest days in recent history. When National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell announced that the NFL and the NFL Referee’s Association had come to a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (the rulebook for player and referee contracts), the nation’s sports fans responded with a Collective Sigh of Relief (what fans make when disaster is averted). The Great Ref Lockout of 2012 featured two weeks of blown calls by the NFL’s replacement referees, officials who had never called a professional game before in their lives. It culminated in the completely undeserved touchdown awarded to the Seattle Seahawks that was upheld even with a replay and proved to be the tipping point in Seattle’s game against the Green Bay Packers, giving the Seahawks an equally undeserved victory.
Welcome to the age of the lockout. Everyone everywhere wants more money, and the trend is destroying sports, one canceled game and shoddy call at a time. Beginning with the NFL player lockout a few years ago (canceled summer practice and preseason), and continuing to the NBA player lockout last year (40 canceled games), it has carried over this year into the referee lockout (two weeks and 32 games of horrible calls) and even into the much lower market NHL players lockout (two weeks of canceled games so far). Recent talks across the board on Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) have been a travesty of greed and pigheadedness.
Let’s Take a brief pop quiz:
Where does the blame lie for all of the CBA disagreements in recent years?
A) the employees (players and referees)
B) League commissioners ( NFL’s Rodger Goodell, NBA’s David Stern, and NHL’s Gary Bettman)
C) Franchise owners
D) Barack Obama
E) None of the above
If you answered E, you are correct. The acts of answers A-C have indeed been ridiculous and juvenile, but they wouldn’t have been possible without the sports biggest suckers. The fans. The truth is, we are addicted to sports. The absurd disagreements between opposing sides have been made possible by fans who, no matter what, stay glued to the TV and continue to watch the games and shows that make the big bucks for the leagues, franchises, and players. No one is losing any money during the talks. In fact, the added publicity of the lockouts has only served to generate more revenue and attention for sports. Columnists and fans everywhere may cry foul at the lockouts, but the reality is that it is our continuing attention no matter the situation, and not the juvenility of sporting higher ups, that is driving the “purity” of sports into the ground.
photo edited and compiled by Isaiah Murtaugh