Though the calm resolve demonstrated by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell during his annual pre-Super Bowl press conference has made us feel a little better about the future of the game we love, major concerns exist regarding the relationship between the NFL and the players union.
They are partners who currently are behaving like mortal enemies, and no one will benefit from a continuation of that approach.
For much more (but not so much more that you’ll fall asleep) on the matter, click here for our latest SportingNews.com offering.
Really? DUH…..what an insightful deduction! Gee what reporting of the obvious….way to go PFT!
No silly, it’s Obama’s fault.
why do i have to click on the link and be forwarded to another site, why not post your biased opinion on your own site
“why do i have to click on the link and be forwarded to another site, why not post your biased opinion on your own site”
How about because he’s paid to write those articles for Sporting News and generate traffic for them. Duh.
“This is not news says: No silly, it’s Obama’s fault.”
By which you mean Booooooooooooossssh’s fault right? (ZERO, as usual, is blameless)… in fact, ZERO and his policies have allowed him to ‘create or save’ most of the games scheduled for 2010. lol
The players are playing russian roulete here.
The owners can find new players if the lague completely folded ( even though it won’t)
The players don’t have that luxury.
Then there’s the disconnect between percentages and raw dollars. The union, for example, points out that the total size of the players’ slice of the pie is lower now than it was in 2001. But the union ignores the reality (as the league explains) that the amount of actual money the players get under the formula has doubled since 2001.
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It seems that there’s a disconnect on your part, as well, Mike. It would also mean that the OWNERS’ portion has also DOUBLED and since their slice of the pie is HIGHER than 2001, what are they spending it on to make their businesses so unprofitable? I mean, it can’t be stadium since the public is paying for them, one way or the other…
The league and the players union shouldn’t be wasting so much effort fighting over who gets a bigger piece of the (already anormous) pie, but how to make the pie bigger. Having a lockout/strike is like cutting off your nose to spit your face. I can’t believe that grown men are actually handling these negotiations, or lack there of. The NFL is a huge cash cow, and both sides are full of utter morons for even considering jeopardizing that over a percentage.
we already know this….. it’s both of their greedy asses!!!!!
Have you seen the guy who represents the players?
He is the wrong guy for the job.
I WOULD NEVER negotiate with that guy. If I were an owner I would play hard ball after having to deal with that insanely hostile rhetoric spewing from that m0r0n’s mouth.
It would behoove the players and owners to end the contentious approach they have taken over the years.
Don’t kill the goose that lays the golden egg. I haven’t been back to a MLB game since the last strike. If either a strike or lockout occurs to disrupt another season, I’m done with the NFL. College ball is getting more and more fun to follow. There’s a greater chance of player continuity on College teams. As long as the field is level and the teams are competitive I can enjoy the game of football. So, if I have to find something else to do in the fall of 2011, the NFL would have to do something extreme to draw me back int.
In the history of this country, the NFL is only a small blip…in 20 years, it will be again. Thanks guys, it was fun while it lasted. Down to the NBA and college sports.
topcide, really? Those boobs TRIED to find replacement players and they ended up crawling back to the table in 4 weeks and that’s why they’ll never do that again. If the league folded and they stared over and went after replacement players, the UFL would scarf up the old players and have a huge TV contract in place before you could say “The owners are morons.”
This problem is the direct result of the last labor agreement just a few years ago. Only 1 owner (Ralph Wilson) came out and said that agreement wouldnt work. Turns out, he was right. I blame the owners for agreeing to a deal without understanding it and putting the NFL into this situation to begin with.
GoBrowns19 says:
Thanks guys, it was fun while it lasted. Down to the NBA and college sports.
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Apparently, you haven’t been paying much attention, have you? http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/12604/cba-negotiations-could-get-ugly
DeMaurice Smith is losing credibility by misrepresenting the facts (e.g., lying) and making so many over the top statements. Odds of a work stoppage is “14″ on a scale of 1 to 10?
I realize that’s just how lawyers use oxygen, but in the long run it won’t benefit the players. The next time everybody’s negotiating, who can believe anything that he says? He won’t be able to effectively do his job, and that will hurt the players.
The NFL ownership have a part in this of course, but I saw Goodell’s presser, and he claims the player’s union rec’d all the financials they asked for. Smith comes across like a typical trial lawyer screaming bloody murder to the press, sadly.
I can’t understand why this is a two party system, players and owners, when this really is a three party system, players, owners and fans.
During all this noise we don’t hear any representation for the fans who ultimately pay everyone. We pay ridiculous ticket prices that don’t allow a lot of fans to take their kids (future fans) to the games. Even if we could afford to take them to the game you better eat and drink well before entering because you can spend a weeks pay on food and drinks. Finally, we pay taxes to finance the new stadiums that are used a handful of times a year. Has anyone ever calculated the expense the fans have paid factoring in the previous comments?
