Cross your fingers and pray for a CBA resolution before midnight eastern time…or at the very least, an extension.
Even though the $4 billion lockout protection angle backfired on the owners Wednesday, there are still many issues that need to be resolved including that minor matter of an 18-game schedule.

As explained by National Football Post’s Andrew Brandt, there are six possible options:

1. New Deal
2. Union Decertifcation
3. CBA Extension
4. Lockout
5. Impasse
6. Operate With 2010 Deal

At this point, number one seems nearly impossible by Thursday night. Meanwhile, options two through four appear to be somewhat plausible.

Ultimately though, we’re talking about millionaires arguing over millions, that they surely already have.

A recent Forbes.com article pointed out that the average NFL team made $33 million during 2009.

Even with attendance slightly down in 2010 by slightly over 130,000 fans and with 26 television blackouts (7 in ’06), the league prospered again in 2010.

Eight of the ten highest rated television programs during 2010 were NFL games. The Academy Awards and Undercover Boss (which aired following the most watched program in television history, Super Bowl XLIV) were the only non-NFL programs to crack the top 10.

As the league appears to be at the peak of its popularity, a group of millionaires can’t possibly be callous or foolish enough to endanger an NFL season, could they?

Unfortunately, they just might be.