It turns out there's an interesting little clause in the NFL schedule for 2011, one that indicates a level of doubt about the possibility that the lockout will be resolved before the training camp wraps up.
Essentially, according to this ESPN article, the NFL has built into the schedule the opportunity to make games up late in the season if there's no...well, season. At least through the first three weeks. Quoth Adam Schefter:
Every game in Week 3 has teams which share the same bye week later in the season. That means the teams could make up that week's games on what was originally scheduled to be their bye.
The NFL also could lose the week between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl, and has secured hotel rooms in Indianapolis -- site of the Super Bowl XLVI -- for two weeks, meaning the Super Bowl could be played a week later than its originally scheduled date of Feb. 5, 2012.
This is both frightening and shrewd. Frightening because the NFL saw fit to schedule their season as though something might go horribly wrong, which gives me even more of a sinking feeling than I already had. It's also shrewd because it buys everyone involved a little more time should court cases drag on, albeit removing the bye weeks that teams so desperately need.
Thoughts?