The Hall of Fame Game has been officially canceled

Well, well, well, son of a bitch in hell. We have the first [and hopefully the last] casualty of this long-hot summer lockout. My Rams will not play the Bears in the Hall of Fame Game in Canton Ohio. The 2011 Hall of Fame Game has been officially canceled. That link comes straight off the official NFL Website.

I suspected that this was going to happen when they failed to come up with the document Wednesday. This was also complicated by the continuing schism inside the player's camp regarding whether anti-trust litigation should go forward or be put to sleep. We heard enough reports regarding Wednesday being the drop-dead date for the HOF Game that I expected this announcement today.

I can't tell you I'm not disappointed. This sucks for Marhall Faulk, and for all the fans who view the HOF Game as the unofficial start of the bacchanalia we know as football season. If memory serves, this is the first time the HOF game has ever been canceled. In the prior two work-stoppages(1982 and 1987), play wasn't halted until the regular season was already in progress.

On the other hand, I am glad that my poorly conditioned, non-warm and un-stretched Rams won't suffer a slew of injuries in a bad scrimmage that won't mean anything on the official books. Believe me, I get it. I totally get it. This is probably for the best in the long run.

Throughout the course of this summer, we have heard a constant mantra from both the NFL Network and ESPN: as long as we settle this thing before any cancellations happen, no one will even remember that there was a lockout 3 years from now. Conversely, if games are canceled, there will be a collective memory, and there will be a backlash.

We'll have to wait and see. This isn't a good thing, but it is only the first preseason game. We shouldn't hit the panic button just yet.

Rich Eisen was close to flipping out yesterday when the baby wasn't born just yet. I think his (very inside) sources warned him that the HOF Game was at death's door. I think he was very concerned about the collective memory of this affair. Rightly so.

The good news is that the owners have approved the new deal. Now we just need the players to do the same thing. Let's hope that the more fractious members will stand down, and the anti-trust lawsuits can be put to sleep for the duration.

As much as I would like to see Vincent Jackson a free agent (the Rams' very last shot at getting a franchise receiver this season), I would like to see some actual football games this year even more. A free agent Vincent Jackson isn't going to do the 2011 Rams much good if the 2011 season is held hostage by anti-trust litigation.

Incidentally, did you see the look or Roger Goodell's face?

Just a quick hit before I get out the door to go to work.

Did you get a clear look at Roger Goodell's face as he exited the court building yesterday? He looked like someone had kicked him in the balls with an iron boot, and then hit him with a vicious upper-cut to the jaw. That was a look of profound distress, like he was trying to shake off one hell of a hit.

I am not exactly sure who instigated the current labor strife. I don't know if it was the owners who pushed this on the Commish, or if it was the Commish who had the bright idea and proposed it to the owners. In any case, the strategy is not working. The NFL has already lost it's lockout insurance policy from the networks, and now the players have basically defeated the lockout.

I think this has to be viewed as a crisis point for management. Not that it will last forever, but we could have a temporary blast of absolute baseball free agency that could see marquee players like Peyton Manning moving around at NASA moon-shot prices.

If this whole adventure was designed to peel back some labor costs, you just might have another thing coming. This is a very good object lesson in Conservatism. This is the doctrine of unforeseen consequences come home to roost. Don't upset a delicate financial balance when you have one. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Don't sew to the wind.

These guys sewed to the wind, and now they are going to reap the whirlwind in the next 72 hours. Folks, all hell is going to break loose when the 8th Circuit orders the injunctive relief to be implemented.

Here we go, boys!

So unless you've been buried under a rock for the last couple hours, you know that U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson has ruled in favor of the former player's union. You can read about it here.

You can see more here.

She has ruled that the decertification of the union is more than just a legal fiction, that federal labor law permitting the lockout of union workers does not apply to the former NFLPA, ergo sum the NFL Owner's lockout of NFL players is an illegal action under anti-trust law.

Now the owners have already filed for a stay of execution pending an appeal to the 8th circuit court, but this has to be seen as a pretty ripping victory for the players. The NFLPA's legal strategy is working. The owners have already lost their lockout insurance, and now they have lost the lockout.

It may take a day or two to get the verdict on the stay of execution, but I happen to think the owners are unlikely to win that one. It is the role of the appeal court to uphold the rulings of the lower court unless gross errors were made.

