would strikes be a good thing?
 

Both NFL and NBA have strikes looming. While that would suck for the individuals who make their living peripherally through the sports (not the owners or athletes, but vendors, etc), might it be better for the country? Or would that lack of diversion just be too much to bear?

It would bother me for about 15 seconds.

Does anyone really care about pro team sports anymore beyond having a convenient ice-breaker to initiate conversations with strangers? I know I sure don't.

Since September 11, 2001, Americans have come together as never before in our generation. We have banded together to overcome tremendous adversity. We have weathered direct attacks on our own soil, wars overseas, corporate scandals, layoffs, unemployment, plunging stock prices, droughts, fires, and the myriad of economic and physical disasters both great and small.

Now, we must come together once again to overcome our greatest challenge yet.....

Hundreds of NFL players in our very own nation are living at, just below, or in most cases far above the seven-figure salary level. As if that weren't bad enough, they could be deprived of their life-giving pay for several months, possibly longer, as a result of the upcoming strike situation. You can help!

For only $20,835 a month, about $694.50 a day (that's less than the cost of a large screen projection TV) you can help an average NFL player remain economically viable during his time of need. This contribution by no means solves the problem as it barely covers the annual minimum salary, but it's a start, and every little bit will help!

Although $700 may not seem like a lot of money to you, to your favorite football player it could mean the difference between spending the strike golfing in Florida or on a Mediterranean cruise.

For you, seven hundred dollars is nothing more than a month's rent, half a mortgage payment, two unemployment checks, or a month of medical insurance with COBRA. To a football player, $700 will partially replace his daily salary. Your commitment of less than $700 a day will enable your favorite player to buy that home entertainment center, trade in the year-old Porsche for a new Ferrari, or enjoy a weekend in Rio.

Won't you please help?

I thought strikes were a baseball thing only. No? --Seriously, who cares...

I feel sorry for all the stadium support folks and the non-players. I don't care at all about the players problems.

But hasn't history proven that sports fans have a very short memory on this.

The NHL took a year off (2004-2005), and is still around.

I wish I were in an industry where I could tell my loyal customers "Sorry not in the mood" for a year and not be replaced.

IMO strikes would be good, only if they weaken the player's unions.

I used to be a big baseball fan. I played the game and watched regularly. Then the greedy-arsed clowns they called players decided they all needed to be gazillionaires so they went on strike.
I don't watch the game anymore and don't go to games.
If I get free baseball tickets from a vendor I give them away or throw them away.

Even with 4 free tickets, I'd end up spending $80 or $100 to take the family to a game. $12 parking. $9 beers. $6 soda pops, $7 hotdogs, $4 peanuts. All thanks to the greedy bastages who held the owners hostage using extortion to get what they wanted. They can all go pack sand.
I'm actually glad to see the owners lock them out. Payback's a beotch.

howz that for a world class rant?

Sam, if you think the owners aren't part of the problem then I'd say your rant is world-class wrong. Both sides are greedy bastages, but the reality is that if the fans didn't watch on TV, the money wouldn't be there.

yup, but it is the owners and the players. I change the channel if they start showing highlights of baseball, but have still gone to college and minor league games

if they strike, I will just quit watching them too F 'em

+1. There's a big peripheral industry. But I don't want to use that as an excuse to justify the greed of the athletes and management. (Not saying that's what you're implying.)



I think that, too. Particularly when you see the garbage that went on in downtown Vancouver after they lost the Cup. WTF?

But at the same time, you (a New Englander) should have been in Boston back in 2004 when the Sox came back to beat the Yankees and then take the World Series. Across all walks of life, people shared a common thread of cheering on the Sox. Even non-sports fans. An executive from Lexington could talk to a kid from Southie about it. I'd walk down the halls of the hospital when I was on call, every TV in every room would be turned on to the game, and even if that little old demented lady recovering from hip replacement didn't know who she was or where she was, she knew who was at-bat and what the count was. It was neat to see. You don't get that fanaticism in too-cool-to-care LA.

That squares with my own experience and what I've heard about baseball. They say the sport still hasn't recovered from the 1994 strike. I know I lost interest, and it hasn't come back.
There was an interesting story on NPR's Freakenomics program just yesterday. Their study showed the average baseball player who quits the sport in his early 20s makes 40% more money in his lifetime than the average career player.

I don't care for basketball so that won't bother me one bit. I would miss football come about late november/december.. but I'm sure I would be ok. heck, I'd probably pick up new interests since I'd have more free time that part of the year!