Sports Agenda For Thursday (7/21/11)

Big Story:
Well that was fun while it lasted. The NFL Players Association came and went yesterday without voting to approve the new collective bargaining agreement. Plus, the Marlins got beat worse than a foreign soldier under Allen West.
Let's make this agenda rain more than Floyd Mayweather.

Firsties:
Leading off the agenda is the suddenly sinking Florida Marlins.
In case you missed it last night, and judging by the attendance, you did; the Marlins saw what crowd they had get scared off by the 13 runs the Padres put up in the first two innings.
Ricky Nolasco, who is more up and down than the Rocky Mountains, pitched 1.1 innings and gave up 9 earned runs on 9 hits. OUCH.
Nolasco can't pitch when he's behind and it showed last night when he had to revert to throwing fastballs and the Padres kept saying Thank You Sir May I Have Another.
It was brutal to watch, but watching the Marlins past the month of May have been brutal to watch.
There are a few bright spots though.
Mike Stanton is approaching 60 RBI's for the season. And umm….well, yeah, Stanton is good, so they've got that going for them.
The Marlins take on the Padres again this afternoon starting at 12:10 p.m.
Javier Vazquez will be on the mound for the Fish.
If the announcers start cursing on-air, don't worry, no one's watching!

NFL Update:
Man, I really wish I had some good news to report on this.
I'm so sick of maybe, yes, no, maybe, yes, wait a minute that we hear from the NFL Players Association.
The players are walking a fine line between winning public opinion and alienating much of the average NFL fan base.
Look, you've got a few greedy players willing to derail this whole process. Plus, you've got people like Kevin Mawae who wouldn't know a good deal if it stands up and smacks him in the face like a defensive lineman running over him.
What's even dumber on the players parts is they're willing to push this off for another two weeks while trying to haggle for more money.
Here's why it's so stupid.
For each week of the preseason they lose, that's an additional $100 million out of the overall pot of money for the 2011 season.
So what are the players asking for? Well, under the previous CBA, which even the players said was favorable to them, they lost roughly $320 million in benefits last season.
In other words, the players screwed the pooch in the final version of the last CBA and want the money they negotiated to lose back in the new CBA.
Assuming Seahawks player representative Chester Pitts is right and that the new CBA process won't be completed for another two weeks; the players will lose approximately $100-200 million for two weeks of missed preseason games.
Therefore, the players are haggling over approximately $100 million that they negotiated to lose in the prior CBA.
I know taking a lot of blows to the head can cause brain problems, but jeez, c'mon guys not even the guys who took basket weaving in college are that dumb.
The players hired DeMaurice Smith to get a good deal done. He's taken it to the limit and gotten more blood out of a turnip than most thought possible.
It's time for the players to man up and do the deal.
There's still hope the deal can get done today. The owners will likely approve the deal at some point today and the NFLPA executive committee can approve it on a conference call.
All I know is……….college football take me away!!!!