Folks, I'm going on the record with this one: Trades and free agency can begin as early as Wednesday. The league will need to implement player rules for 2011, but they will have to implement those rules, lest they be held in contempt of court. The judge has the power to throw people in jail for contempt, you know. The excitement of the Draft may be amplified about a hundred fold, folk. We could see some real wicked deal making in the prelude to the draft, and during the draft. I sure hope so.

What are the potential ramifications of this decision for the simple GM who would just want to stock his football team with the talent it needs to win?

1. Those veteran QBs just might move out of limbo quick.
2. We might not see a bunch of GMs hit the chicken switch and reach for 2nd round QBs in the first round.
3. Players can be bundled with picks, meaning we can see more draft day trades.
4. We might see my Rams answer some defensive needs through free agency rather than the draft.
5. Given the ability to package players with picks, my Rams just might move up and take that WR we are all begging for.

I am not going to play games with you guys, I love this decision to death. We going to see such a frenzy of activity it is going to be amazing. Most GMs will have to pull a 72 hour red-eye bender starting this Wednesday. This is going to be pretty exciting. This is going to be balls-out chaos.

Chris Mortensen even suggested that Peyton Manning may become an all-out free-agent here. Boy! What the 49ers would do to get him.

So quarterbacks are good if they are drafted in the first round?

Intro

You know how much I love the NFL Network. These guys are my evening house guests every night. Unfortunately, I am going to have to take exception to one big logical fallacy I have heard repeatedly in recent days. This fallacy is posed as a question and it goes a little bit like this:

“If the quarterbacks in this year’s draft are so bad, why are so many of them going to be drafted in the first round?”

The answers are incredibly obvious, but let’s do a bit of reductio ad absurdum just for fun. You know I just loved that reductio ad absurdum to death. This is the force that made my UCLA degree worth more than $0.25 thimble full of coffee. It’s more fun than a barrel full of monkeys.

Implicit within the NFL Network’s argument are the following key points:

• A player must be good to be taken in the first round.
• Conversely, if a player is taken in the first round, he must be good.
• If a bunch of teams are considering a QB in the first round, they must be impressed by the good quality of this year’s crop.
• If a bunch of QBs go in the first round, it must be a good QB year.

Fallacious! Fallacious! Fallacious! This is bogus false reasoning, and completely erroneous also. Fallacious reasoning doesn’t always guarantee a false conclusion; it just means your logic is bad. In this case, the logic is bad and the conclusion is absolutely false. What is the real story?

Rebuttal

Rather than simply stating the obvious let’s do this catechistically. I’ll phrase my answers as questions.

1. If Andrew Luck had come out of Stanford this year, who would be the #1 QB in the 2011 draft?
2. How many teams need a QB this year?
3. If we had had a normal free agency/trade period would all of these teams be in need of QB as we approach the draft?
4. If free agent QBs such as Mark Bulger had flown free, would the Cardinals be looking for a QB right now?
5. If QBs such as Donovan McNabb and Kevin Kolb were on the trading block, would the Vikings and 49ers be looking for a QB right now?
6. If Vince Young had been released, would QB demand in this draft be absolutely unchanged?
7. If Carson Palmer (whose Bengal jersey I am wearing right now) had not abruptly pulled up stakes and retired, do you think the Bengals would use the #4 pick for QB… if they get a shot at it?
8. There are several brand-new first year coaches who have no quarterback to speak of. Several are in near-rebuilding situations. Jim Harbaugh, Leslie Frazier, Mike Munchak and Huge Jackson are in this situation. {Incidentally, the Raiders need a QB, and they don’t want to admit it.} Would QB demand be unchanged if you didn’t have new coaches, hoping for a good start?
9. Do you think the lockout and lack of free agency has had zero impact on club plans in the 2011 draft?

The Solution Set

Folks we live in a time of remarkable NFL crisis. About 10-12 teams need a QB. There is a chronic and serious quarterback shortage in the land. The handful of available (and competent) QBs are quite literally locked out of reach of the needy beggars who want them. The desperation is building. It is palpable and it is visceral.

Against all common sense, many teams are considering the chicken switch (reaching for a 2^nd rounder in the 1^st), but this does not prove that this is a good QB class. Taking an undraftable red-light kid in the 1^st round is not indication that this is a good year. The fact that desperate fools are going to hit the chicken switch is no measure of talent.

Brian Baldinger is quite correct when he says that you’re taking a big risk if you wait for the second round. There might not be anything there for you when the time arrives. Certainly, you will curse the football gods if this happens to you. However, just a few years down the road, you may be counting this event as one of the best things that ever happened to you.

