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I think I may be the first person not named Andy to post a blog on the FPL website. First I would like to thank God, my wife, my mom, etc.....

But seriously, football starts tomorrow. I couldn't be happier about that. I get my fill with the NFL on this website. I don't get it much in Western Kentucky because, well, it is Western Kentucky. We don't have any sports teams. But that's cool. I have FPL. Just a few thoughts...

I think about the possible lockout situation and how the players showed their collectives butts the other night. I think about owners that have the windpipe of the players money stream in their hands, ready to pounce. I think of a league office that has a bit too much arrogance, and the director of the NFLPA who needs a horse bit due to "Over Talking Director Syndrome".

I think about how lucky I am that I'm not a diehard hockey fan, even though my favorite sport is getting ready to go through the same thing, even with supposedly un-Bettman-ish leadership. Sometimes I wonder what the reaction of the regular fan would be if a lost year came to fruition. What the heck would we do? Go to tennis? I doubt it. if you had a prized milk cow, would you stop milking her for another dollar a gallon? In the present sense, you wouldn't make THAT much more a month, but you could stand the chance of people leaving for other milk. The NFL is that prized cow, and I am very afraid most people are going to leave for different milk.

I think about how a guy who signed a big contract could have the grapefruits to not come to work for a bigger one. That's right, actually WORK for a bigger one. What ever happened to honoring your commitment? Maybe I am just turning 60 at 29, but that makes no sense to me. Imagine who the folk hero Revis Island would be if he hadn't done what he did. He, could, be, like, Charles, Woodson.... Look, I know Woodson is no Revis, but the guy signed a contract and didn't hold out, then proceeded to claim his want-to retire a Packer. Seems to me like Woodson did it the right way.

I wonder why the NFLPA is screwing the former players out of old Madden money. It just seems shady. And while we're on the subject, why in the world would you not take care of the former players. Those guys built this league, and they get crapped on. Makes no sense to me. That union is unlike any union that any of us have ever been in. The power wielded multiplied by the dollars at stake makes them a totally different beast.

Finally, think about a football fan. Show me a movie buff that keeps watching bad movies (see the Rams fan). Show me a stockbroker that keeps buying the stock really low waiting for a jump (see the Lions fan). Show me a painter that keeps making good money at the starving artist shows, but can't seem to break through since his last good painting (see the Packers fans). Finally, show me someone that has been through Hell on Earth, and finally gets redemption (see the Saints fans). All of that is football at its finest.

Lets play some frickin' football.