Slightly Off-Topic NFL News

One thing that's driving me nuts during this offseason is how the League continues to operate as if nothing's wrong and that there isn't a player lockout jeopardizing the upcoming season. Until the rookie symposium was canceled this week, everything has been "business as usual" (Exhibit A: NFL Draft) while the commissioner's office pretends that the lack of a collective bargaining agreement is just a minor nuisance - "Move along, nothing to see here, people."

I can't help but laugh when I read reports about Peyton Manning having neck surgery and that he will be fully recovered in time for the NFL preseason. Of course he will. At this point, Manning could have both knees surgically replaced and still be in uniform by the time the NFL and the players agree to start the season!

Somehow, I doubt that the fans, networks and sponsors who have already made their financial commitments to the 2011 season don't feel the same way. I am sure the team employees who will be laid off or have had certain benefits removed aren't thinking that this is an inconvenient speed bump, either.

Isn't it amazing how these multi-billionaires suddenly don't have the money to pay standard offseason operating costs? How did these people ever make their money in the first place if they (apparently) have none remaining to pay wages to their working-class employees following a lockout that's only affected offseason activities thus far?

I mention "arrogance" quite a lot on this blog, and the arrogance found inside the Niners' front office is just a smaller version of the arrogance that permeates throughout the League offices on Park Avenue. The League is now treating both employees and fans like garbage while making sure the owners' coffers stay full.

For decades, the NFL has prospered as a titanic moneymaking machine while sitting atop the sports world, but everybody has a breaking point. I reached mine this past season, along with many other fans. As the League continues to display their disregard for their customers, these numbers will increase. And when fans leave, it's hard to get them back. Just ask the Buccaneers, who didn't sell out a single game in 2010 despite a 10-win campaign.

The NFL needs to wake up and face reality before the ill will they've fostered over the past several months turns into an irreversible decline towards the middle tiers of the North American sports hierarchy.

And finally, your Daily Dose of Sunshine:
Matt Barrows of the SacBee details all 32 teams' player-led workouts and notes that the Niners aren't faring too well.

Enjoy.