ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?

Thursday was suppose to be one of, if not the biggest day in the 4 1/2 month NFL lock out negotiations. It actually was, but get ready for a unpredictable and wild weekend.

The weekend will be very sea-saw like as the two sides involved in these negotiations furiously try to put the pieces back together of a conditional collective bargaining agreement that was way more conditional for one side it seemed. Thursday afternoon the owners agreed on and approved a CBA proposal and then watched intently as the players rejected it. For now anyways.

The relationship between the NFL players and the NFL owners gets worse and worse with every passing day. If you were to take away all the negotiations, set aside who gets what and how much, who still wants more, it is vitally clear that these two sides just plainly do not trust each other. If there was even an ounce of trust between the two sides Thursday wouldn't have ended the way it did. The stalling tactics employed by the players side and the you blink first gamesmanship practiced by the owners side. By the end of the day Thursday we were back to where we were in March. No where.

What happened to all the recent communication, the positive and optimistic attitudes. The building of a sense of trust between these two sides, the players and the owners. Well it all got washed away Thursday. And where does all of those childish acts get the NFL owners and the NFL players? Well it seems further apart then they were a month ago. In a four month negotiation, the most reported saying by both sides has been "There's more work to be done". So guess what both sides said Friday morning? Exactly, there is more work to be done. Alot more.

That is why this weekend is so important if there is going to be a CBA, that is approved by both sides before training camps are scheduled to open. This is a time for Roger Goodell and DeMaurice Smith to lead both of their respected sides and come up with a solution, now. They must inform their sides that there are no winners in this lock out. The players lose and the owners lose. But worse then that is the game loses and the fans lose. If either side really ares about the game and the fans (the two most important things) then end this lock out. Take a look at professional leagues that locked out before. They lost fans and dollars and never really gained either back (NHL).

DeMaurice Smith needs to instruct the players to stop being so dam paranoid, thinking the owners are trying to screw them every chance they get. They aren't. Roger Goodell needs to instruct the owners to stop being so unaware of the fact the players never react well when they feel they are being pressured into a decision or timetable, even though they really aren't.

The elements of Thursday's events make little sense really. They also make the players look like the bad guys here. It seemed that everyone was one the same page, regarding the negotiation timetable needed to save the entire four weeks of the full pre-season. Then when the owners met that timetable and voted on their half of the deal, the players reacted like the whole effort was rushed and didn't correspond with their timetable. What? Were the players and their negotiators listening during negotiations about the timetable?

How the players can seriously think or propose it has to take up to two weeks for the players to re-certify as a union is beyond me. Is it because that timeline helps support the idea that the NFLPA de-certified in a thoughtful manner back in March? they may have to again in the future you know. this doesn't make for a plausible explanation. What happened to the "Let Us Play" chants that the players side screamed back in January and February? Maybe the players aren't in as big of a rush to get back on the field and play as they first portrayed.

Let's see and hope the players do indeed vote on the owner's proposal on Friday, as it has been reported they will do. The owners seem to be offering their best proposal yet, but the players say there are unresolved issues and want more concessions. Whatever, get the deal done and iron out the small print later. We want our football.

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL - WE ARE.

What do you think about all this nonsense? Tell us.