So in short, all of you that feed into the arguments without looking at yourselves first are going to continue fueling this BS. Those of you that will swear off the NFL if they strike/lockout, kudos to you. This is yet another example of the arrogant wealthy feeding off the ignorant poor.
As football fans lose their jobs, have their hours cut, take cuts in pay we all sit here reading about a pissing match over a game that we all played at some time or another.
Did football suck back in the days of Jim Brown, Otto Graham, Johnny Unitas? These were guys that had to work for a living during the off-season and some of them during the season. Now they get paid enough in one year to leave them set for life. Lets not forget that the contracts are also signed before they even prove what they can do on the field.
What do we get out of it? A few hours of entertainment a few days a week for six months.
When sports and entertainment became a commodity it started going downhill for every fan in the world.
There truly is a sucker born every minute but sports fans tend to remain suckers for the rest of their lives.
The problem with fans rights is this, for every season ticket holder that tells the NFL to F off there are 10 more people that will snatch them up in a heartbeat and don’t think the NFL isn’t aware of that. As has been said in the past by all major sports, it is just a business.
Now lets all keep blogging about it because that will get the NFL’s attention. $uuuuuure it will.
SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!!!
The fools who gave D Smith the job are to blame this guy is nothing more then a bs artist
Fact owners are management and players are workers
Management is in business to make money I am aware that idea has become very unpopular since Jan of 09 but that is the bottom line
The owners should keep more then they spend
Deal with it
The replacement players would be no better than in 1987, when some teams had all scabs while others (like cowboys) had several vets cross the picket line, thus causing locker room discord.
I would suspect the guys that formed the XFL (remember “He Hate Me?”) regret not waiting for a labor discord in the NFL. If the XFL started planning now for 2012, you can bet the NFL owners would not be quite so bullish. And make no mistake this accord is being pushed by the owners…the players want status quo.
WarrenMoonGOAT says:
February 5, 2010 1:32 PM
“why do i have to click on the link and be forwarded to another site, why not post your biased opinion on your own site”
What exactly is biased about blaming both the owners and players?
Also, why is it that everyone seems to have a problem with the owners making money? Drink some more socialist cool-aide why don’t you.
GirthyOne says: “Drink some more socialist cool-aide why don’t you.”
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Why I support the players and the union: http://www.boards.edgy-sports.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2467
Why is it that when people don’t support the owners’ bull, people like you classify them as socialists? Could you be a Glenn Beck Kool-Aid drinker? ….
Its not just DeMaurice Smith its Kevin Mawai who also states that the owners want the players to take an 18% paycut. DeMaurice Smith is a good lawyer thats why the PLAYERS ELECTED HIM.
So dont just blame DeMaurice he represents the players you fools.
Until the owners open up their books to show what they are really losing, I dont see how they have a leg to stand on.
Show me your losing millions. Until then STFU
one big thing missing from past labor disputes was the 24/7 access that people have nowadays to these athletes.
The owners are smart enough not to spill the beans on anything, likewise with the handlers of the union, but the players themselves will probably come across as greedy when they are allready using the “gotta feed my family” line when making millions a year.
Also do not forget the “Reality TV” mindset of the general populace and realize that replacing the people that play football would not be as hard, nor would the talent drop as far as before, leagues like the UFL, the CFL, undrafted rookies, and practice squad guys would all line up to play and the owners would easily be able to pull some sort of a gimmick to keep people watching. hell, if they just let the viewers vote off their least favorite player each week from each team, there would be a whole new american idle segment watching, and you’d be able to have a pool of outcasts working to get back into the game.
The game as it was loved for 75+ years would be gone, at least for a little bit, but the owners aren’t so concerned with the legacy of the game as they are with turning a profit. (which is a good thing, before anyone claims I’m a commie)
Simple math, if the owners are currently paying the players X amount per year, and they can reduce the amount signifigantly without hurting revenues by the same amount, they are comming out ahead.
now look at what American idle and Survivor generate in ad revenue and realize that jersey sales wouldn’t suffer that bad either.
keep in mind that regular football fans are going to watch no matter what.
why wouldn’t they lock out the players?
the owners did find replacement players.
they will again.
not all players stayed on the other side of the line.
and this time some will cross again.
people watched.
they will again.
the players caved.
and they will again.
cause ya cant eat bling.
James is right. If the Owners are claiming that they are losing money, then they should show us.
Since they get a BILLION off the top before the players get their 60%, I think the burden of proof would be on them. I encourage making a profit, but complain you’re losing money when you’re making billions.