To Be...Or Not to Be Over...

With the National Football League's recent end to a long 112 day lockout, comes more questions and concerns from fans, players, and the media. Is it really over? What was it all about? Who won? And will anything change? All these questions are legitimate questions that honestly may take a few months to get answered. Lets look at things from the fans side first. After months of big word reports and no signs of progress, can they really feel like they've accomplished anything? Their salaries don't change, their workloads stay the same, and the biggest change this may have on their financial lives are ticket prices possibly going up or down just to help compensate for the loss of ticket sales throughout the lockout. Many would agree that the NFL fan are losers in this whole ordeal and have gained nothing from the lockout. Gregg Rosenthal of NBC Sports Talk said it best in regards to the idea of the fans losing in this process, "The more you love the game, the more these last five months have been difficult to swallow." So for fans, the only thing that won't change is the promise that for the next ten years, a collective bargaining agreement will be in place to keep football out of a courtroom, but rather in between the white lines.
The players on the other hand have a different perspective. There has been many different views to the new collective bargaining agreement to which some em brass it, while others see no big changes. For example, a few rule changes have been implemented to help protect players from devastating injuries, but many players feel its also interfering with the nature of the game. Another big concern from many players is the power that the Commissioner Roger Goodell holds over disciplining the players. This was one issue that most players wanted to see changed within the new agreement but they're going to have to chalk this problem up as a loss and deal with Commissioner Goodell as the sole decision maker in player disciplinary sentencing. All of these concerns and ideas are legitimate and to some players, the new agreement can look half done.
As for the media, well lets just say they may have had the best time during the lockout. With social media's role in sports, it was like taking candy from a baby with all the great story leads from the lockout. Players, owners, and representatives from both sides fueled much of the lockout controversy by giving the media much to work with, both good and bad. There were more legal incidents, trash talking, and even whining. It is safe to say that the media came out as a definite winner because of all the material generated from the lockout, but it seems to only be the beginning of the other issues surrounding the aftermath of the new collective bargaining agreement. 


Rosenthal, G. (2011, July 25). Winners, losers from the nfl lockout. Retrieved from http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/07/25/winners-losers-from-the-nfl-lockout/