My Perspective

I wouldn’t take Ryan Mallett. I wouldn’t take Cam Newton. I would take Blaine Gabbert, but the price is outlandish. If he hits, it will look like genius. I love second round QBs, but I like my 2^nd rounders in the 2^nd round; not the first. I would love to get Christian Ponder in the 2^nd. I would love to get Andy Dalton in the 2^nd. If you give me Dalton in the 3^rd, I’m going to jump through the roof. I am intrigued by Colin Kaepernick, or are we calling him Optimus Prime now?

Charnak and the Wonderlic have scared me regarding my favorite kid Jake Locker. Nevertheless, I would still take the risk on this kid. I think Jake Locker is a lot better than Kyle Boller.

A little draft update, 23 days out

Intro

We are just 23 days away from the NFL Draft. Of course, it is Mock-draft season. We see one mock draft after another, from one expert after another. Presently, a number of new trends are emerging. Just what are they?

Cam Newton goes #1 to Carolina

This notion left me shaking my head. A week after we got a scathing character report on Cam, his stock has never been higher, according to the mocks.

If true--and that's a big IF--this only goes to show that we evaluate quarterbacks on exactly the wrong criteria: Athletic ability and upside potential. Are those bad criteria? You damn betcha! We settled all of this in the debate last year, folks. The most import aspect of the QB is his mind, and particularly the intangibles of leadership, ability to handle big pressure, and desire. After this, we can begin to talk about accuracy and toughness.

There have been a hundred great athlete QBs who went bust. Not the least of these are Ryan Leaf, JaMarcus Russell and now... maybe... Vince Young. Your athletic ability says nothing about your prospects as an NFL QB. Sorry folks that's the truth.

But is Cam likely to be the #1 selection? This is a different question. I still think the answer to that is NO. Granted, the Panthers are acting in a provocative manner right now, but I think they're playing a little game of Snooker. I think they are trying to snooker some team into making a deal for that #1 pick. That might be the Bills. That might be the Bengals. That might be the Cardinals. That might be the 49ers. That might be the Redskins.

When the chips are down on draft day, I think the Panthers won't be able to pull the trigger on a new QB. They will either trade the pick or use it for a defensive player like Marcell Dareus, Patrick Peterson, or Von Miller. If you take QB #1 in 2011, you are reaching like a moefoe. This class just isn't that good. If they do reach for a QB, it will be Gabbert.

The Bengals go defense?

You should have seen my face last night as Charles Davis and Steve Wyche had the Bengals taking defenders in their mocks. This was all the more puzzling because both Charles Davis & Steve Wyche showed Blaine Gabbert still on the board as they threw defenders at the Bengals. I almost fell out of my zero gravity recliner. That ain't easy to do folks.

Let me just say this... The Bengals want a defender with their #1 pick about as much as you want a peanut butter and motor oil sandwich, seasoned with a little Iodine-131 from Fukushima. Does that sound appetizing to you folks? I didn't think so.

Neither CB nor a DE answer pressing Bengal needs. I do believe that they are taking a QB or WR with that top pick, and then they will go after the complimentary position in the second round. It would be Gabbert in the 1st, and maybe Leonard Hankerson in the 2nd, if the scenario unfolds as Davis & Wyche have it.

Some still say that the Redskins select Julio Jones

Charles Davis is one of many who still think the Redskins will select Julio Jones. I've never bought that theory. I do worry about it sometimes, but it doesn't seem very realistic to me. If anything, this is a pimp-fake. The Skins may be trying to pimp the Rams for some picks.

The learned Redskin insider (featured on Path to the Draft) didn't buy the Jones theory either. I was encouraged by the fact that he sees things as I do. He believes the Redskins are 3-4 defensive team without 3-4 defensive personnel. Incidentally, Mike Lombardi called this one a month ago. Defense is their most devastating problem. It's even worse than their QB need.

WR is a deep, deep 3rd priority for the Redskins. No matter how bad their receiver stock is, a receiver can't help until you settle your QB problems. Furthermore, no matter how bad the QB problem is, Shanahan has a more pressing political problem.

Shanahan began his reign by blowing-up a good and functional 4-3 defense by arbitrary whim. Now the Skins have one of the worst defenses in the league. This terminated Mike's honeymoon in one shot, and created a lot of angry Redskin fans... not to mention one disgruntled Albert Haynesworth. That's $100m worth of disgruntledness there.

