Football fans, be forewarned: the NFL may go on strike in 2011. Owners and players are locked in disagreement.

Things are really moving in that direction. Owners have backed out of the current collective bargaining agreement with the players. The first step toward strike is an uncapped season, and that is in place for 2010-2011 season already. Assuming the disagreement is not resolved, next year will see a national football strike no NFL season that year. You read that right, the months of September through January would be empty in the minds of many sports fans.

This didn’t come out of the blue. The potential strike has roots in dissatisfaction on the owners’ side. They are unhappy with the current rookie pay scale. They want a scale that would allow them to issue rookies less lucrative contracts in case they turn out to be disappointing additions to the team.

Currently, this isn’t how new players are compensated. At present, owners have to entice new players with extravagant salaries that are guaranteed, even if the players don’t turn out to perform as expected.

The overall pay scale in the NFL is also under attack by owners. Currently, players are entitled to 59.5% of the total revenues that the league brings in. Owners are not happy about this. They have to deal with falling revenues at the same time that they have to manage the rising costs of maintaining stadiums.

The owners also have the whole burden for publicity and business growth they are the ones pushing for the league to expand. These efforts cost money. The players have none of the expense for public relations, and yet get the lion’s share of the profits from these efforts.

Who will win this dispute is as yet unclear. What is clear is that the outcome will carry a large consequence. Any lockout can really negatively impact the popularity of a sport. And, if there is a lockout, none of the players will be getting paid for that year.

It’s anybody’s game, as it were. A lockout will be very damaging to the NFL’s chances to expand overseas, into Europe and Latin America. Plus, it will really screw up the NFL’s chances of growth and increasing profits.

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The 2009 National League Cy Young race is an interesting situation. There are at least two pitchers who make definitive cases for the coveted award, and choosing the winner will be a difficult decision for those forced to vote.

There were some exceptional pitching performances in the National League in 2009. It can be argued that at least 4 or 5 pitchers would have won it hands down in seasons past had they had these seasons then. Some of the best pitchers this past season included the likes of Adam Wainwright, Jair Jurrjens, Clayton Kershaw, and Matt Cain. Not to mention many others.

However, Tim Lincecum and Chris Carpenter both stole the show. Pitching their respective teams to winning records, both of these pitchers had some of the best pitching seasons in recent memory.

Looking at the stats doesn’t tell the whole story with either of these pitchers. That’s perhaps what makes this race even more difficult to call, as if it wasn’t already hard enough. It’s almost painful to deny either of these incredible pitchers of an award they deserve. Maybe they’ll somehow tie for the award.

As far as Lincecum is concerned, he was magnificent in 2009. A 15-7 record, a 2.48 ERA, and 261 strikeouts (best in the league) in 225.1 innings pitched were all phenomenal. He was largely responsible for San Francisco’s first winning season in years.

Chris Carpenter, on the other hand, is more likely to see a movie made out of his story. After missing two consecutive seasons with an injury that threatened his career, he somehow managed to pull it together with the best season of his career. No one in baseball expected anything this drastic out of Carpenter, who led the NL in earned run average.

As for who will win this race, all bets are off. Voters will probably be required to vote based on the surrounding details rather than the stats themselves. After all, the stats themselves would lead someone to mull this over all day.

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Many fans of baseball were surprised by Mark McGwire’s recent confession. The slugger had used steroids for the greater part of his baseball career, as this gave him an unfair edge and contributed to the mammoth seasons that we as fans witnessed.

Most baseball players are thought to have used steroids in order to pump up their offensive stats, thereby securing more valuable contracts in the process. In McGwire’s case, things were different. He simply wanted to recover from any injuries in less time than he’d otherwise be able to.

You may remember that the beginning of McGwire’s career was marked by many injuries that saw him missing the majority of some seasons as a result. His potential was never realized because of this, despite the fact that he averaged more home runs per at bat than any other player of his time.

What followed in the years to come was exactly what one would expect. He was healthier through the majority of the remainder of his career, and his offensive production was exceptional.

The pinnacle of this all took place in 1998, when McGwire shattered the old home run record set by Roger Maris, hitting 70 home runs in a season. The baseball world was amazed, and McGwire was the toast of the baseball world.

Just a few short years later, a few steroid allegations by Jose Canseco and some admissions by others shocked and devastated baseball fans. Many began to speculate that McGwire was under the influence of these illegal substances too.

Baseball fans almost feel foolish to have believed that everything was done legitimately. After seeing decades in which players struggled to top 50 home runs, 60 and 70 were suddenly being done nearly every year. This couldn’t have been more obvious.

Despite this all, one has to wonder if McGwire should be chided or praised for his recent admissions. While his numbers will certainly hold very little credence, he was a brave man to do what far too players have been willing to do up until now.

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