Oakland Raiders Countdown to Kickoff in 2011: Drum Roll When Lockout Ends

In early history and even now, the sound of the drum is a call to action. As many of us read about the NFL lockout, we wonder where this was going.

Last night, I heard on the news that some players are having challenges with their alimony and child support payments because of this ongoing lockout and the economic effect it may have on their income.

It seems that the owners hope that the players are so hooked on playing NFL football at any cost that they are threatening to shutdown the NFL in some form. Their assumption may not be valid.

It could be that the owners are so hooked on making all of that money that they are posing "empty threats" because they can not stand to loose money. Owners don't get knocked around on the football field and then suffer from injuries in later life that were incurred during their youth while playing NFL football.

If this battle during the lockout is between billionaires versus millionaires, the separation is quantifiable in many categories.

First, a millionaire is a guy with a seven-digit budget while the billionaire has a ten-digit budget. If you subtract a million from a billion, what do you get? There is a big gap in benefits if you look at the numbers.

Let's do the arithmetic now to give you a shock: 1,000,000,000-1,000,000 = 999,000,000

There is enough room, and such a big gap between a million and a billion, that you would think that the billionaires would consider accommodating those who do more and get less, so to speak.

How many former NFL owners are struggling with medical bills? How many NFL owners are busted and disgusted? How many former NFL owners are so stressed that they have chemical imbalances or other traumas that hinder their ability to function?

The salary that some of the NFL players make during their NFL career does have some benefits. Nonetheless, there is a generation of former players who are struggling, to say the least. It suggests that there are some inequities in the system. These matters need to be fixed.

Now, many of us are uncomfortable with the lockout and stalemate in this game of negotiating in 2011. However, if there are disparities (and there are many), it seems to me the owners should be fair and shift a new direction so as to benefit current and former NFL players.

This mess needs to be settled before those of us with a bloodline from cultures that know the power of a "drum ceremony" start beating our drums and doing a war dance. The fans have power too. Have we considered using that power?

Are you an American Indian? Then pull out your drum and start your ceremony to move the forces of the NFL in the direction of a solution or resolution.

Are you of African descent? Then grab your djembe and start beating it now. Make your beat rhythmic, loud and clear. We want a solution to be near!

Whatever your ethnic background, go get your drum and beat it. We are ready to give a signal of "warfare" against a delay of the 2011 season. We want this 2011 lockout settled quickly.

Let the sounds begin. As a member of the Raider Nation and devout fan of the Oakland Raiders, let's make our sound.