The consequences of this bad defensive move cannot be overstated. When Mike Shanahan get's fired in one year's time, people will point to his 3-4 defense verdict as the key mistake that shank his battleship. Notice I say when, not if. That isn't easy for me. I'm a big Shanahan fan and booster.

Shanahan's got a Fukushima Daiichi reactor leaking plutonium on his hands. He has to get this under control and clean up the mess quickly. Perforce, the Redskins go defense with this pick.

Tyron Smith is #1

Tyron Smith took a page from Andre Smith's playbook and did the shirtless Olympics at the USC Pro Day. For Tyron, it was a good move. Critics were worried about his sudden move up from 285 to 307. They were concerned that his new weight might all be flab. Nope, not even close. He looked like a clipping from the pages of the Incredible Hulk comic book. He looked every inch the prototype OT. There are questions about whether he is a right OT or left OT, but this hardly matters. He looks like the prototype, and it is a very poor class of tackles in 2011. Tyron will probably be the first offensive lineman off the board.

We'll see Jerry takes Tyron, or selects a flashy playmaker who puts butts in the seats. The Redskins fans seem terrified that the Cowboys will take their chosen 3-4 defender just to kick sand in their collective face. There may be some hair on that dog. The strategy of denial is a key stratagem in warfare.

Most teams are poorly positioned in this 2011 draft

If I've heard it once now, I've heard it a dozen times: Nobody likes their draft position in the 2011 Draft. Carolina fans are pissed that the team might reach for a QB at #1. Bengal experts are pissed that they might not get a QB at #4. Cardinal experts are pissed that they can't get a QB at #5. Dallas experts are pissed that they might not get a CB or the correct DE at #9. Redskin experts are pissed that they can't a QB at #10 and that Dallas may snatch their DE pick ahead of them. Lion experts are pissed that they might not get Tyron Smith at #13. The Rams are pissed that they might not get a crack at a receiver at #14.

Everybody is poorly positioned in this draft... except the Broncos. Many Bronco fans seem quite happy with the prospect of taking Marcell Dareus at the #2 overall slot. Some think Patrick Peterson would be better, but they also seem to like Darius.

For this reason, I suspect we may see more trade action on draft day than most experts expect. There's just too much discontentment with batting order for folks not to try something here. I think teams may find a way to help each other out. I know it seems unlikely due to the inability to bundle players and picks. It seems even more unlikely due to the inability to mortgage future picks. However, I still suspect that they may find a way to get it done this year.

The Ruling of the judge

As you know, the NFL and NFLPA just exited the courthouse in Minnesota a few hours ago. We expect a ruling in a 'a few' weeks. To me, a few weeks means at least two and less than four. Project 14 to 21 days for a ruling.

I find it intriguing that the NFL's counselor was questioned for nearly 5 hours by the judge. Comparatively little time was spent questioning the NFLPA's counselor. If you are questioned for 5 hours by the judge during a hearing, I presume this means you have a questionable position or case. Think about it folks.

Let's suppose for one moment that the judge rules in favor of the NFLPA. Let's suppose that this occurs sometime in the next 14 to 21 days. This would mean that the lockout could lifted, or partially lifted, anywhere between April 20-27. She could issue the verdict quite literally the day before the draft. That would be amazing.

It has been said that the NFL would need 24-48 hours of prep time to comply with the court order. Free agency could commence within 24-48 hours of the ruling. Suppose the verdict comes down on Friday April 22, 2011. What then?

We would have an amazing free-agency blitz in the immediate prelude to the draft. This has the potential to make for a very exciting, but chaotic and disorganized week of major moves.

Think about it folks.

Quick memo to the NFL Network, Let's talk with Mike Holmgren

So, I had a little idea last night: Let's see Mike Holmgren on NFL Total Access & Path to the Draft in a week or so. Break the piggy bank, send out the private jet, pick him up in Cleveland and bring him to Los Angeles. Put him up in the Hotel Intercontinental, and have the limmo bring him in.

What are his qualifications?

