As the lockout has now set a record for the longest work stoppage in the history of the league, I am more angry at those who have put their personal greed and egos ahead of an American institution, and the loyal fans who have spent their hard earned money and devotion to make it as successful as it is..  I began watching the NFL, in the mid sixties, with my dad, on a black and white tv.  Some of my fondest memories are of those Sunday afternoons with just me and my old man.  I grew up a Packers fan, and my dad was a Colt's fan.  Yep!  Johnny U. vs. Bart Starr!  Unitas was the more talented QB, while Bart Starr just won championships every year.  It is kind of like the Brady and Manning comparisons of today.

Football is supposed to be an escape from the everyday problems in our country.  It isn't supposed to mirror the greed and power struggles we have shoved down our throats 24 hours a day, with the 24 hour news shows, the hatred and lies related to our countries politics, the bad side of Capitalism that I personally want to escape from, and the NFL, and my team, the Chiefs, provided alot of that escape. 

It isn't just the season, it is following the team in the offseason, when optimism is high, especially coming off a successful 2010.  It is seeing if we pursue and sign any free agents, that can potentially help take our team to yet another level, it is following the mini camps, and the progression of the young players.  Football has progressed to a 365 day a year escape, thanks to cable tv and the internet.  We are already being cheated out of an important part of the NFL, that has helped it become a multi-billion dollar league.

I have developed almost a hatred towards both sides of this bullshit.  One of the downsides of cable tv and the internet age, is that we are fed negativity 24 hours a day.  We fear if we can fill our gas tanks, if we can provide for our families, if there is going to be Social Security, when we retire, and maybe worse of all, we are also fed with the lies, greed, corruption and the hatred of politics.  Yes, the NFL is suppose to take us away from all of that, not continually remind us of it.