Jay Feely on the negotiations http://cdn16.castfire.com/audio/303...f076ecb36205de40c&referer=http://twitter.com/ He gives some really good insight into what's going on.
I don't think the owners really care what the players want, and that this walkout was premeditated. They're going to try to throw so much shit the players way that they can only dodge so much of it. For one thing, I hope it remains a 16 game season. The 18 game proposal is a total greed move.
Haha, a cabal of Latin pop stars and Ford, the creators of my last car which perished at 88k miles. I don't see how they could go wrong running a football team.
Pretty hard not to fall onto the side of the players if you are choosing a side after hearing that. Everything he said made good sense to me.
There's always a risk. How important was entertainment (and yes this is exactly what football is) during the Great Depression or even WW2? I could easily envision most owners taking a loss during another depression.
Agreed. I'm glad I listened to it. My guess is this will get into June/July with the threat of game cancellations hanging over their heads before something happens. I hope not though. That would make for an insane free agency signing scramble too.
Thanks for the link... wow... the Panthers president is the lead negotiator!? He wouldn't even spend money for his team! No wonder this is getting nowhere! Other highlights: Richardson questions the intelligence of guys like P. Manning and Brees and the players offer was for less than 50-50... Fuck the owners... but it does make sense if you consider guys like Al Davis, Titans owner, Panthers owner etc etc
And the hits just keep on comin: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/02/14/league-files-unfair-labor-practice-charge-over-plan-to-decertify/ Apparently, the NFL’s lawyers have decided to abandon for now the goal of world peace. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello has confirmed that the league has filed with National Labor Relations Board a charge of unfair labor practices. The league claims that the NFLPA has failed to bargain in good faith as a result of a strategy to decertify and file antitrust litigation against the league. The league claims that, in filing the charge, it seeks only that the NLRB order the union to bargain in good faith. The NFL believes that the union has engaged in “surface bargaining,” along with tactics designed to avoid reaching an agreement before the CBA expires, so that the union can file antitrust litigation. The NFL contends that the union’s strategy of decertification (technically, a “disclaimer of interest”) “is a ploy and an unlawful subversion of the collective bargaining process, there being no evidence whatsoever of any (let alone widespread) disaffection with the union by its members.” Said the NFL in its complaint: “The NFLPA’s threat to use a sham disclaimer of interest after expiration of the CBA is the same tactic that it employed in 1989 when its representatives falsely swore that its disclaimer was ‘permanent.’ The union’s purpose in doing so is to evade its collective bargaining obligations under the National Labor Relations Act, to seek to use antitrust litigation to enjoin a lawful lockout, and once again attempt to achieve its bargaining objectives under the coercive guise of an antitrust settlement. This plan by the union has produced 20 months of surface bargaining as the union has run out the clock in order to disclaim interest after expiration of the CBA.” In English, the gloves are off. And the chances of getting a deal done by March 4 are becoming even more remote. And the golden goose could be coming down with a case of Ebola, especially since the league is trying to prevent the union from implementing its primary tactic for avoiding a lockout, which means a lockout is coming.
wow.... the nfl backs out of the deal and now they are trying to strong arm the union into taking their proposal....
Look, I get the arguments against the 18 game season, but realistically what are we talking about here? 5 quarters. In week 3 the starters go full tilt (or close) for 3 quarters. But the Owners and the players both enjoy the revenue they get from teams forcing the sale of pre season tickets. You have two choices. Validate them or stop extorting for them. Personally, I think with the advancement of training, the year round season and so on...5 more quarters of real football is doable.
These assholes are so rich I really have no sympathy for either side. The people I feel bad for are the employees of the NFL teams that for an entire year may not have a paycheck as well as the millions of hard working Americans that love this game and look forward to it every Sunday after busting their ass all week while making 1/8th of what some of these clowns do.
