NFL Lockout Thread

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Fri May 20, 2011 4:13 am

Originally posted by Old School:
Mara said it PERFECTLY. Dilfer is honest too.
I have ZERO sympathy for players. THEY hired a sleazebag lawyer, not a negotiator. THEY brought it to the courts. How anyone can listen to that jerk-off DeMoron Smith and still side with them is beyond me Nobody really knows what's going to happen over the next month, but one thing is for certain: as long as De Smith is directly involved in the process, no resolution will be reached.

De Smith needs to go NOW.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri May 20, 2011 4:15 am

Originally posted by Old School:
Mara said it PERFECTLY. Dilfer is honest too.
I have ZERO sympathy for players. THEY hired a sleazebag lawyer, not a negotiator. THEY brought it to the courts. How anyone can listen to that jerk-off DeMoron Smith and still side with them is beyond me I think as fans we now have to realize that NOTHING is going to happen for the next two months. NOTHING will be done until the June 3rd hearings in St. Louis and then we'll have a full month of PR spin from both sides about how they are in the legal right before a decision is rendered. Fans will get sick of the PR wars and in July we'll be right back to where we are now when the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals sides with the NFL.

Then what?

I think at that point the cracks in the players' armor will begin to surface and everyone will be antsy to get something done before training camps are scheduled to open. We can only hope that the serious negotiations take place then and the rest of the season can be saved. If a deal isn't done before Aug. 1st, we're all in trouble.

SICKENING SCENARIO. Tom is right, SHUT UP AND GET IT DONE. The owners have a case for keeping everything in place, but then GET A NEGOTIATED DEAL DONE WITH THE PLAYERS. Make it worth their while to keep everything in place and not take $1 billion off the top for yourselves. There's enough money to keep both sides happy plus the retired players. GET IT DONE. And don't wait until late July to start the process. If ANYONE really cared about the fans, they'd start getting serious RIGHT NOW.

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Fri May 20, 2011 4:17 am

Originally posted by King of Queens:
quote:Originally posted by Old School:
Mara said it PERFECTLY. Dilfer is honest too.
I have ZERO sympathy for players. THEY hired a sleazebag lawyer, not a negotiator. THEY brought it to the courts. How anyone can listen to that jerk-off DeMoron Smith and still side with them is beyond me Nobody really knows what's going to happen over the next month, but one thing is for certain: as long as De Smith is directly involved in the process, no resolution will be reached.

De Smith needs to go NOW. [/QUOTE]I'm not a big fan of Smith or Goodell at this point.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri May 20, 2011 4:19 am

From ESPN's Adam Schefter: Starting Monday, each Cardinals non-contracted employee will be on furlough. Cardinals contracted coaches already had salaries slashed 35%.

Nice.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri May 20, 2011 4:25 am

Jerry Jones says he didn't pay $1.2 billion for a new stadium to sit idle in 2011. Here's what he has to say on NFL.com:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d8 ... _headlines

Jerry Jones is confident that the labor standoff between NFL owners and players will end in time to have a 2011 season.

He's just not ready to say exactly when or how it might happen.

But the Cowboys owner, speaking at the team's annual tournament at Cowboys Golf Club in Grapevine, Texas, had a message for those sponsors and VIPs in attendance, according to The Dallas Morning News.

"I didn't spend $1.2 billion to build a stadium and not have the Cowboys playing football in it this year," Jones said.

Added Jones: "In general, the response of our ticket holders, the response of our suite holders, the response of all of our constituencies has been they have been and are expecting us to play football."

While acknowledging that the goal is to resume normal football operations as quickly as possible, Jones stopped short of providing any sort of timetable for a deal.

"It's pointless to talk about progress," he said. "That's not the way you measure anything. You can say you don't have anything until you have a total agreement. ... We'll make sure we sit down and work it out in a way that keeps our great game what it is.

"This train is going to get there," Jones assured. "I just want to be on it."

Jones said he doesn't plan to lay off team employees or make salary cuts while the lockout drags.

"Each team has its own approach," Jones said. "Each team has its own need for its off-the-field employees that includes their coaching staff.

"We, for all practical purposes, are year-round for 99 percent of the employees that we have. And certainly, we have an obligation to our stadium and the events that we're involved in. When you look at the big picture, our operation and what we're doing with our employees is more dictated by that than it is by the fact that we're locked out."

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri May 20, 2011 4:33 am

I love Bart Scott and he certainly has the lockout pegged right in his comments yesterday in the New York Daily News. Here's the excerpt:

Jets linebacker Bart Scott on lockout: 'We’re bordering now on the verge of insanity.'

BY Manish Mehta

Four months after Bart Scott’s memorable post-game interview that spawned a YouTube hit and new catchphrase, the Jets linebacker spoke with ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio for an encore chat that aired on ESPN Thursday night. The always entertaining Scott touched on everything from the lockout to Rex Ryan’s latest bold claim to Mark Sanchez’s leadership.

