The word came this morning that a strike has been averted, and I am happy. I am not one of those (many) fans who would have been angry had a strike occurred. Rather, I think I would have been sad, the way you would be with an incorrigible family member. You don't like it when they misbehave, but you have become jaded enough to think that they just will and there's nothing you can do about it.

Perhaps that makes me the worst kind of relative - the enabling kind. But the thing is, I am sympathetic to the players, who more than ever this year have been painted as the villains in this disagreement. Every night, fans are interviewed by the media and say that it's just a game, and the players have enough money. I'm just amazed by the narrow-mindedness of this. The money isn't being divided between fans and players; it's being divided between owners and players. And the owners are richer people than anyone. Not to canonize the players, but it is the owners' greediness and fiscal irresponsibility that is the primary cause of every labor disagreement in baseball history. I say that with great confidence.

Certainly, though, it will be nice to see this dicussion fade away for awhile, and move back onto the games.