The last straw?

By John Roberts Sports Central Columnist

Tick, tick, tick.

Okay, the date's been set. Baseball players will go on strike Aug. 30 if a new labor agreement isn't reached.

Armageddon is on the horizon.

Now, it's time to get a little perspective.

We're talking about a sport here. Not exactly a life or death situation.

This is guys playing with bats and balls, running around bases worried about gunned out at home. Not quite the same as children running around the Middle East with guns trying not to get shot down heading home.

It's time for the owners and players to take a step back and get some of this perspective. The strike date is set for less than two weeks before the anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks. Who do they think will have any sympathy for them?

The out-of-work fans dealing with a struggling U.S. economy, accounting scandals, and major airline bankruptcies?

Or scores of us simply trying to respectfully reflect on the events of the past year, which saw thousands lose friends and family in the attacks?

Is it really important we focus our attention on groups of grown men bickering about the financial details of a game -- a pastime? Ask your neighborhood firefighter or policeman what they think real work is -- what their job is worth.

Perspective!

The thing is, the game of baseball is very important to these same people -- the fans. The firemen, the unemployed, men, women, and children.

The game itself is the thing, not the people running, and ruining it.

The athletes and owners will -- and have -- come and gone through the years, but the game is what has endured. The people at the bargaining table would do well to think of this as they sit across from each other these next two crucial weeks arguing over luxury taxes and salary caps.

Without the fans, the baseball couldn't exist. And the players in this latest labor strife must not assume the fan always will return.

Fans were pushed almost to the limit in 1994 when they lost their World Series. This time, fans might not be willing to forgive. The timing is all wrong. There's plenty of other things to worry about besides men averaging $2.4 million to play a game.

There's the remembrance of 9/11. There's jobs and family.

NFL and college football.

Soon enough, these games will arrive to give our minds the escape we sought and thought we could count on with baseball.

MLB better get some perspective on its place in our society, or we'll move on to greener fields.

Article courtesy of Sports Central.