On the lockout: “We’re bordering now on the verge of insanity. Fans don’t want to hear about lockout. They don’t want to hear about people arguing over $9 billion. They want the bottom line. Because at the end of the day, these guys are saving up throughout the entire year to come out and spend their hard earned money to see football. And we’re telling them that they can spend their hard earned money but we’re not playing until we figure it out. I listen to (Patriots owner Robert) Kraft. I don’t agree with the Patriots on a lot of things, but I agree with him that we’re really on the verge of irritating our fan base and damaging the fabric of the game.”

Chi_Town_FEW · Post by **Chi_Town_FEW** » Fri May 20, 2011 7:09 am

This is really all on the players. There has been one if not two deals offered already. I haven't read the fine print but I imagine they were both better if not equal to the last deal and better for the veteran players. Football doesn't start till the players sign on the dotted line. That's really all there is to it.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri May 20, 2011 8:27 am

Here's Commissioner Roger Goodell's latest views on the lockout that he gave during a conference call this afternoon with Detroit Lions season ticket holders:

On the status of the lockout: “The latest is that the lockout is in place. There is a hearing before the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals on June 3. But I think the reality is what I’ve said repeatedly, going back months, if not years. It’s that this will be resolved through collective bargaining, through negotiations. It is not going to be resolved through litigation. It has delayed the process, and it’s time for us to get back and negotiate. It’s important for us to resolve these issues to ensure the season, to ensure a full season. We are continuing to make plans for a full season, but time is running short, and we need to get back to the bargaining table.

“The union’s attorneys have pursued a strategy here that I think, ultimately, is bad for the game of football. It challenges many of the aspects of the game that I think are what fans and I love about the game: the competitiveness of the game, the ability for us to be successful in small markets as well as large markets. We have to make sure that we defend the structure of this league, but we also have to make sure that we’re open-minded enough to address issues in collective bargaining that can reach an agreement that’s good for the players, that’s good for the clubs but most important, good for the fans and game of football long term.”

• On whether there is a drop-dead date to reach an agreement in order to have a full season: “There is no specific drop-dead date, if that’s your direct question. But I think, again, going into this uncertainty, it’s not just can we have a full season, but can we have the same quality a season? Can we ensure the competitiveness of our game, the fact that players are prepared to play, that we have a reasonable free agency period?

“All that needs to get addressed, hopefully sooner rather than later. And that needs to be done in the context of a collective bargaining agreement. That’s why we suggest let’s get back to the table. Let’s get back to negotiate and address these issues so that we can ensure that kind of quality of football that you expect.”

• On whether the NFL would consider using replacement players: “We have not discussed the strategy of replacement players. It’s not our focus. We want to get an agreement that is good for the players and good for the clubs and good for the game long term. It is not part of our strategy, and I still believe that if we worked and we were committed to it, and we got back to the negotiating table in a clear negotiation with a clear intent to reaching an agreement, we could do so. That is my continued hope and focus.”

• On whether the league is considering going from 16 to 18 regular-season games this year: “We have proposed as part of the March 11 proposal to the players that we would implement health-and-safety changes to the game immediately. In the change of the season structure, we are obviously aware of the impact it can have on the players, and we want to make sure we address that. By implementing that now, we could see the effects of that, and we could evaluate that and make the smart decision long term about 18-2 versus 16-4. That’s the right way to do this. With the players, with consideration of the health-and-safety factors and all the other business issues, competitive issues, if we’re going to go to a restructured season, we want to do it the right way. And we won’t do it unless we can. And I think that means not rushing it in this season. I think it’s something that we need to take the time and go through all that evaluation and do it the right way.”

• On why, if negotiations are key, are the two sides not meeting again for nearly three weeks: “We are restricted in what we can talk about as part of the mediation, because the judge has asked us to keep that confidential, so I can’t address anything specific there, other than I believe that negotiations are going to be the resolution. We are prepared to continue the negotiations. We are under instructions from the court. They determine when the mediation sessions are. But I can assure you that we will work, as we did back in February in mediation, where we met 17 days in a very limited period of time. We will continue to do that, and that’s the kind of focus that’s going to be required to get to an agreement.”

• On his gut feeling about how free agency will work this year: “The system in 2010 without a salary cap was six years to free agency. Prior to that, we had four years to free agency. The bottom line is that’s one of the system issues that has to be addressed in the context of collective bargaining. I think it’s reasonable that we have a salary cap. I think it’s been good for the game. I think it’s also reasonable that we have free-agency rules that result in limited free agency with a chance for players to move but also a consistency among the 32 clubs and the ability to make sure we have a competitive product.

“And I think that’s been the beauty of our rules. It’s why I think you, as Detroit Lions fans, have such optimism going into the season, is that the team has made some great moves, and there’s a hope that they can go all the way to the Super Bowl and win the Super Bowl. That hope exists in almost every NFL market, and I believe (in) every NFL market, we’ve proven that. And that’s the kind of thing that we want to balance in here. So proper free-agency rules with proper salary-cap rules and other system issues will keep the competitive integrity of the game.”

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Fri May 20, 2011 8:40 am

The owners are now asking for a third extension to respond to Brady vs. NFL. Not surprisingly (and completely understandably in my opinion), the players have strongly opposed this.

Yup, the owners really want to get back to playing football all right.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon May 23, 2011 5:48 am

Nobody will feel sorry for assistant coaches and agents, but this is still a good story about the effects of the lockout:

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/a ... ?page=full