There has been a lot of down time during the last 48 hours of negotiations, as owners and players have gone from meeting to meeting trying to hash out the details of a new CBA.

And just to torture the fans and reporters stuck covering the madness, the league decided to wheel out the official NHL podium/lectern Wednesday night, where it stood in solitary for several hours.

With little information coming out of the player-owner meetings Twitter latched on to the lonely lectern, which inevitably spawned a parody account – 9,000 followers and counting — and set off an endless stream of podium jokes.

Here are a few of the thousands of tweets that took over Twitter and lightened the mood on the 82nd day of the NHL lockout:

Oh god that annoying little man is going to come out and stand behind me again, isn’t he?

— NHL Podium (@NHLPodium) December 6, 2012

Media asking for interviews. I explained I’m an inanimate object incapable of sentient thought. They say no problem, we’re used to Crosby.

— NHL Podium (@NHLPodium) December 6, 2012

Just sitting here on a stage by myself like an idiot while everyone stares at me. Not sure how to handle this. Phil Kessel, call me.

— NHL Podium (@NHLPodium) December 6, 2012

YKNOW DOES ANYONE KNOW IF @nhlpodium WAS MADE IN ONTARIO LIKE A GOOD CANADIAN PODIUM? LET’S GO! (THUMBS UP)

— Don Cherry Parody (@DonCherryParody) December 6, 2012

My sources tell me the @nhlpodium has been sexting with clint eastwood’s chair.

— Dean Brown (@PxPOttawa) December 6, 2012