Jump to content

Official Lockout Thread


Kazkal

Recommended Posts

---Baseball ratings go THROUGH THE ROOF in Sept, Oct as it will be just about the only real sport in Season.

The Nascar fan in me hates you for those words. :angry:

Never been a NASCAR guy, so I had to Google how long their season was, and was surprised to find out they race all year long. At least Billy will have something to watch come Fall.

....and who knows? I might get so bored I'll even tune in to see a bunch of dudes making Left Hand turns all day long????

lol, just kidding Billy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 235
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

I think it's funny when ESPN or NFL Network run polls that ask, "which side do you take ??".

I'm firly in the camp that thinks both of these greedy ass groups can suck my ass.

For people to not be able to figure out how to divide 9 billion dollars sickens me to death.

To bad the military never had that problem.

We had determine how to divide rationed MRE's while on extended patrols.

You wouldn't believe how long you could make a pack of crackers last !!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Never been a NASCAR guy

It's an acquired taste, and certainly not for everyone.

I had to Google how long their season was, and was surprised to find out they race all year long.

Almost, but not quite all year. The Sprint Cup series starts in mid February and ends in late November.

....and who knows? I might get so bored I'll even tune in to see a bunch of dudes making Left Hand turns all day long????

lol, just kidding Billy

Well there are four weekends out of the season when they race road courses and turn right as well ya' know. Maybe that could float your boat a little. Then again if you're not really a performance car guy, it won't matter which way they turn.

Now to get back on topic, this labor dispute blows. I feel both parties in this fight make too much money at the expense of the fans. Untested rookies landing huge guaranteed money contracts without ever playing a down to owners coercing their fanbases for sweetheart stadium deals. Both side have to give for any decent type of season to happen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Clark Judge at sportline has really become a go-to read on this stuff. Mostly because, unlike Lester Munson, he is doing a good job at going to talk to and quote legal observers/experts. His latest:


/>http://www.cbssports.com/#!/nfl/story/15073648/experts-concur-balance-of-power-shifts-back-to-nfl

A taste:

Now that we've heard from the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, we need to hear from NFL players. Because the next move is up to them, and the next move determines what happens to the 2011 season.

Of course, nothing happens until the 8th Circuit hears arguments on the NFL's motion to appeal an April ruling ending its lockout. But I think we can all anticipate where it's going with its next decision, and where it's going is not in the players' direction.

"It's unlikely we'll see something from the court in June that's appreciably different from what it did (Monday)," said Stanford Law professor William Gould, former head of the National Labor Relations Board.

So let's assume the NFL wins on appeal, and the lockout remains in effect. Then what? Well, then NFL players must respond. After suffering a significant setback Monday they're in desperate need of something, anything that can hold them together.

That something could be a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge David Doty, who is expected to grant NFL players significant damages stemming from a TV rights decision on March 1. That award could embolden them and convince players to dig in for a long and protracted battle ... only keep this in mind: Doty's ruling would be appealed, and it almost certainly would be appealed to the Eighth Circuit.

"They will have to reassess their position," Gould said of the players. "I think they will have to retreat. There really is no other avenue open to them except Judge Doty's decision, and that's their only leverage -- if, of course, (an appeal) is affirmed by the court of appeals."

But Doty can't lift a lockout. The 8th Circuit can, only it almost certainly won't. Doty's decision could, however, convince players to hold fast – depending, of course, on the extent on damages. But, remember: No matter what he decides, an appeal almost surely goes to the site of the NFL's latest -- and most significant -- triumph.

And this:

"I'm not so sure [you can guarantee a favorable judgment]," said Gould. "I've always thought the 8th Circuit would come out, as apparently it has, on the basic issue of a lockout. But don't forget it affirmed Judge Doty in the past, and two years ago it rejected an attempt by the NFL to strip Judge Doty's consent decree away and to disqualify Judge Doty himself. I don't take it as a given that it will necessarily reverse Judge Doty."

I don't, either. But it's a gamble, and what NFL players must ask themselves now is: Is it a gamble worth taking? The longer a stalemate goes on the greater the likelihood of player unrest and defections, and if you don't believe me look what happened during the 1987 strike. Veterans jumped picket lines after only a few weeks, and while this is a lockout -- not a strike -- the general feeling is that players can't ... and won't ... hold together over the long haul.

I guess we're about to find out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And here is a good read from Will Brinson at sportsline on what leverage the players do retain and why it is still significant leverage:


/>http://eye-on-football.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22475988/29367712

Still seems to me the best approach for both sides is to hammer out a deal at the table.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Sorry for those of you in the business of law, but they are the last people that need to be in the mix with this.

