Grabbed this tidbit from Adam Schefter's blog:

For all the information that flowed through Indianapolis this weekend, none was any more startling or alarming than the one regarding the state of the game.

This offseason, more than 40 percent of the assistant coaches in the league changed teams, a stunningly high number, according to numbers that the coaches association keeps. That in itself takes a moment to process. But the kicker to it is even more ominous.

Virtually none, if any, of the assistant coaches who signed contracts this offseason were given deals that extended into 2011, league sources said. Each was given a two-year contract for 2009 and 2010, but nothing for 2011, when the league faces the possibility of a work stoppage.

For now, 2011 seems a long way off. But already the date is at the forefront of the owners’ and coaches’ thinking.

It's an amazing figure that NONE of the new assistant coaches from any team has been given any contracts beyond the 2010 season.  If you wanted signs of the future, then look no further than those that make the final decision in negotiations with the NFLPA.  The owners are unifying and seem to be ready for an all out war when the present bargaining agreement ends.

As a fan it irritates me that I will miss out on football, but it seems that these types of schisms must happen every couple of decades to bring the balance of power back into alignment.  In truth, the pendulum has swung too far into the favor of the players who currently get more than their fair share in profit; while the owners are seeing their returns dwindle and their ability to reinvest into their franchise being constricted. 

I know many might disagree with me on that, but I will say that without the players there is no NFL...again, without the owners there is no NFL.  The owners, yes wealthy by our standards, are not worthless to the success of the NFL and it is as much because of them that the NFL is so incredibly successful.  The 60%-40% split in favor of the players is unfair to the owners who can no longer reinvest into their franchise the way they used to be able to. 

This is also a big reason why public funding is always needed to build new stadiums and why they take so much heat when asking for it.  If you want to blame anyone for the one cent tax hike to pay for the stadium, then place some of the blame on the NFLPA as that tax helped subsidize the exorbitant pay that many of the best players in the league enjoy.

Though I will miss football in 2011, I will support the owners as I had supported the players in the 80's.  The pendulum has swung too far and the balance of power must return to normal.  Bring on the strike.  There is more to the owners than profit and a business must have a reasonable profit for it to succeed - a fact tax-happy politicians should read up on.