If you’ve watched ESPN for any amount of time during the past couple of months, you know there are questions regarding the upcoming NFL season.

Will it be played on time? Will there be a season at all? Will the owners use replacement players if an agreement cannot be reached in time?

Instead of finding answers for these questions, the NFL owners and players have engaged in a full-blown media war to solve the problems.

For anyone who has stayed current with this story, it isn’t hard to pick a side.

Neither one is participating in productive business practices, therefore, making it an excruciatingly drawn out process.

Long story short, NFL owners and its players are in a major disagreement over the distribution of revenue. In essence, the owners want more money back while the players simply want to know why.

While these issues are sorted out and a new collective bargaining agreement put in place, the owners have locked out the players and almost all business functions within the NFL are on hold.

While the media puts its doomsday spin on the NFL lockout issue, experts and analysts agree there will be NFL football this fall, on time, as scheduled.

In the meantime, NFL bigwigs and players alike are vying for the public’s approval during the current impasse.

From formal letters from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell all the way to countless tweets from NFL players, the public is growing tired of the glorified pissing match between the two sides.

At first, the general consensus favored the players. They were considered the innocent union just trying to play football while the greedy owners took over the role of nagging villains.

Since then, however, the tide has turned, and everyone seems to be fed up with both sides.

In an effort to send a message to the owners, the now defunct NFL Players Association was rumored to have asked the incoming rookies not to attend the NFL draft, which is a defining moment in any young player’s career.

For the past couple of months, we’ve seen grown professionals act like children in an attempt to gain leverage or even rally a better public opinion.

Some have even resorted to name calling. Kevin Burnett, linebacker for the San Diego Chargers, said Goodell is a “blatant liar.”

Along with the posturing and refusal to get an agreement as soon as possible, the NFLPA, the owners, and even Goodell are the ones coming out on the losing side.

The NFL is the most popular sport in America. That isn’t even opinion. It’s a fact.

Prolonging the collective bargaining, getting in spats publicly, and using the media and fans as leverage only make the NFL look worse as each idle second of this off season ticks by.

If they’re not careful, their attempt to force fans to choose a side will only push us away, damaging a sport that is on top of its game.