Cardinals may get to Flagstaff after all

While many have begun to question whether the NFL lockout will stretch well into training camp, news of a special negotiation session in Chicago on Thursday has turned some doubters into optimists.

“I’m starting to get close to recanting on whether or not we’re going to Flagstaff,” Doug Franz said Friday morning on Sports 620 KTAR’s Doug and Wolf. “I told you [Thursday] we’re not going to Flagstaff. The reason why I’m close to recanting is two words; no lawyers.”

Franz isn’t looking to attend class at Norther Arizona University later this summer. Rather, he’s got an eye towards Flagstaff because it’s the home of the Arizona Cardinals’ training camp that is scheduled to begin at the end of July. His stance changed so dramatically in a 24-hour period due two reasons.

“With them in secret negotiations at a time when the lawyers are salivating to get to the next step, they are circumventing the lawyers because they want to get a deal done,” Franz told listeners. “I was wrong to rip the players [Thursday] because I did not know they were in secret negotiations. Because of this, and a friend of mine that told me the way the negotiations went, I’m now 55-45 belief we are going to Flagstaff.”

The other half of the show, Ron Wolfley, weighed in agreeing with Franz’s stance.

“They’re sitting on the precipice of victory,” Wolf said. “If you’re talking percentages I think it’s a 70-percent chance we’re there and we don’t miss any time.”

Franz wasn’t alone in his frustration with both sides when it came to the lockout. Up until Thursday, there hadn’t been any indication that positive progress had been made in weeks. That lack of news left fans and the media questioning just how long the lockout, which is well into it’s third month, would last.

The old saying is ‘any news is good news’. That certainly isn’t true when it comes to a labor dispute, but at least it is in this case. That’s something Doug, Wolf and the fans can take solace in.

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