2011 LOCKOUT SEASON... Who's Hurting?

With the United States experiencing a financial crisis on many levels, the business giants of American sports have also been affected.  As many NBA and NFL fans are aware, both leagues are currently experiencing a "Lockout".  In a nutshell, a lockout occurs when the duration of the previous contractual agreements between the "Employers" and "Employees" has lapsed before a new agreement can be reached.  At that point, major obligations are forfeited from both sides until a compromise is made.  In this case, the players and owners are in disagreement with regards to, what else... yep, you guessed it...  money! 

With huge incentives, player options, and bonuses in the mix of longterm contracts, it's obvious why both sides are particularly sensitive to exactly who gets what money, and when, and how much of it should be received by whom, and under which circumstances, and so on, and so forth.  Essentially, one side usually has to give something, but when money is the conversation amongst millionaires, who's going to budge?  SMH like YAK!

Unfortunately, during a lockout, negotiations are no longer mandatory by either side.  Therefore, it is usual for days, even weeks to pass by while each side figuratively and literally, stares down one another in a compromising-standstill. Those who have experienced lockouts before were eager to get a deal done prior to the deadline for some of these same reasons, however now it is a common consensus that until monetary losses begin to persuade more reasonable communication across the board, fans should probably go ahead and get comfortable watching previously recorded games, vintage Dunk Contests, and ESPN Classics.

So besides all of the machismo posturing, political jargoning, and semantic camouflage used to lengthen the debate and potentially exhaust the opposing side enough for them to consider some accomodations, my question is this: "who is really hurting the most?"  I mean, do the owners care about the game as much as the players do?  And on the other hand, do the players feel an undying sense of loyalty to their respective leagues as the owners do?

I would argue that it is neither the players nor the owners who are suffering the most, but instead, it's actually the fans, and more specifically, the people who are employed by these organizations in part because of their love for the games.  Quiet as kept, general employees by teams (non-players) are losing jobs everyday because their services are no longer needed at this time.  Others that may be a little further "up the corporate ladder" may have the ability to get shuffled from their initial obligations and deferred to another task until a remedy is in place, but the notion is still the same: The lockout affects more than just the owners and players... and if you listen in this interview with Baltimore Ravens Legendary Line Backer, Ray Lewis, there is a sense that the buck has to stop somewhere, and while millionaires squabble about where the big chips should fall, their are people literally "paying" the cost and hurting everyday...

All in all, I am hopeful that both leagues will find a way to compromise and save the 2011 season... people's livelihoods truly depend on it... and after all, life is better because of sports, like YAK!



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