Surprise Surprise Surprise

Please channel your inner Gomer Pyle as you read that title.  In a stunning development, cough cough, it looks as if the NFL owners and Players Association will come to an agreement for a new CBA.  The owners are meeting next week and it is expected that they will vote on the new deal then.  Raise your hand if you are shocked that a deal is getting done and there won't be any games cancelled.  The doom and gloom picture the NFL's bitch network EsPN has been painting since the lockout began was getting annoying, so I'm glad they have ended this charade.  The idea that either the players or owners would give up any amount of serious money was laughable.  This is what made the mickey mouse of sports networks coverage of the entire thing ridiculous, letting us know how many days it had been going on, threatening the pushback of training camps and the possibility of lost games.  But rather than give more time to other sports that were actually taking place, we had to endure more rumors and innuendos on a daily basis, when the end result was always going to be the same.   A compromise would be reached and no games would be lost.  Owners of teams in Jacksonville, Tennessee and Tampa have zero choice but to play games.  Organizations in these medium size markets need those ticket sales and game day revenues.  On the other side, there are way too many players whose careers are only 3-5 years long and losing a 6 figure income for even one year is not an option.  Add to that the real damage that would have been done to a fan base had games not been played, and the amount of money lost would have been staggering.  But now we can all rest easy and EsPN can get back to endless hours on training camp coverage most of us care nothing about.  WHEW!

Picking winner after winner over at vegasobie on twitter, so be sure to get there to check it out.  We are now 6-2 with the picks and looking to keep it going through the weekend.    But as a bonus, I'll share today's pick with you on here as well.  With baseball, anyone can pick the top three teams for a good record, but the key is picking winners that bring value.  That's why you won't see me ever picking favorites that are -135 or better.  Tonight's choice is the Phillies at -110, with Worley facing Dickey.  The Phillies starter has been great this season while the Mets have already traded their closer and everyone else in the clubhouse is just waiting for their turn to get moved.  Add to that the injury to Jose Reyes for the Mets and I'll be happily cashing tonight.  Good luck, and remember, never bet what you cant afford to lose.