In some ways, I maintain what some might consider to be a jaded view about the debacle now known as the NFL lockout. In addition to having print media access, I also have the good fortune to work as a freelance television production employee, a position that quite honestly pays very well.
Unlike thousands of Hoosier residents, I have never paid a red cent to get into a game since the Colts arrived in town. So you might say, I am spoiled and perhaps even privileged.
But despite the aforementioned, I maintain the following opinion: No football? No problem. Yes, I know it is the most popular sports programming on television today, and I have not forgotten that Indy is slated to host the vastly commercialized gathering known as the Super Bowl.
But the real question that beckons here is will your life really change if the NFL goes on hiatus this season? Probably not. Sure, you may have to struggle with all that extra time you now have on Sundays and Mondays, but there is no doubt in my mind that we all can prosper from a few extra hours a week not spent in front of the very HD set we purchased to watch our heroes battle it out each weekend.
Can you imagine reading a good book, spending time with a loved one, or even volunteering to help someone less fortunate with that time we now slate for what can only be described as our weekly NFL fix?
I mean, how can we actually worry about critical matters such as education, the economy and access to quality health care with the possibility of missing some football games from a club level seat that costs more than my first car did?
I realize it is difficult for the owners and the players to find a formula that allows them to share $9 billion in revenue, so as someone who buys his duds off the discount rack, let me offer the following business acumen as a possible solution.
Get real, guys. Get a deal done, and quit jerking the fans around in a manner that is usually reserved by the IRS, or we will simply demand that year round episodes of “American Idol” be produced and aired on Sundays to fill the void you have created. As the nation sits at home and suffers with football withdrawals, feel free to continue this contentious, and ridiculous “alleged” bargaining in the chambers of some federal judge who we never have heard of, one that probably has a T-shirt of her favorite NFL team on underneath her sacred robe. (Sorry your honor, just my opinion.)
Look, I know a lot of good people will miss the wages they work hard to earn in football related jobs, but I certainly feel more empathy for the guy selling sodas at the stadium, than I do some fat cat in the NFL offices who is in line for what has been recently reported as a potential 12 percent pay cut if this charade is not settled soon. Go ahead and give those who clean up at Lucas Oil Stadium after the game the above average wages I will lose by not getting to work the telecast, as they certainly deserve it much more.
I get the fact that this game we love is a multi-billion dollar business and that eventually cooler heads will prevail and we will once again have our beloved football back. I also salute the efforts it took by various local individuals to secure a Super Bowl.
I am simply saying that in the event of a canceled season, we could always take the $25 million the host committee raised and put it in to projects such as the enhancement of IPS, better pay for police and fire personnel and our public parks. Then again, it is silly of me, to think those objectives could compare to a 100 yard kickoff return.
So while I continue to value my accessibility to sports through this newspaper, I propose that there are plenty of other events to quench our perpetual thirst for spectator sports, and we will find something to do if these misguided souls cannot hammer out a new collective bargaining agreement. Even if they do, feel free to boycott the first game, and maybe even turn your television to something educational that first Sunday.
After all, unlike a single mother trying to make ends meet, or a senior citizen having to choose between groceries and their prescription medication, it is only a game, and it really doesn’t matter if they play football or not, as life will indeed go on. The real question is, does the NFL realize that? Better yet, do they even care?
Danny Bridges, who respects and salutes each minimum wage worker in every NFL stadium, can be reached at (317) 578-1780 or at Bridgeshd@aol.com.
