Is the NFL Lockout Over Yet? Do I Care?

  Thursday, the sports world was all abuzz that the NFL lockout would be over soon. The owners had approved the collective bargaining agreement. Now we were just were waiting on the players to do the same. Except they didn't. I could get into the whys and whynots, but that's not the point of this post.

I met the news with a big yawn. It's now Monday and it appears the lockout is all but over. I'm still not ready to drop to my knees in gratitude.

After last season ended and the lockout became official, so-called experts were wringing their hands, claiming that a portion of the season (or even the whole season) might be lost because of the dispute. I was never one of those people.

The NFL isn't in trouble. The league couldn't lose money if it tried. Football has replaced baseball as America's pastime. It is a nine billion dollar industry. Let me say that again.  NINE BILLION DOLLARS. All the players and owners are fighting about is how much money each side receives, not whether there is money actually being made.

It would make both sides look extremely silly, selfish, and self-involved if the start of the season was delayed because millionaires and billionaires were fighting about money.

I know ESPN has 24 hours to fill, but the constant gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands perplexed and ultimately annoyed me. I would have been concerned only if the lockout lingered into mid-August. But I knew it wouldn't.

Besides, it's not like we were missing games and that's what I'm interested in. The only thing we fans missed out on were free agent signings (and we'll still have that - just in a compressed amount of time). I'm sure there are people who watch these moves with intense interest. I don't. Yes, I like to know who the Cowboys sign, but that takes at most 5 minutes in a day.

Call me when the games start.

I live in the season. I've always been this way. While this NFL mess was going on, I had the NBA (Yay, Mavericks!), baseball, tennis, and the Women's World Cup to focus on. I don't have a favorite sport, so I'm just as happy watching basketball or baseball as I am football.

Am I happy the lockout is about to be over? Yes, absolutely. But let's not pretend it's a miracle that the owners and players were able to come to an agreement on how to split money so they can all stay rich.