Commentary: NFL players union no evil empire

[Omaha Steve]

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2008/apr/27/commentary_nfl_players_union_no_evil_empire/?sports

By Dan Le Batard - The Miami Herald

April 27, 2008

The truth is complicated. Your truth might not be my truth. We can be presented exactly the same information, on anything from race to religion to politics, and view it so differently that we end up with voices and fists raised. Even facts and statistics can be manipulated to merely reaffirm what we already believe. That is easier on the ego than admitting you are wrong and changing your mind.

Given that, let’s talk about the muddled issue of broken NFL warriors limping through retirement and demanding more benefits from the modern millionaires who are now cashing in on the blood-soaked path the pioneers blazed.

On the surface, this one is easy. And it is a public-relations nightmare for a players union run by a media-scarred Gene Upshaw, who doesn’t seem to care much about public relations. Popular opinion will always go to the little person against the wealthy empire. It is why that 79-year-old woman was awarded a $2.86 million victory over McDonald’s for spilling hot coffee on herself.

So you have to get informed to understand why the broke and broken former football player isn’t being wronged by his union anymore. But that takes work when it is easier to weep. Complaining is easier than solving. Emotions cloud reason. And science and facts don’t have much of a chance against the human heart feeling for a scalded elderly woman or a 35-year-old former NFL player using a cane.

The media don’t always help. It is easy to put a microphone in front of a loud, lovable cartoon like uninformed Mike Ditka and let him rail against perceived injustices as people gather around the noise and shake their pitchforks. Never mind that Ditka himself administered more cruelty upon players as a coach than the system he presently attacks with so much volume.

FULL story at link.