Open Letter to the (former) NFLPA and the NFL Owners

I missed the boat with the lockout occurring while we were in the hospital with Darcy. I try not to take sides, but since the owners wanted to continue negotiating and made a last minute offer where they finally made a lot of concessions, I think I blame the players a bit more right now. I know there's still tons of time, but now that you decertified, which triggered the owners to begin the lockout, there are going to be moutains of lawsuits to clear before you can strike a deal.

But this letter is squarely aimed at both sides. Because in the end, this is a give and take situation, and the owners only gave a little bit...

You can all count your money, which is still probably decent even with no football. Ticket holders can cry foul about the money they put out for tickets, but it will be returned. We can all gripe about what we'll do on Sundays, but there are plenty of things we can do.

The thing that puts this labor tragedy in perspective for me is how my 2 year old son, who's been talking about going to Ravens Training Camp NON-STOP since it left Westminster, now has to be told that he probably can't go to Training Camp this year, because it won't happen. Maybe they get a deal done late and it's held at M&T Bank Stadium, which is fine, I'll take him to it once or twice. But having to try to explain to a 2 year old everyday why this great thing known as football won't be around for him to watch? That's just wrong.

Take it with a grain of salt, but there are just somethings about this lockout/decertification/money grubbing which really get tired. Congrats football, you've managed to get me excited for baseball.