and the players are like that King!

I’ll say it again:

MF’s supposded objectivity in regards to this issue is laughable.

He is so firmly entrenched on the side of the owners it is ridiculous to even have his voice be heard on this topic.

MF know who butters his bread, the NFL owners.

Here’s an idea for the FANS.

Show both sides how you feel by boycotting all NFL licensed products, just don’t buy any t-shirts, video games, caps etc. Don’t buy any NFL products starting right now until 1 calender year after a CBA is finally signed.

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I’m already doing this myself. My office, house, car and closet are filled with Ravens gear but I refuse to by ANY NFL/Ravens merchandise until this is resolved.

I invite all NFL fans to do this as well (since both the players and owners get a cut of merchandise).

I’m willing to take it one step further. I would like to see all season ticket holders to boycott BOTH pre-season games. Doing this would cost me $360 worth of tickets and $80 worth of parking, but I’m up for letting the players play without cheering fans and not lining the owner’s pockets with $8 beers.

Who’s with me?!?!

The lockout can work and the players can crumble as individuals come October/November and your scenario will still come true as the litigation continues on during the owner’s triumph with no way for the owners to shut it down.

Ultimately to shut down the litigation the owners must have a union sitting opposite them at the table. Assuming the lockout works and the players have to eat the owner’s best offer there’s absolutely nothing that says they have to do it collectively.

Imagine how things will play in South Carolina and Texas when individual players start returning on the team’s terms and demand the right to work.

Jerry Jones and Jerry Richardson are going to tell them they have to unionize before they can come back to work? They’d get laughed out of their respective states.

The owners need to get a deal done unless they’re in a big market. Either that or they need to plan to move to a big market ASAP, because they’re going to need a big TV contract to compete and they’ll only get that in about 10 markets in the US.

duh smythe is way out of control. it is time for the oakley-ewing moment (hopefully several), and duh gets to play ewing. the plan always was to sue the nfl (cause the union* sued FIRST).

the league can always get more players. they always do. lockout or strike or neither…

if u look at what duh’s former boss bam is doing, it’s war on anyone with any cash, especially if they didnt support him, while he spends (and ben prints) the nation into hell. they tell the “little people” they are fighting for them, but they are really doing it for other bigwigs. in this case, the top tier of players. most players wouldnt benefit at all from what duh is pushing towards. including most current players.

duh is trying to burnish his resume and bring pain on some richer people; he wants in their club because dammit he thinks he deserves it. maybe he can get bam or bam’s nlrb involved also. i am sure some of yall saw what the commie nlrb just did to boeing in south carolina.

Here’s an idea for the FANS.

Show both sides how you feel by boycotting all NFL licensed products, just don’t buy any t-shirts, video games, caps etc. Don’t buy any NFL products starting right now until 1 calender year after a CBA is finally signed.

They carve up hundreds of millions of dollars in licensing fees. Realistically we aren’t going to stop watching football, either in person or on TV. I know I’ll be watching as soon as the 1st game is played. But I don’t have to do it wearing a brand new t-shirt or cap.

Take away a nice percentage of the $9 billion they divide between them, it’s the only way of showing how pissed off we are.

I’m having a hard time rationalizing it, but I kind of thought this was a great, even handed post. I’m strangely pleased and confused at the same time.

So, uh, nice work
189 – up 2 – down

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Okay, so underneath the headline: “More misplaced rhetoric from De Smith,” Mike consistently berated Smith for, in his words, “badly bastardizing the facts.” Somebody comments that they thought it was “even handed” post, and that comment gets voted up by a margin of 189-to-2.

If you were looking for objective proof that this site’s commentariat is comprised almost entirely of reactionary conservatives on a rampaging pro-owner crusade, here you go.

Peace
Ty

With the alienation of the current fan base ,wages & benefits going down accross the board, in this economy[ instead of up.]…Where is all the money comming from to fuel this exponentially growing pie? Almost everyone I talk to say it is getting far to expensive to go to games & support the NFL.Something has to give !! I think the pie is going to SHRINK !!

