ESPN did jump the gun earlier. They interpreted a ruling on a motion to enlarge a filing as a ruling on the temporary stay. That was erroneous. Subsequently, the Court entered the administrative stay.
Thanks for posting for the 71st time in 10 years to let us all know you're either a lawyer or a law student. How noble of you.
Or someone with half a brain. I was responding to the comment implying that the criticism of ESPN was unwarranted.
I know I posted this in the NFL thread, but this seems to be where the action is. I apologize in advance for the repeat post. This ruling can actually be a good thing. If there is going to be a deal, both sides need an incentive to reach a deal. The players had no incentive to do anything after Nelson's ruling. In fact, Nelson's ruling was bad for the game. With no CBA, the NFL lost all anti-trust protection. That means restrictions on player movement (free agent rules requiring 4-6 years of service, the draft, etc.) are all illegal under anti-trust rules. If you are a fan of the sport and a Jets fan, you should actually support the owner's position in general. The NFL is successful because of revenue sharing and the rules it has in place that makes each team competitive. The game is better for the fans if players stay with their teams longer. The NFL is not like other businesses. In reality, it is really like one company with branches in 32 cities. Competitive balance would be gone if the NFL had a free market, which would have been the result if you took Nelson's ruling to its logical conclusion. Plus, the NFL would not be the same if it were like baseball and the big market teams had a financial advantage. It also would not be the same if the building through the draft and player development became de-emphasized if there were a free market for the players. Or if there were no draft at all. The Jets are, finally, one of the stronger teams in the league and have a front office that can draft. No Jets fan should want rules that would permit players to leave earlier in their careers. I know that players say they want to play for Ryan, but let's face it, the players will always go to the highest bidder. So why is the 8th Circuit ruling good? Because the players now have some uncertainty. Prior to this ruling, if the 8th Circuit backed the District Court, the players had the owners by the short hairs and who knows what would have happened or what kind or NFL we would have had. Deals are made when both sides have something to lose. Nelson's ruling jolted the owners. This ruling should jolt the players. Both sides are all in now with the 8th Circuit. If the players win the appeal and the lockout is lifted, the owners are screwed and have no bargaining power. If the owners win at the 8th Circuit and the lock out stands and the players' decertification is deemed a sham, they have lost it all and have no bargaining power. The owners will keep the players out until they cave in to the owners' demands (and the players will cave under this scenario eventually because they have more to lose in the short run - a year of pay and a year of their careers). So hopefully what happens here is that both sides come to their senses in the middle of May and strike a deal when they go back to mediation before the magistrate in Minnesota and before the 8th Circuit takes the bargaining power from one or the other. The players wanted a litigated solutions and now they run the risk that they may get one, but not the one they wanted. Up to this point, the process had played out just as the players wanted, which is why they hired a litigator to run their union in the first place. I'm not saying the owners were right to re-open the CBA two years early, but under the circumstances now, both sides need to incentive to settle. Just my take based on my experience (I am a lawyer and with an employment law litigation background)
joe willie correct me if i am wrong but this is only a temporary stay until they can make a decision next week. basically protection for both sides. so nobody really has gained an upper hand with the decision today. although i guess you could read into it that if they were going to uphold the decision in minnesota they would have left everything as it was and not grant the temporary stay... but as of right now there is still a ton of uncertainty as far as what will occur. i think both sides know that they cant live with no union and cba,
I apologize. I meant to say 91 posts. Great reason to come out of isolation. Really. Also sorry for your condition. I'll pray for the other half to grow in. Best of luck.
