Random Ramsdom, 7/14: "I don't know"

Good morning St. Louis Rams fans. If you came here looking for an update filled with good news on the NFL Lockout, well, there's none to be had. When words like "frustrating" are used to describe talks at this late in the game, you have to assume that the August 7 Hall of Fame Game is going to be cancelled. 

Don't forget we've got another episode of Turf Show Radio coming on Saturday at 6 p.m. Eastern, that's 5 p.m. for you folks in the midwest who aren't very good at math. Joining us this week is Evan Silva from Rotoworld and Pro Football Talk. We'll pick his brain about the free agent market and drop some fantasy football questions on him. 

The links...

NFL.com news: Labor deal still eludes NFL owners, players after 11-hour day
A long day of settlement talks led to more frustration. Both sides are apparently still stuck on the rookie wage scale and retiree benefits. The two issues aren't mutually exclusive since the savings from a rookie pay cut, or at least part of it, will likely go to help the oldsters. From an outsider's POV, it's a little astonishing that they're still working on these issues.

Lockout over by July 21? "I don't know," says one insider

When league and NFLPA* sources aren't saying that a labor deal is or isn't close, they're talking about the "hard work" that remains. One such source played the "hard work" card tonight with ESPN's Sal Paolantonio, saying that "there is a lot of hard work to be done.

St. Louis Rams continue the help to clean up debris in Joplin

The Rams' front office staff and others from the organization traveled to Joplin, MO, yesterday to assist tornado recovery efforts.

Travis Lewis NFL Draft prospect notes

If the Rams want to wait a year to fix their weakside linebacker issues, they couldn't do much better than landing Oklahoma's Travis Lewis in the 2012 NFL Draft. He is most likely a first round pick, and if you haven't seen him play, you circle an OU game on your calendar.