and eastside etc… duh is also a lawyer.

they should have called the nflpa* reps, but they called pro bowlers. that is because they want the money guys on their side.

the rank and file should take a very negative message from that. as should the team reps.

if the players, or more likely, the union*, wish to count everything in the world as profit, then they should also incur a share of each team’s losses.

scab ball is starting to look real good.

That’s what DeMoron wants! The meetings are just for show. If he was serious, he would have submitted a counter proposal to the league’s TWO offers.

The fact that he is trying to ruin football makes me hate him. I can only imagine what some of the crazies out there might do.

1. Escalating player-related expenses such as salaries, bonuses, healthcare, perks, etc

2. Stadium costs

Players don’t give a damn about the fans, they want their money and the perks and that’s it.

Every local business gets tax credit for the jobs they create in the community. I’ve seen some estimates that it’s ALL credited back to businesses. (I saw it on Oprah, so it MUST be true, right? I mean no one from Chicago ever told lies.. it’s impossible).

Gross is gross. If that’s what they agreed to, that’s what they should be splitting.

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Multiple choice for why this post is incorrect as can be:

1) You didn’t read the article carefully.

2) You’ve never run any business.

3) You truly don’t understand the difference between SALES TAX and other taxes.

4) There are other more unkind choices but I won’t say them.
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Before I saw the bit about Kessler wanting SALES TAX to count in revenues I thought the single biggest amount of gall involving ST is the fact that as business owners, we are expected to collect them for the state and the state then makes us PAY THEM A HUGE FEE to remit payment with a credit card. I was wrong…this Kessler thing is up there with that.

Kudos to Mr.Whitequail who has been dumping on Kessler for ages here. You, sir, were so right.

On the original topic. I want to be excited about the NFL Season. But if there’s not? I will find something else to do. That won’t be a problem. And when football does return? I might be too caught up in other stuff to care.

When a player makes the choice to do illegal drugs/PEDs, etc and gets suspended w/o pay, he knows he can come back and make the money back with “likely to-be-earned incentives” in his contract.

However who suffers for that players decision? The TEAM and the Owner, that’s who. The team loses a productive player for the entire period of the suspension, plus they might have to promote (and pay more to) a player from outside the team or the practice squad.

IMO, the following should be levied against the player who chooses to take illegal drugs/PEDs, etc.

1st offense: Suspension w/o pay, not eligible for contract incentives, not eligible for the pro bowl, post-season awards, fine of 10% of his contract plus any costs to the team including all costs related to paying his replacement

2nd offense: Suspension w/o pay for 8 games, all of the above for 1st offense, LOSS of a credited year toward free agency

3rd offense: Suspension w/o pay for entire season, loss of 2 credited years toward free agency, the player must refund HALF of his last signing bonus to his team, fine of no less than $2 million

I propose this b/c players can get away with whatever they want b/c the union will protect them however there is no protection for the team or the owners. Teams/owners MUST have some recourse against players who, by their own volition, decide to violate the rules that they have been educated on many many times

GO RAMS!!!

Everyone who is saying “I’ll never watch again” is kidding themselves. They will watch, time heals all wounds. These same sentiments were expressed during both player strikes of the 80s.

I’m not stunned at this turn of events. I want a deal, but it needs to sustain the long-term interests of the sport. The players taking this to court as their primary strategy will result in paychecks being missed. They screwed themselves in this one.

If the scenario you paint that Smith is just posturing in his comments and really wants to make a deal, and Kessler is the one holding him back, wouldn’t it make sense to just poopcan him?

De Smith, whatever you think of him otherwise, doesn’t seem to be a guy that would allow his plans to be thwarted by underlings.

Every local business gets tax credit for the jobs they create in the community. I’ve seen some estimates that it’s ALL credited back to businesses. (I saw it on Oprah, so it MUST be true, right? I mean no one from Chicago ever told lies.. it’s impossible).

Gross is gross. If that’s what they agreed to, that’s what they should be splitting.

This further shows to stupid and un-realistic Smith, the player’s lawyers and, to some degree the players are being in these negotiations.

“Ohhh….but it’s just a negotiating point…”

You negotiate on points that are actually valid, not something that neither the owners or the league can control such as taxes.

Would someone please send DeSmith and half of these idiots back to the kid’s table and let the adults have a go at the negotiations?

Nothing but b/millionaire morons running the show these days.

He can’t come out of this deal looking like he’s actually given something back to the owners, even when that’s what will really be happening (because that’s what its going to take to get a deal done).

He must be seen as a “savior” in all of this, riding to the players’ and fans’ rescue and saving the season from being cancelled by the greedy owners. He also must come out of this looking like he’s won and the owners have lost.

If Smith can get a deal done and spin the results to make it look like he’s responsible for saving the season and bringing in more money for the players, then a deal will get done. If he can’t successfully spin it that way, it won’t happen.

It’s like a marraige where two independent parties come together for mutual benefit. How would a marriage ever work if they invited their divorce lawyer to be a permanent houseguest and run their household? This cannot work until they get the Gimp (Kessler) out of the process.

I just want to watch pro football and read stories about it. This finger pointing and deal making stuff is becoming mind numbing.

Is there not some free agency primers or stupid who is better lists to write about?

Players are motivated to get a deal that provides short and long term security and allows them to play football, not just keep suing.

Owners are motivated to get a deal that gives them long term profits and allows them to have football.

Players and owners motivations are very compatible, they both want football. The main issue is simply how to split up the pie.

The lawyers motivations are 100% incompatible. They do not want football. They want to bring down football and the longer it takes the better for them.

De Smith needs to decide who he is working for. Is he going to be a leader or let Kessler run the show? Continuing to let Kessler try to worm his way back into control will only serve Kessler’s goals and not the players. Time to step up and serve the people you are working for. A good deal for both sides can be achieved. If lawyers, whose goal is to disrupt any kind of deal, are running the show how are you ever going to get a deal done?

The reason that a deal has not been done so far is because of the owners, and most of the people included with ‘John Q. Fan’ are too ignorant to see that the owners are to blame and not the players. Not all of us, but far too many.