Everytime I hear those f*ckers make a comment, it's negative in nature. Not one single positive spin on how things might turn out.

They just had those meeting recently in Chicago, without the lawyers, and it was said to be the best mediation to this point.

Just saying...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And here we go again: the hearing on the lockout case is underway in St. Louis. Early dispatches bring the happy news that the NFL's lawyers are saying that the lockout could last at least a year.

A year. At least.

That's just f**king wonderful... <_<

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And the oral arguments wrap up with, basically, a threat from the court that if the two sides don't reach a deal, it will make a ruling that neither side likes.

Exactly what I don't know but clearly they have something in mind. My takeaway is that the court is not enjoying the idea of being used as leverage by either side. I take that, cautiously, as good news.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And here we go again: the hearing on the lockout case is underway in St. Louis. Early dispatches bring the happy news that the NFL's lawyers are saying that the lockout could last at least a year.

A year. At least.

Sounds like a message to the players. They know there's no way that happens. For one, there would be hundreds of players filing for bankruptcy who probably don't want to do that. Many of these players have the financial management skills of a gnat, and some worse than Chad Johnson (exercise to the reader as to which is the greater insult).

Now the question is, do the owners end up defaulting on loans first? How many of them have enough liquid assets to last longer than the players? And to what degree were they leaning on that $4B of lockout insurance that got axed by the court?

I'm not entirely sure either side could last a year. And of all the people in bad financial straits in the NFL, including all the idiot players, their $200k cars and $10M houses and all the bling, the one in worst financial shape could be Jerry Jones.

I wouldn't mind seeing Jerrah's new temple to self-glorification in Texas getting forclosed on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Agreed. The debt service on the Dallas monstrosity not to mention debt service on the palace for the Jets/Giants may be what drove the owners to the secret meetings mid-week. Word is Jones is not terribly liquid right now.

Bottom line, both the players and owners have every reason to stop being idjits at some point in the very near future. That common interest will be the window toward a possible deal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Agreed. The debt service on the Dallas monstrosity not to mention debt service on the palace for the Jets/Giants may be what drove the owners to the secret meetings mid-week. Word is Jones is not terribly liquid right now.

Kind of makes you wonder why the owners opted out of the CBA in the first place.

I still think the players will cave, for reasons we all understand and therefore don't need to be listed here. But if they could somehow dig in, and stand firm through one full season and into a second, they could basically write their own CBA, that is how desperate the owners will be.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kind of makes you wonder why the owners opted out of the CBA in the first place.

Because Gene Upshaw exploited the fact that the owners were divided on the revenue sharing issue to make them his collective prison bitch. Combine that with the very real changes that occurred in the overall economic conditions, and it proved unsustainable. They were also, in my opinion, overly complacent regarding their legal position, having been lulled into a false sense of security by Upshaw's willingness to negotiate vs. litigate. They never saw this coming in a million years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The owners were also counting on their deals with the networks -- which would keep the money flowing even if there were no games -- to keep them afloat. But that has been thrown into doubt now by Doty's ruling and while he hasn't yet said what he's going to do, at the very least I would think that the money would end up in some kind of escrow while the appeal process plays out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The owners were also counting on their deals with the networks -- which would keep the money flowing even if there were no games -- to keep them afloat. But that has been thrown into doubt now by Doty's ruling and while he hasn't yet said what he's going to do, at the very least I would think that the money would end up in some kind of escrow while the appeal process plays out.

Absolutely. That's the biggest part of their flawed legal strategy, thinking that had a chance in hell of getting past Doty. Best case is that the money goes in escrow. I think it's very unlikely that he doesn't throw the book at them for it.

It's also nuts that they didn't see the 'decertify and sue' gambit coming.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, I'm hoping all these "secret" meetings that everyone knows about bear some fruit.

I just can't envision not being able to watch football on Sundays and not playing fantasy football.

The thoughts of what my wife would have us doing with no football on doesn't appeal to me at all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The thoughts of what my wife would have us doing with no football on doesn't appeal to me at all.

Ha Ha! Have fun going to an orchard for a nice Sunday afternoon. Look, apple trees!

For some ridiculous reason, she enjoys looking for deals at garage sales. I've always been of the mindset that I have no need for things that others would simply throw in the garbage if it weren't for someone willing to pay for their trash. Either way around, I believe mowing the lawn and working in the yard will become my Sunday staple should there be no football.

I would say that could be the case even if there is football if things don't go well for the Bengals, but again, fantasy football is a great thing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...