more press conferences

We know many of you don't care about the vagaries of labor strife, but the possibility of an impending lockout, and the possible elimination of the salary cap in 2010, made today's NFLPA press conference a must-attend for those of us who cover the league.

In a word, the first NFLPA presser since the sudden death of former Union leader Gene Upshaw this past August was something of a disappointment.

NFLPA president Kevin Mawae and acting executive director Richard Berthelsen failed to say much of consequence, other than to reiterate their long-standing points that the current collective bargaining agreement is fair to the players, that the union does plenty to compensate retired players, and that the union is working to elect a new Executive Director to succeed Upshaw on a full-time basis. Nothing we didn't know on any of those fronts. Former players Trace Armstrong and Troy Vincent are the top remaining candidates for Upshaw's former position.

One element of note was a study distributed by the NFLPA showing the (high) profitability of each NFL franchise. Once we have time to parse some of these facts and account for spin, we'll fill you in on some of the highlights of the study.

The NFLPA press conference overlapped with the end of the (much better attended) Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band press conference, which was, according to NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy, Bruce's first full-fledged press conference since 1987.

Bruce's presser was not especially noteworthy either, although he did reveal that he last played football in his Freehold, NJ back yard in the summer of 1958.

Also, E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren, a resident of Scottsdale, AZ, is a Cardinals fan.

Otherwise, not too many of the inane, cringe-worthy questions that are generally asked of the Super Bowls halftime performers.

Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time for me to ask obscure questions about outtakes from the Tunnel of Love album.

My guess at the Bruce setlist for Sunday: 1) Born to Run 2) My Lucky Day (new song) 3) Glory Days...if he has time to play a fourth, I'm calling either "Badlands" or "Hungry Heart."