That’s the only way we will be guaranteed training camp, the draft, free agency & football in the Fall.

Its Judge Nelson’s job to put the players and owners in a better position to have a successful outcome to their negotiations.

Excellent post.

What happened to compromise in America?

If Congress is willing to shut down an entire country instead of compromising, why should we think the owners and the NFLPA* would be reluctant to shut down a sports league?

I’m not sure who said this first, but the perfect compromise is one in which neither party winds up completely happy.

The only way to negotiate a compromise is to realize that it only works if you are willing to take less than what you want.

Hmmm… sounds interestingly like the same issues on the Hill… shutting down tonight over an inability to…let’s see… compromise and reach agreement. How remarkable.

By all means, let’s get THOSE leaders involved. That should prove fruitful.

Concessions and reciprocol modification of demands. Why is this so hard?
Yes it will be less than hoped and even painful, but it will result in a solution where everybody has done their part.

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I would agree with you that it is a good compromise.

The only small caveat would be that I think it is slightly unfair to label Judge Nelson as a “player’s judge” just yet.

While it is certainly true that the players seem to prefer judges to mediators in general, I don’t think this particular judge has shown any bias toward the players yet.

Yet. Let’s see how things go today.

Thats OK… I stopped watching them after their last dispute !!…..I never was a fan of gaudy jewels…either !

Don’t kid yourself about basketball. The players and owners are further apart there then they are here. I’m almost positive basketball will skip a season.
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Don’t forget that the NBA completely opened the books to the players and it’s part of the reason they are further apart. Anyone who keeps harping on the owners opening their books further should look at what’s happening in the NBA.

The players are missing “voluntary” offseason workouts and are not due the big paychecks yet, and the owners are not losing gate revenue yet.

Don’t you think the players would like to see this go long enough to have to cancel a couple of preseason games?

Don’t kid yourself about basketball. The players and owners are further apart there then they are here. I’m almost positive basketball will skip a season.

And this time, Jerry Jones will be negotiating directly with Antonio Cromartie.

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Commoncents, possibly one of the best posts here ever!

How about a shootout between Aqib Talib and Al Davis? Theycould have Bill Bellichek film it.

Exactly right. Let’s get back to the table, and out of the courtroom ASAP and make a deal.

I can’t believe you just admitted the players might’ve been unreasonable during the first round of mediated negotiations. Why is that the players were the only people on the planet who didn’t understand that mediation involves limited facetime with the other party? I don’t recall an observation like this when the players were crying about respect a few weeks ago.

I know each side wants their own slice of pie, but they should both remember that some pie is better than no pie. Unfortunately, they will continue to argue because both sides want 50.1% of the pie so they can say they won. Until they come to an agreement, both sides are losers, and we as fans are too.