Lockout Blues...maybe it all ends today?

I know...I've made a point of avoiding any sort of discussion about the lockout (for a number of reasons, one of which being that I literally cannot discuss it due to other duties aside from my writing my little heart out). Today is a major day for the NFL where a deal has to get done - granted, it has to be the right deal, but it needs to happen. Yes, there's a deadline. Yes, there are many unresolved issues; however, this deal needs to happen. The owner's vote should happen today and it looks like they just might settle this thing.

Like Chris Mortensen said, this is a long-term agreement that they're trying to reach, of course it is going to take time and of course there are many complicated components to sort out. So, since the players declined to vote on the CBA yesterday, we all wait with baited breath to see what happens today. Seems to me that there's a push and pull factor here where the players don't want to reveal their hand and neither do the owners...just yet, anyway. I think we need to take this progress at face value and hope that moving forward today will mean we see a settlement and a definitive (and resounding) "It's a Go" for the NFL season.

FYI....if this four-month lockout ends in time (aka today), then the Rams and Bears will move forward and play in the August 7th Hall of Fame game, followed shortly thereafter by the regular pre-season schedule. Another big question relates to (official) training camps and when those begin...I think they will begin immediately come August, but others have different thoughts on that.

Regardless, stay tuned, today is a BIG day...