Paul Johnson

After taking a few months to figure out the best way to divvy up a $9-billion dollar pot – the NFL and the NFL Players Association have come to an agreement. Oh, and it’s not just any old agreement. It’s an agreement that will save football fans from having to deal will this crap for another decade. The almost unheard of 10-year deal means once again – football won’t miss a beat.

One of the beauty’s of the NFL is that regardless of the bitterness and anger that may have been prevalent at times during the lockout – NONE of that will matter now. The biggest and best run of all the professional leagues – is back to business.

More importantly, despite the lockout and all the accompanying talk of impending doom and gloom for the league – guess who will be affected the least now that the dust has settled? That’s right – the ticket offices. In fact, they’ll be booming.

Also of note, the league will lose NO fans – period. In fact, they may even gain a lot more of them because of how this all finally played out.

Put simply, the National Football League is a business juggernaut unlike any other in pro sports and all of the “bad” they just went through will magically transform itself into “good” in mere seconds.

Now it’s the NBA’s turn. Here’s hoping they get it right. As Michael Grange writes on www.sportsnet.ca – the NFL deal should show the way for the NBA and its players.

NBA – take note. THIS is how you run a league. THIS is how you save a season. THIS is how you get it done.

Have a day – and enjoy the pigskin baby!

Paul