Open Mike: No. 7.7 is all you need to know about NFL labor talks

Of all the big numbers and even bigger egos that are involved in the ongoing labor talks between NFL football's owners and players to avoid a lockout by Friday afternoon, one little number illustrates why the two sides are arguing over how to slice up a $9 billion pie.

The number: 7.7.

That was the rating for the FOX telecast of the Pro Bowl on Jan. 30, played one week before Super Bowl XLV.

The Pro Bowl is the least meaningful of the major all-star games. Every year, we hear cries from the media to abolish the Pro Bowl for lack of interest - both on the part of fans and players.

But as the ratings show, fans tune in to watch America's favorite sport - even a watered down version of an all-star game where every player is treated like a quarterback (no contact allowed).

So it's no surprise that football fans are angst-ridden over the apparent stalemate in talks in Washington between the owners and players on a new collective bargaining agreement. The two sides are working on their second extension, with a 5 p.m. deadline on Friday to get a deal done - or have another extension.

My prediction: There won't be a deal, and the legal maneuvers will begin. The owners will lock out the players, and the players will decertify their union and go to court to prevent the lockout.

Eventually, the two sides will settle - no doubt in time to start the season on time in September.

In the interim, both sides will indulge in public-relations gambits to get fans on their side.

What the owners and players should realize is that most fans don't care who wins a labor war. They root for football.

Which brings us back to the ratings game.

Pro Bowl ratings aren't as high as for NFL regular-season games, but they beat the competition from the other major sports' all-star games. And the 7.7 rating represented an increase of eight percent over last year.

By comparison, the NBA All-Star Game on Feb. 20, with all its flash and sizzle, did a 5.4.

Major League Baseball has the best All-Star Game. Except for the substitutions, it's the closest to being the real thing. It came close to matching the Pro Bowl last summer with a 7.5 rating.

But while the NFL was trending up, the MLB All-Star Game had a decline of 6.5 percent from the previous year.

And for those who care (both of you), the 2011 NHL All-Star Game's rating was 1.2. And that represented an increase of 33 percent over last year's game.

REVENUE SHARING

The labor talks have been characterized as billionaires (the owners) negotiating with millionaires (the players).

Actually, the players are being sold short. Many of them are multimillionaires.

Some figure that the owners ought to give in because of the money they earn from business outside of football. It's a great talking point but unrealistic.

Assuming it has some validity, turn it around. Should players in team sports who make money outside their sport share it?

Colts quarterback Peyton Manning reportedly made $15 million in 2010 in endorsements, the most of any NFL players. Brett Favre - recently retired again - and Eli Manning tied for second in the NFL with $7 million each away from the gridiron.

Should they share that money with their NFL brethren?

Good question, and the answer is no. But neither should the owners.

BUCKEYE NATION

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel has a lot going for him - in short, the mountain of money OSU's football program sits atop - despite the embarrassment of being caught not telling the truth about his players selling merchandise.

School president E. Gordon Gee already has fined Tressel $250,000 and suspended him for the first two games of the upcoming season as punishment.

To that I say, "Gee whiz, Gordon, is that the best you can do, along with your lame joke about hoping the football coach doesn't fire the president?"

Look for the NCAA to wade in - eventually - and punish Tressel and Ohio State further. But Gee won't fire Tressel, and it will be strictly his call, not the NCAA's.

OSU football is a money machine because Tressel has restored it to its position as national power.

Money pours into the athletic department's coffers. The Buckeyes consistently play in BCS postseason bowl games, where the paydays are the richest.

The Buckeyes have made $34 million the last two years alone from BCS bowl games. They drew 842,221 fans in 2010 for eight home games.

Tressel made $3.888 million in 2010. Gee made $818,167 in base salary and almost $2 million in total compensation - No. 1 among college presidents.

Nobody is going to put the brakes on that money machine.

WES LEONARD, FINAL THOUGHT

This is about something more important than money.

I covered Tuesday's funeral for Wes Leonard, the Fennville High School star athlete who died of heart failure last week. I also covered the state playoff game played Monday night, in which Fennville defeated Lawrence at DeVos Fieldhouse on Hope College's campus in Holland.

A copy of the tape of the entire evening in that arena should be sent to every coach in every sport in the country. Every coach, player, fan, official and administrator involved in the game was an example for the proper conduct in the face of real adversity.