from Scott Morrison of Sportsnet,

The last time we went through this, a season was lost before the players essentially capitulated, only to eventually emerge in a new economic world that benefited most of them, with the average salary increasing by roughly a million dollars over the course of the previous collective bargaining agreement, while revenues grew to a record $3.3 billion.

Who gets what when the lights go back on really doesn't matter to any of us. Both sides will profit, the games will resume and the fans will come back.

What is most troubling, though, is the only way they seem to be able to get anything done is by staring each other down, by inflicting pain, then waiting to see who blinks first and most often.

Whatever happened to setting a meaningful deadline and negotiating to the best agreement possible? Perhaps that makes me a little naive in my thinking, but I also don't understand why what is happening now makes good business sense to either side.

more