1. He was a USC quarterback and a teammate of O.J. Simpson back in the day
2. He was drafted in the 8th round of the 1970 draft by the St. Louis Cardinals.
3. He coached at BYU where they ran one hell of a passing attack
4. He was the offensive coordinator for the 49ers during their best years.
5. He was once head coach of the Packers, restoring them to them to an elite status with a championship.
6. He was once the head coach of the Seahawks where they should have won the Super Bowl if the refs hadn't raped them.
7. He is a Gemini with a real bad thing for Libra quarterbacks. Steve Young, Brett Favre and Matt Hasselbeck are all Libras. The top QB in this 2011 draft happens to be a Libra, incidentally.
8. Ryan Mallett and Jake Locker happens to be Geminis. Jake Locker and Mike Holmgren just happen to share the same birthday. What a co-inky-dinky!
9. He happens to be the world's foremost authority on the QB position, having developed dudes like Joe Montana, Steve Young, Brett Favre, Mark Brunell, Matt Hasselbeck, and others. You might want to give him a partial credit for Kurt Warner.
10. He just happens to be the President of the Cleveland Browns.

Obviously this guy has a lot of history. I think it would be most illuminating to have Mike Holmgren on the show, and ask him all kinds of questions about the QBs in this draft. He is the world's foremost authority on the subject, you know. I think it would be very interesting to get his take on this QB class.

Last year, Holmgren was one of the few guys who tweaked on Clausen... and admitted it. I was another. I would like to hear his take on guys like Cam Newton, Ryan Mallett, Christian Ponder, etc.

My predictions? He will say pretty flattering things about Blaine Gabbert. Cam Newton? Not so much. Gabbert is pretty much Holmgren's kind of a guy. If he offers any critique it will be something like "The price is too high. He costs too much."

What about Cam? Well... I'll bet Cam's not exactly Mike's kind of a guy.

You know, we just had this ugly PR flap regarding the character assessment of Cam Newton, and I think it would be a good thing to refocus the debate on mechanics, skills, achievement, and potential. What better guy to help us with this than Mike Holmgren?

Aside from talking quarterbacks, you can do the state of the franchise on the Cleveland Browns with Mike's help. You can put the Browns on the clock with Mike's help. You can also discus the present labor strife with an actual president of an actual franchise. This would be good, because this is a dude who should know something.

Let's make it happen!

This was just one of those goddamn fuckin’ days

At least in the news…

I honestly have little or nothing to complain about on this day. Given the magnitude of the circumstances going on around the world, I have every reason to count my blessings. I should be a pretty happy guy.

What’s going on in the news is absolutely crazy.

The East Coast of Japan has been destroyed

For those of you who don’t keep track of current events, you may be surprised to learn that an 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck some 230 miles off Honshu, the main Island of the nation of Japan. It was devastating. Most Japanese infrastructure has been designed to withstand 8.0 to 8.2, which is lot better than we good people of California have done. Nevertheless, it was not designed or built to withstand an 8.9 quake.

They say the quake itself lasted some 2 minutes. If that were not bad enough, some 10 minutes later the East coasts of the Japanese Islands were pounded by a titanic tsunami, that did nearly as much damage as the quake. If that weren’t bad enough, the coastal cities were then inundated by mudslides as the top soil on the hills began to descend towards the Pacific. The next thing you know, fires were burning in 80 different regions around the country. This was a very San Francisco-esque scenario.

If that were not bad enough, nuclear emergencies were declared at two of Japan’s key nuclear plants. The facilities themselves took damage in the quakes and tsunami waves. They automatically shut down, as per their computer-programmed SOP. The problem was that they were in full-swing when the devastation hit.

It is not that easy to simmer-down a controlled nuclear reaction. Authorities at the Fukushima nuclear plant were forced to release a huge blast of steam in order to avoid a complete meltdown. The problem was that this was radio-active steam. Radiation levels around Fukushima reached 1,000x normal background radiation levels almost immediately. Fukushima is already being called the Japanese Chernobyl.

This is absolutely horrible stuff folks. This is worst kind of Hollywood disaster crap, but for real. The horror… The horror…

How powerful was this quake? Well, let me tell you about that.

· Earth scientists say that this is the most powerful quake in the region in some 1,200 years.

· It ripped a new trench in the bottom of the Pacific Ocean that is more than 150 miles long and 50 miles wide.

· The quake moved the entire Island of Honshu 8 feet to the east. That is astounding.

· Japan has literally lost land in this quake; as in land has slid off the islands and been subducted under the sea. Right now, geologists are trying to compute the quantity of land that Islands of Japan has lot as a result of this quake, but there is no agreement in these figures. I have read several conflicting estimates.

· The quake was so powerful it changed the tilt of the axis of the Earth by some 25 centimeters.

