How To End The NFL Stalemate

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Friday - March 23, 2011

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By now most of us are weary of the in-fighting between the NFL and its players association. It has now degenerated into “he said-he said” claims of bad faith and grandstanding. Reports are circulating that the dollar amount separating the two sides is $185 million. Sounds like a lot of money, but remember the current pie is $9.3 billion per year. That’s $9,300 million. If I’m the mediator, I’m dragging the key payers into a windowless room and suggesting that they split the difference - a matter of $92.5 million. That’s less that 1 percent of total revenues.

Gentlemen, I would say, you are intelligent people. Does it make any sense to put the most profitable sports enterprise in the history of the world at risk for less than 1 percent of the business? Let’s put away the egos and the daggers and pick up a pen and get this thing done. The only thing that prevents good order in your business is posturing and power playing. Put it behind you and enjoy the fruits of the enterprise. Grow the pie and take care of owners, players, past and present, and your legion of fans. Anything less is a disservice to every person who had a hand in building this great game. Now, wasn’t that painless?

* Bureaucracy has a way, when left unchecked, to cause far more problems that it solves.

Witness the situation with UH basketball coach Gib Arnold.

Almost a year after his hiring, he still does not have what the university refers to as a “fully executed contract.”

To his credit, I have never heard the coach complain either publicly or privately about the situation.

But this doesn’t make much sense for the university. You have a young coach who has done an outstanding job in resuscitating a moribund program. Such coaches are coveted, and riches await those who can continue their initial success.

Could anyone blame a father of five if he started to look elsewhere in the face of the foot-dragging?

I’m told the problem lies not with the athletic department, but with whatever upper-campus faction deals with contracts. Would it be too much to ask that the process be streamlined so that coaches can be signed to contracts in a reasonable time frame?

You can only wonder if we’ll have to lose a terrific coach before action is finally taken.

* Speaking of the basketball team: Find someone who actually believed that last Saturday this group was playing for its 20th win of the year.

This team demonstrated what intercollegiate athletics is all about. Hard work, sacrifice, commitment to the group, overcoming adversity and grace under pressure - not to mention the ability to rise to the occasion.

Congratulations to everyone who contributed to a fabulous season.

* Talked recently with head football coach Greg McMackin, who mentioned he only had two starters returning on offense.

After a pause he said, “But one of them is Bryant Moniz.” Moniz will have to shoulder a huge load next year, teaching while playing.

And to think the season begins with Colorado at home and Washington on the road.

That promises to be a challenge of the first order.