So, because I both despise unions and would like the NFL to remain fair, exciting and competitive, I must have been one of “the last ones to get picked for teams in elementary school, the first ones to get cut from every tryout” and must “have never played a SINGLE play of ORGANIZED sports in [my] life”?

Wow. Some people should never be allowed near a keyboard.

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Whatever floats your boat brother… This is MY opinion and I am very much entitled to it…

If you REALLY read into my last post you’ll see, that I’m not pro-union or pro-owners… I was simply making the point that the NFL and its Owners are the ones who STOPPED football… plain and simple… Absent a player strike, the NFL and its Owners are the ONLY ones with the POWER to STOP the season in its tracks…

If thats too hard for you to read, comprehend and understand, maybe YOU shouldn’t be allowed near a MONITOR

And YES… I would bet a lot that most of these owner backers WERE the last to get picked, first to get cut, or have never played organized sports in their life… Because anyone that HAS (especially the game of football) should know the risk you take every second you are on the field, in arguably THE most violent sport in the world… and to be slighted so some people who DON’T take the SAME risk can make THEIR pockets fatter is definitely something worth fighting for…

But in the end, its not the PLAYERS who went on “strike” its the NFL and its Owners… So I stand by my words 100%… The NFL and its OWNERS have stopped football and are on the brink of ruining the game…

PERIOD!

You’re wrong. The players were not willing to take a pay cut, or at least one of the magnitude you’re implying. How about you do research before you cry about big bad Goodell. I’ll give you the numbers…if you don’t believe me, look up the 2006 CBA yourself.

Yes the players received 58% of total revenue, but that was after the owners took $1 Billion off the top for capital investment. So assuming the total figure is $8Billion, the players received about $4.64 Billion for salaries. Now the 50% they wanted was $0.50 on EVERY dollar the NFL brought in. Obviously, 50% of $9Billion is $4.5 Billion. So the players were willing to take a pay cut of $140 Million dollars. Of course they were also asking for other things as well. Please, just pleaseeeee. Do research before you make an opinion.

So, because I both despise unions and would like the NFL to remain fair, exciting and competitive, I must have been one of “the last ones to get picked for teams in elementary school, the first ones to get cut from every tryout” and must “have never played a SINGLE play of ORGANIZED sports in [my] life”?

Wow. Some people should never be allowed near a keyboard.

Smith was not kidding when he said it was war. Unfortunately, the owners just thought that it was a disagreement that could be settled through negotiations. THEY WERE WRONG. It is WAR as viewed by the players.

I hate to bring politics in here but bear….”

best post on here in weeks..more tds for it.

Just a few thoughts on ending the litigation:

1. Utilize the draft paradigm simply to determine which team has the right to negotiate with the player picked for a fixed timeframe, say, for example, 120 days after the draft. After that,player is free to negotiate with anyone.
2. Free agency. Include a non-compete clause in every contract barring employment utilizing knowlege/skills gained/improved upon for one year, at(teams discretion).
3. Eliminate the salary cap per team completely, as with the # of players employed by each team. Substitute with a hard cap on the # of players allowed on the active game day roster and on the gross average income of the active players on the game day roster. (arrived at by dividing gross salary + all bonuses divided by the length of the contract for each player and adding all together).
4. Simply substitute the International Doping Agency’s drug testing rules, ie, blood and urine tests before and after every game. Any player failing the drug tests results in the team forfeiting the game, and the player is automatically banned from competition in league sanctioned events for 90 days. Works well in olympics and amatuer events.
5. Rules would only apply to league sanctioned events.
6. All teams set there own workplace rules and salaries based on applicable federal and individual state laws governing employer/employee matters.

This would give the NFLPA* everything that they are suing for, and give the owners some limitations to provide a competitive balance and give we fans the enjoyment of our sport for a longer period of time without the drama of conflict between the two sides.
Granted, if the owners instituted this, the players would be re-certifying in ten minutes to strike, but, so be that item.

anyone think this would work in the long and short term?

If you like the NFL the way it is (cap, FA, draft, etc) then this lockout is a good thing because it gives the owners the leverage they need to keep things the way they are.

The players keep shooting themselves in the foot, IMO, by decertifying and then acting like they’re still a union.

The sad thing is is that neither side is willing to sit down and negotiate. They both want their lawyers to do the talking. I don’t know when that’s ever led to anything good.

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I totally sympathize with you canceling you season tickets. but with respect to your first point you obviously only looked at the two numbers the NFLPA* publicized about this proposal and thought 50<59, the players are making a generous concession to the greedy owners. de smith counts on people like you.

This worthless proposal actually would have been a step back for the owners financially as the players would have taken away the billion off the top the owners currently use for a myriad of business operating and/or capital expenses.

You just keep posting silly comments about not letting a woman decide the outcome of this labor action … silly because that was never going to happen and because we certainly couldn’t have done any worse than the men have.

As I posted on another thread, CKL and I are both intelligent, informed football fans and businesswomen with a good understanding of the labor issues. She leans toward the owners and I toward the players, but we both see room for compromise. If you’d put the two of us in a conference room in March, you’d have gotten a new CBA in a few hours and none of this would be happening. That’s because women view negotiating as a thinking process rather than a contest in measuring body parts.

Thank you so much! Your kind words are really appreciated. I’ve had it three times, and it can be relentless. But I’ve been very blessed and pray I’ve seen the last of it

But the reality is that both sides want a CBA, just one that pays out the most $$. That’s all this argument is about.

