Did I hear something about the world ending?

Citizens of The Nation, I have the latest sign that the world is going to end much sooner than the Aztecs predicted.

The latest rumor is that the world will end on Saturday, May 21, 2011 at 6 p.m. I am still waiting to hear if that is eastern or central time, or Greenwich Mean Time. We need some clarification here. I need to know how much time I have so I can plan my day accordingly.

While we await word on the exact time of the end of the world, the latest sign that the apocalypse is upon us has been delivered.

The latest sign is that I actually agree with the words of Bart Scott, linebacker for the New York Jets and former member of the despicable Baltimore Ravens, and Bob Kraft, owner of the vile New England Patriots.

Scott told the New York Daily News, “We’re bordering now on the verge of insanity. Fans don’t want to hear about lockout. They don’t want to hear about people arguing over $9 billion. They want the bottom line. Because at the end of the day, these guys are saving up throughout the entire year to come out and spend their hard earned money to see football. And we’re telling them that they can spend their hard earned money but we’re not playing until we figure it out.”

He continued by agreeing with Bob Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, by saying, “I agree with him that we’re really on the verge of irritating our fan base and damaging the fabric of the game.”

Kraft had stated that the fans’ goodwill was being pushed too far.

You know what? They are RIGHT! I can’t believe I just wrote that, but it’s true.

Our goodwill, that of the people who actually pay (however indirectly) the $9 billion these two sides are fighting over, is being stretched thinner than the skin on a bowl of pudding.

Yes, we save and spend our hard earned money not only on the games, but on all the things that make us fans. I have shirts and jerseys, footballs and miniatures ofplayers, frames for my license plates on my cars and framed pictures of the Steelers. This is a major part of my existence from September to February and these greedy a-holes are messing with it!

I’m not going to stop watching football because of all this, but I can totally understand people who will abandon the game and I do not blame them. If work stoppages have shown anything it is that the fans of the game will stop caring if they are messed with enough.

In the aftermath of the last baseball strike in 1994-95, baseball fans, those few that showed for games that is, booed loudly for entire games. Fans brought signs to games claiming the players ruined the game and calling them greedy. The most serious message sent to the MLB was in the form of attendance. The league reported a drop of 20% in attendance at games from before the strike to after.