NFLPA's Smith hopes for CBA deal by November

[CooleyAsCanBe]

I hope so, but I know there are still large obstacles. I liked the players on both teams all raising the "number one" hand sign after the coin toss before yesterday's Saints-Vikings game.

[sportscurmudgeon]

I'd love to see this happen - - but I have to put this in the "Wishful Thinking Bucket" for now.

Until there are substantive negotiations - - and there have not been any yet - - both sides are going to try to issue public statements that they believe will resonate with fans. Having the fans on your side in negotiations like this is a help.

Fundamentally, this is an argument between billionaire owners and millionaire players over how to divvy up something like $8.5B a year in revenue that comes out of OUR (the fans') pockets.

Owners have a seat at the table, the players have a seat at the table through their Players Association, the agents have a seat at the table because of the influence they wield over their clients. The TV networks have a de facto seat at the table because they provide the biggest chunk of the revenue everyone is fighting over so if any proposal is absolutely anathema to the networks, it will die on the vine.

Who's missing? The fans - - the ones who pay the freight. The fans get to react to crafted PR statements like the one linked here - - and to speeches given by Roger Goodell about the state of the game. The process is upside down.

If the fans were in charge here, there would be no strike/lockout and all of the other issues would be settled via mediation in about a week and a half.