Dear Diary,
This is total horseshit.
We are not even a full day into the lockout and I am already extremely angry. Not quite "Shaun Suisham just missed a 23-yarder" angry. But definitely more than "Did we really just run the same fake field goal twice" angry. Not since the advent of the fist pump have I been so upset. On one hand, the lack of football games on Sundays will present less opportunities for me to look like an idiot switching between high five and fist pump in the milliseconds leading up to hand contact with my fellow fans. But without the necessary practice, millions of white fans will lose all the progress that has been made in the celebratory field.
Both the owners and the players want for us fans to care as passionately about their separate sides as they do. Their constant collective struggle for the support of the fans of the NFL and the battle for public opinion at least displays a slight understanding that this thing involves more then them.
It is difficult at this stage in the game to direct too much anger at the players as they are the ones strapping on the pads and working for their money. Then again, after a year of watching Fat Albert half-ass his way to tens of millions of dollars, the case of the players is at least partly maddening. Nice going Haynesworth...your lack of effort and dedication has muddied the good names of the players for many fans.
Today I am mostly angry because I officially believe that this thing was NEVER going to end up in a different place than where we are now. I foolishly believed that the extensions represented real hope that a deal was imminent. Instead, both the NFL and the NFLPA have been calling plays out of a playbook that pretty much guaranteed this thing would end up here.
In the days ahead, perhaps the owners will prove to be the complete d-bags that the players are painting them out to be. Or perhaps the fear of having embarrassing financial disclosures paint them in a negative light will cause them to negotiate a settlement with the players in time to get the NFL calendar back on track.
On Day 1 of the lockout though, I am disappointed in everyone involved.