This where Judge Nelson got it wrong. She looked at the argument based on the current situation that the players were no longer in a union, and therefore, Federal labor laws no longer apply, and therefore the NFL cannot continue in a anti-trust exempt manner. So the Appellate judges recognized that the intent (both in words, in action, and historically) of the players is to be unionized, and therefore cannot have it both ways. To get favorable rulings as if they were a union, and to get favorable rulings as if they were independent. Hence, the “sham.”

This stay, should send a chill to the NFLPA to come back to the table faster than the owers would in a non-lockout environment. And therefore, more assuredly a 2011 season.

I like the way the game is now (current CBA). But I can sympathize with the owners that a 60/40 split is way too much to give the players. Especially if the players are taking any financial risk along with the owners.

My take is that the smaller market teams, like here in jacksonville, are really taking a beating trying to remain solvent, and that the revenue sharing is not helping that much. And the revenue sharing is gouging the wealthy owners to the point of profitability. Guys… most companies, small and large, operate at a 30% profit margin. It’s only because of our wacky tax system and bizarre deductions and write-offs that make some companies appear profitless. The owners have to be feeling the effects of this economy and the current 60/40 split is no way to sustain a business.

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This is completely misleading. they players only agreed to take a “cut” to 50% if the owners gave back the billion they take of the top that they use for, you know, expenses associated with running an enormous business. So when you do the math, the players were actually NOT agreeing to a ‘cut’ at all.

People like to paint the players as the poor bullied victims who are bending over backwards here, but this just another example of one of their offers done in poor faith while they waited for the courts.

It’s OBVIOUS who doesn’t want football… Haven’t the TWO (2) Lockouts provided enough proof to you who is REALLY f’n over the fans?

Come on man… the players were flooding back to the facilities to WORK and get on with the seasons… and TWICE the NFL and their OWNERS have turned them away… So all you IDIOTS that are blaming this on the Owners are ridiculous… You fools act like the PLAYERS went on STRIKE or something…

The evidence is as plain as day, as logical as can be… Only ONE side in this fight has the AUTHORITY to STOP FOOTBALL and that is the NFL/Owners… they’ve done it TWICE already…. It was the OWNER who opted out of the CBA…. NOT the players…

But yea, blame the PLAYERS (past and present) for wanting a FAIR deal for turning millionaires into BILLIONAIRES… They have EVERY RIGHT to want the best for themselves, just like any of us… The Owners don’t live the rest of their lives battered and bruised, the owners don’t risk their entire livelihood everytime THEY step on the field… These billionaires just want to be TRILLIONAIRES at the players expense… and they want to Strong arm them into doing it…

Its easy for all of you “owner backers” to say what you say, because you will NEVER be in a players’ position on this… You all were probably the last ones to get picked for teams in elementary school, the first ones to get cut from every tryout… have never played a SINGLE play of ORGANIZED sports in your life…

Just shut up and recognize the OBVIOUS… the NFL and its OWNERS are the ones who STOPPED football… they are the only one who CAN STOP football….

As stated numerous times already, the lawyers are winning, though. They will be racking up the billable hours.

I for one would much rather see the lockout continue through 2012 than see the players eliminate the draft, cap and everything else that make the sport exciting to watch every week.

As for the draft, I have had zero interest since Goodell switched from the weekend format. It used to be a two day party for my friends and I. Now I read about the picks on Monday morning when they are finished.

“Open your books” is a similar tactic to the “birther” movement or from a few years ago “swiftboating” which was, i believe the first time this tactic was used.

It’s the practice of focusing people on something minor and possibly false because you are losing on the real issues.

Swiftboating wasn’t relative to the presidential campaign at the time because it had no bearing on the issues the country faced but by smearing the presidential candidate’s past, it overshadowed the real issues. It was later proven that the war vets claims were false and were completely funded by the republican party.

Obama’s birth certificate has been the holy grail for some in this country since he’s been elected. Not the deficit, not taxes, not the crumbling infrastructure. Not anything actually relevent to running this country. Now that the aforementioned piece of paper has been published online so that the country can move on, now Trump is attacking his education. Think about this, this is part of the dumbing down of America. We are so focused on the minor details that people frequently miss the bigger picture. As a nation we are easily swayed by shiny baubles and the latest entertainment tonight newsflash rather than what is important. There’s a reason that politicians aren’t held accountable for what they vote for, it’s because we are more obsessed with their personal lives than their political ones.

The “show us your books” soundbite is just another shiny bauble for a nation that has an average attention span of 30 seconds or less. They can’t be bothered to think independently and do their own research. We’ve been told what to do by the TV so long that we blindly follow whatever pops up on the screen.

Now, with that said, again, somebody here needs to scream uncle, because the future of the game, with this crap going on, is seriously in doubt. The business of the NFL is going to suffer irreperable harm from us fans, because nobody can open their eyes and see they are destroying the game, by alienating the very people that pay their wages.

In my own opinion, a new CBA needs to be figured out, NOW!! Until than, both sides can stick it.

Sincerely,
A very pissed off fan

Former Dolphin Fan.. Going back to College Ball! Screw you NFL..

This is good news – only way this gets settled is if the lockout stands and the players are forced to neogotiate.

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Succinct but accurate description of the entire dispute. Even those union shills who spam these comments sections should be supporting a negotiated settlement, if they want to see football played this Fall and care about the long-term viability of the game.

i guess i can start watching the MLB, NBA, and Hockey while this mess is sorted out.