OK, all you long-shot artists who bet that a debt-ceiling compromise would be reached before the NFL owners and players would settle, pay up:
At some point in the very near future—perhaps as early a 11 a.m. Monday—the names DeMaurice Smith, Jeff Pash and John Mara will be phased out of football stories and replaced by Arian Foster, Michael Vick and Drew Brees. It hasn't happened just yet, but it looks to be no more than 24 hours away, with even the league's website reporting that the sides worked until 3 a.m. Monday morning on the wording of a deal.
Actually, since the sides were so far apart, this "grand deal" is a little surprising. I understand they were considering as a fail-safe option a "stopgap" plan that would have taken us to about mid-season, at which point the two sides would renogitate some of the more contentious points. Most fans, of course, would be upset at the possibility of another lockout at the halfway point, but considering some of the teams I've been rooting for, it could be a blessing.
