I am reading anything and everything on the Lockout, so here is an interesting take from a former lawyer who thinks there will be a full season. Not as optimistic for the players. I am only hoping that he is right about a full season.
"Here is why I think we will have a season — a full season. Most of the owners and most of the players want to settle, and the makings of a deal are there. The owners want to have the 2011 season, but they lose much less than the players do if the season is canceled. They can more easily bear the financial losses and outrage from the fans — after all, the fans don’t much like the owners in the best of times; their passion is about the players. So the owners might as well drive as hard a bargain as they can if this season is lost. By contrast, the players have a short window for making the kind of money they make (just ask Plaxico Burress, released from prison after 20 months today). If this season is lost, there’s no guarantee there will be a 2012 season either — if the owners’ position hardens, careers will be ended prematurely (see, e.g., Plaxico, supra), opportunities for off-field earnings will be slashed … and the owners have much more wherewithal to stick out protracted litigation over these matters than do the players.
The players of today make lots of money from the pot of gold as it exists now, and they don’t need to worry about future income streams — most will not be around anymore by the time those kick in. They will want to preserve as much as they can of what they have now. The settlement premium they can get from the owners lies in making a deal that saves this season — the owners will almost surely be happy to pay something extra for that, as long as it happens soon. The premium diminishes as weeks of the season start being canceled."
