The owners and players aren't meeting face to face again until next week but that doesn't mean the negotiations have stopped. They haven't. They continue in earnest this week with phone talks, I'm told. In other words, this is more good news. You'd indeed like to see the sides meet every day, every hour, every second but my guess is breaks are needed and a good old fashioned phone call isn't a bad idea. But at least they're still talking. Negotiations aren't going dark when not face to face. That's an important point.

I understand if they need a breather. These guys have been staring at each other in some cases for months. They're probably punch drunk and hallucinating. A short break from face to face chats isn't a bad thing.

As long as the respite is brief. The two sides get back to the table from yet another undisclosed location we'll all know about next week.