· The quake was so powerful it actually changed the speed of the rotation of our Earth; shortening our days 1.6 microseconds. You may laugh at the small figure, but the quantity of energy required to change the velocity of the Earth’s rotation by that minuscule amount is absolutely quantum and terrifying.

· It sent Tsunami waves that wrought havoc in small port cities like Santa Cruz and Crescent City.

· We don’t know how many lives have been lost, but the number has been growing all day, and it is going to be terrible.

· The quake was followed by aftershocks as large as 6.4 and 5.7 in magnitude.

I have to say that I am a big fan of the country of Japan. I love just about all things Japanese. I have since I was introduced to Shotokan Karate at the age of 11. I have to say, I am pretty depressed about this.

Small potatoes in the scheme of things

Not much to mention in comparison to what is happening in Japan or Libya, but the NFLPA is now the former NFLPA. They decertified today and launched law suits. This means the 2011 NFL season is now judge David Doty’s court of law… among other players.

I’d be lying to you if I told you I’m not disappointed. I thought there was actually a glimmer of hope. I thought we might hash something out today. It didn’t happen. The players dropped the law bomb.

I have to say that based on what I have read, the Players made an unreasonable move. It seems to me that the owners caved on nearly every key point. The only thing they won was a rookie cap and a rookie scale, something the NFLPA also wanted.

I went ahead and signed the players petition, but right now I have to say that you guys have disappointed me greatly.

Khadafy Duck is gloating

For those who don’t know, that grand sonofabitch bastard known as Moammar Khadafy managed to defeat rebles in the city of Zawiya near Tripoli. This was a key strategic victory for him when it was thought that the Rebels were knocking on his door. He’s bought himself some time.

If there is a silver lining here, it is found in the fact that Obama has now declared for the rebels. We await word on just what that means.

I look forward to a better day tomorrow

As you know, tomorrow is 3/12/2011. Tomorrow will be the 25^th birthday of the theoretically perfect woman (for me), code-named La-La. Settle down cougars, I am the theoretically perfect guy for her also. Men born on 9/2/1966 crush all men of all other birthdays for women born on 3/12/1986. Our scores greatly exceed all others.

I have no idea whether I will ever meet or date a woman born on this date, but I intend to celebrate the day anyhow. For all I know, some outstanding Capricorn or Aquarius female may well intercept me on the way to finding La-La, by I do intend to begin a glass-slipper quest in approximately 3 months.

Incidentally, my brother and two of my cousins are dying to shoot this glass-slipper quest on HD video for publication as an inde-documentary. They insist the idea is so novel it can win multiple Oscars.

56 underclassmen have declared for the 2011 NFL Draft

So by now you know that 56 underclassmen have declared their intent to enter the NFL Draft. This is up 3 from last year, when 53 entered the draft. Of course, this does not mean they will be drafted. You always find a few kids who declare and aren't drafted. 'Tis a tragedy every time.

I find this quite surprising, if not stunning. Perhaps they are not doing so well in school, like Jevan Sneed. Perhaps some are leaving town ahead of the possy, like Cam Newton. Perhaps the kids just don't understand the legal and financial ramifications of the current CBA problems. Perhaps they can't define the word "Lockout", or even spell it. Perhaps they don't understand what is meant by the terms "rookie cap" and "rookie scale". Perhaps they will win their life-gamble. Perhaps not. We shall see.

In the best case scenario, the new CBA will be signed and countersigned by all parties shortly before March 8th. End of problems. Now all you youngins can take the wage scale the new CBA will define for you. You won't make out like bandits, but you will make more than you did in school... maybe. We've all heard the Eric Dickerson stories.

In the worst case scenario, you will get locked out for a year, you will get paid nothing, and you will show up for work in 2012. At that point, you will be getting paid the rookie wage scale the new CBA will define for you. Let's hope that won't happen. You'll be hating life if this happens to you. You won't be getting any hundred dollar handshakes either. Let's hope the rookie scale specifies more cash than the hundred dollar handshakes once provided.

In any case, it seems that the 2011 draft has been rescued by the bad judgement of youth. As you know the 2010 Draft was a PH-PHAT draft because it looted the 2011 draft. If we had not had a phat crop of underclassmen this year, it would have been a poor draft indeed. Game on. It looks like we are going to have a decent crop to chose from this 2011 draft.

I'm happy for my team. We have a couple of good looking receivers in the first round that we may want to claim. There will be some in the second round as well.