"I've learned that life is one crushing defeat after another until you just wish Flanders was dead." - Homer J. Simpson

Complete and total apologies for the late start today, ladies and gentlemen. . .yours truly was supposed to have the day off from his day job today, but wound up getting called in anyhow. Hence the quote above there. . .it was either that or channel my inner Dante Hicks and just spend five paragraphs yelling, "I'm not even supposed to be here today!"

But you know what isn't quite as soul-crushing as it used to be? The NFL Labor talks. . .which, according to Mike Freeman of CBS Sports, are somewhere between "80 to 85% done."

One source with intimate knowledge of the discussions tells me negotiations are 80-85 percent complete. They've made such fast progress, I'm told, it's catching many of the principals by surprise. Some are now canceling vacations, believing an agreement will be reached within a matter of days.

Basically, it seems, we continue to move solidly into that threshold of a season will be played, not if one will be played. Again, barring the knucklehead factor.

"It's going to be very difficult for this to get screwed up," the source said.

Well, after spending the last three months or so trying to "screw it up," maybe the NFL and the NFLPA* have finally gotten it all out of their systems and feel like doing it the right way.

Here's hoping that this report is an accurate one and that we're finally on the verge of getting something figured out.