[sportscurmudgeon]

CRedskinsRule:

Do not be too dismayed by the statements of the mediator. Mediation is a process that is a complete failure until it becomes a total success. At the moment it is a complete failure - - but the two sides have not quit the process and the mediator is still willing to expend his good offices to try to bring them together. So there is a light at the end of the tunnel - - even though it may be a gorilla with a flashlight.

That means the process is still working - - even though it is a complete failure to this point.

My gut tells me that mediation at this point is not going to work and that the CBA will expire before there is a new agreement. [They may agree to an extension of the current CBA to be sure, but I really doubt there will be a new CBA by 4 March] However, this mediation process - - even if it does not create a new CBA making it a complete failure - - COULD set the stage for a future mediation that will create the new CBA sometime down the road.

Yes, I have done some mediation work in the past - - although nothing nearly as big or as public as this mediation. I think about what the mediator is going through and thank my lucky stars that he and I cannot trade places.