Possible 2011 Lockout

"DaFish wrote:

This ruined baseball for me. I just hope it doesn't happen to football too.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/dave_zirin/05/19/smith/index.html?xid=shareDigg

About the only good thing is that basketball is also having a lockout looming. With steroids still prevalent in baseball, football likely stands to remain the "top" US sport. I wouldn't mind seeing a resurgence of hockey though. :up:

Hopefully it doesn't happen though. That a company making as much as the NFL, and people making as much as NFL players can't figure this **** out it, quite frankly, disgusting.

I will just focus on college football if this happens. The NFL players/owners are going to kill the golden goose with their greed.

The terminology here is misleading.

If there's no football in 2011, it'll be because of a work stoppage, not a lockout. A lockout is when the owner or operator of a company prevents its employees from coming to work. A work stoppage is when the employees, well, stop working. In the absence of a CBA, the situation will be a work stoppage: the employees (players) will not play football without a CBA.

The term lockout suits DeMaurice Smith's goals perfectly. He wants us to think that the problem rests on unreasonable demands from those 32 greedy owners. In reality, the big holdups in CBA negotiations have been Smith's demands to see the NFL's accounting ledgers. So far, negotiations have gone like this:

Smith: "Show us your money."
Goodell: "What? No, you never needed that accounting information before."
Smith: "I wasn't here before. New sheriff in town, son. Show me the money."
Goodell: "No way. Let's talk about a rookie wage scale."
Smith: "Show me your books."
Goodell: "Isn't that the same question? No."
Smith: "Screw you. I've got a press conference."

If we don't have any football in 2011, you can blame it on both sides. Mainly the NFLPA, but the NFL will hold some responsibility as well.

Can't we have work stoppages/lockouts in boring sports like baseball / basketball?

Please?

**** greed. My solution:

Crazy arbitration. If a dumb mother****er can't figure some **** out that works for both sides within 3 months of the superbowl (deadline 3 months after the SB), crucify him, and then fire his sorry ass. Now repeat this process with the next ******* in line.
Also, **** unions too.

http://www.nflplayers.com/Articles/CBA-News/NFLPA-Welcomes-Supreme-Court-Decision-Against-the-NFL/

WASHINGTON (May 24)—Today, the United States Supreme Court again made clear that the NFL is not exempt from the anti-trust laws that all other American businesses must follow. In reversing the appellate court’s prior ruling, the Court found that the 32 NFL teams do not act as a “single entity” such that they are completely exempt from Section 1 of the Sherman Act. In other words, the NFL—despite its best efforts—is not above the law. Specifically, in a 9-0 decision, the Court held that NFL teams do not possess the “complete unity of interest” necessary for an exemption. Instead, each team is a separately-owned business entity competing vigorously against the others, both on and off the field.

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Can-the-players-endure-a-lockout.html

Can the players endure a lockout?

As I’m sure everyone has figured out, it looks like the NFL and its players will treat us all to a lockout after this season. The writing is already on the wall: the creation of the UFL, the latest in a long line of spinoff professional football leagues. This, of course, will be our reality come next season. Think of it as a 20-game season of preseason games -- not a real enticing thought for fans and gamblers.
The years since the last strike in 1987 have softened the memory for most of us about how unentertaining and pathetic that scab-player-infused season actually was. It lasted only 24 days, in part because the average NFL salary at the time was around $100,000, with the majority of players making closer to $50k. So the owners just waited out the players until their power was shut off or their wives started bitching and they started to cave.

"Fin Fan In Cali wrote:

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Can-the-players-endure-a-lockout.html

Can the players endure a lockout?

As I’m sure everyone has figured out, it looks like the NFL and its players will treat us all to a lockout after this season. The writing is already on the wall: the creation of the UFL, the latest in a long line of spinoff professional football leagues. This, of course, will be our reality come next season. Think of it as a 20-game season of preseason games -- not a real enticing thought for fans and gamblers.
The years since the last strike in 1987 have softened the memory for most of us about how unentertaining and pathetic that scab-player-infused season actually was. It lasted only 24 days, in part because the average NFL salary at the time was around $100,000, with the majority of players making closer to $50k. So the owners just waited out the players until their power was shut off or their wives started bitching and they started to cave.

I read Bill Simmons a fair amount and he has been putting in a lot of articles on impending the NBA lockout/stoppage and he makes a similar point, that the owners have all the power. For all the money these athletes make, a surprising amount live almost paycheck to paycheck with the expenses they accrue. Cutting off their money, they don't HAVE XXX million saved up to fall back on - its already gone. Its a big game of chicken.

Not sure which side to feel less not-sorry for...