With the players’ union disbanded and bargaining turned into litigation, the football lawyers and journalists and Drew Brees-es, who for a few sorta-exciting recent days hung out among us downtown, have gone their separate ways.

That’s left the fans here and everywhere time to dwell on basketball, and hockey, and bitterness.

Here’s a representative example of the latter, taken from a poster named Hail to Da Skins 21 on the Dan Snyder-owned Extremeskins, responding over the weekend to a thread that asked for comment on NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell‘s post-lockout open letter to the players/propaganda for the masses:

Both sides r dumb….Just get the damn CBA done !!!!! I already hate the players cause 98 percent have either beatin the redskins…sucked for the redskins ….or have played for dallas …..I hate the owners cause of Snyder……so no matter who says wut they wont win over this fan just get the CBA done…..

Reading between the ellipses of Hail to Da Skins 21’s tirade, there’s a message that should scare all the football folks no longer hanging out downtown and anybody who makes a buck off the local NFL franchise.

The NCAA Tournament’s been a pretty good one so far, after all. D.C. United drew 18,000-plus and won big. And, damn, did the Caps look good on Friday in New Jersey…