Enjoy the party while it lasts

Sunday, February 06 2011

No labor agreement. No cheerleaders. No Raiders or 49ers. This article was written by Cam Inman and appeared in The Contra Costa Times.

No problem.

Super Bowl XLV still will go on Sunday, attracting possibly America's biggest television audience ever -- or roughly as many voyeurs as replayed Janet Jackson's 2004 halftime show.

Come 3:30 p.m., everyone should be sitting down for an epic Super Bowl. A few hours later, brace for labor-talk overload.

More uncertainty exists about the NFL's future than it does in this against-the-grain prediction: Pittsburgh Steelers 24, Green Bay Packers 20.

Who knows what the league will resemble a year from now, when the Super Bowl de-ices from its Dallas-area debut and returns to a more tropical locale in, er, Indianapolis.

Looming questions: Will it take 18 regular-season games to make the playoffs? How could a lockout affect teams, especially those with new coaches such as the Raiders' Hue Jackson and 49ers' Jim Harbaugh? Will rookies be panhandling thanks to the JaMarcus Russell Rookie Salary Scale?

Come Sunday night, the NFL will go to sleep. Labor talks will replace fantasy-football chatter. Free-agent shuffling will be delayed like flights out of Dallas-Fort Worth.

Eventually, rich guys will divvy their billions and give birth to a collective bargaining agreement. But when?

A few weeks was the optimistic scenario given by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell at his Friday news conference in Dallas. A day earlier, players union chief DeMaurice Smith was combative, arrogant and Johnnie Cochran-esque in bemoaning the labor crisis to the media.

Unfortunately, Goodell (owners) vs. Smith (players) is more important to the league's future than Steelers vs. Packers. Try that concussion on for size.

For the Raiders and 49ers, their futures weigh heavier than most franchises. A new labor pact could address their scant revenue streams and long-shot stadium wishes.

"Since 2006, we have not built a new stadium. That is an issue for us," Goodell said Friday. "You'll point to Dallas, New York and renovations to Kansas City. But those were all in the ground or on their way. This agreement needs to be addressed so we can make the kind of investments so we can grow the game and make it great for the fans."

Not even an insurance company's pledge of $700 million in naming rights for a Los Angeles stadium has convinced Goodell in that project's financial viability, nor should it. (Comparison: Your barber can pledge $2 billion in naming rights for a Bay Area stadium if it's done in a week.) Thankfully, a game still is left to play before we start wondering about the 40-yard dash times of labor lawyers.

Ah yes, the game, which will raise the Steelers' record stock of Lombardi Trophies to seven.

Why Pittsburgh? Because of the Steelers' mean defense. Steelers safety Troy Polamalu is the AP Defensive Player of the Year, and linebacker James Harrison provides a fear factor and big-play capability (see: 100-yard interception return in Super Bowl XLIII).

The Steelers cornerbacks aren't as good as the Packers' Charles Woodson and Tramon Williams. But the Super Bowl has a way of turning modest defensive backs into sudden heroes. Plus, each and every cornerback likely will be inspired by Deion Sanders' selection Saturday into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger stands to benefit with his third Super Bowl win in six years, a distinct honor regardless of how you perceive his on-field contributions and off-field conduct.

A dominant defense will be needed to stop Cal product Aaron Rodgers. He is quarterbacking the Packers offense with synchronicity reminiscent of the 49ers teams he grew up idolizing.

This is the moment Rodgers envisioned during that painfully long 2005 draft day, when he waited 4½ hours for the Green Bay Packers to select him 24th overall. Asked back then how in the heck he could succeed in Brett Favre's eventual wake, Rodgers replied: "Steve Young won a Super Bowl following my idol, Joe Montana."

That last 49ers title came 16 years ago. The NFL has changed. Another makeover is in store.

"Status quo is not acceptable," Goodell said.

Requests for owners to open their financial ledgers was dismissed by Goodell as a "negotiating ploy."

What is everyone's business, no doubt, is the Super Bowl. It remains the NFL's greatest stage. It is upon us, and it hasn't yet been exported to London or Mexico City or Timbuktu.

Enjoy this one, because the pomp and circumstance of labor talks just doesn't inspire Gatorade-bucket showers.