And here is another point. If the league says the players get 65% of the revenue, retired players get nothing, I’m sure the players would jump all over that because they are short sighted and really at the end of the day they dont give a crap about anyone not currently playing football.

So here’s my edited comment:

Duh continues to be a dope who is completely out of touch with the fanbase.

Why is it that people in positions of power continue to think the proletariat is made up of dolts? There are many fine minds among us and even a middling one can form better opinions than in years past when information was not so readily available. These “leaders” seem to forget that an informed fan is often a knowledgeable fan and can easily see past the typical “Because I said so” rhetoric whether the purveyor of such BS is a President (current or past) or a glib Duh Smith.

Amazing.

It takes 2 to negotiate a deal. The NFL is waiting at the table. The Players are still milling about, wasting everyone’s time.

I have to agree with your logic. I am a Baltimore Ravens fan not a fan of whatever player. If the Ravens entire roster switched with another team’s I would still cheer for the Ravens. If the NFL had fill in players, I would still watch. I watch a lot of college football and I was a big fan of NFL Europe. The talent level of the players doesnt phase me. I just want to see exciting football.

I hope you guys are right and Smith is the fool most of you think he is.

I’m thinkin’ not…

His strategy has been to destroy the system as is and get the players true free agency. If he falls short and settles for 45% over the next five years, he’ll have won anyway because the owners’ goal is to, within 10 years, get the game to grow from a 10 billion dollar industry to 25 bil.

The unseen leverage the player’s have rests with Judge Doty over the TV money the owners negotiated to finance them during the lockout.

And that ain’t all. If the anti-trust lawsuit ever comes to a conclusion, the Supreme Court–in light of their very explicit and firm decision that the NFL is 32 separate businesses–has to find that ANY rules the NFL imposes without a union/CBA violate anti-trust laws and the league will have to pay triple damages in both cases.

Smith’s rhetoric is unproductive, I agree, but the man is telling the players, “At the end of what could be a very long day, you will have true free agency, no draft, no franchise tags, and you will have multiple bidders for your services.”

I would hope fans don’t want that. Dallas would be playing NE or the Jets in every Super Bowl.

Both sides need to give a little.

Unfortunately he was the victim of a hatchet job, and when he lost the NFLPA election to De Smith, he took a job with the league, and it sure seems NFLPA execs happily pounced on that decision to brand him as an Uncle Tom.

I find it amazing that the NFLPA seems to make it their job to crucify people like Vincent, while bending over backwards to reward people who screwed over former players over piddling royalties from the Electronic Arts videogame.

I would, however, love to see a proposal that reduced the percentage for both sides, with the reduction going to a fund for future stadium considerations. This would enhance the future of the league, while reducing the taxpayers liability for that success.

We’re not going to see this, but if either side was really operating with the fans in mind, we would.

The players need to start contacting their player rep’s demanding a change in strategy and if necessary a change in leadership.

Perhaps to get a deal done the players replace De Smith, Kessler, and perhaps even Mawae.

A fair and equitable deal can be achieved through negotiation and collective bargaining.

In order salvage the season the players and NFLPA* need to push for immediate change.

Talk about anger…

Jimmy Hoffa anyone??

Not a big enough market to really compete for talent in an un-drafted scenario. Not really able to afford to setup and maintain the kind of deep organization that teams like the Cowboys and Patriots and Jets and Giants will. A continual malaise where they can compete in their division sort of, although sound management in Chicago will bury them.

The Cowboys will scout the high schools with a staff larger than the Loins can assemble and will sign 4 or 5 really good QB prospects out of the senior classes every year. They’ll train those guys to be NFL QBs instead of taking college-trained guys and they’ll have the one of the best QB’s in the NFC on a perpetual basis. They’ll probably pay about 5 million a year in their QB development program to pay the prospects and they’ll cut a few loose each year which will be the pickings that teams like the Lions get.

He HAS credibility??