If I didn't care, and I knew that no matter what I'll watch the NFL when it returns, I wouldn't have such a problem with this. At the end of the day the big winners are the lawyers, the slightly less winners are the owners, players and the NFL, and we're the losers.
I'm pretty sure that's not an original thought, in fact I think I might have read Big Daddy Drew and his take on the whole thing, but it's sort of the basis of my blog this time around.
At first I was "on the side of" the players. They are slightly less rich than the owner's, so sure, let's root for them in this case. Now I say "fuck 'em all".
So, point to the owner's and the NFL. Their extensive bullshit in the media has turned me from being completely against them, to being only marginally against them. The other margins are against the players. Why? Fuck 'em, that's why.
Football is the most popular sport in the United States, and the Super Bowl is like European Football having a one game World Cup every year - that's the kind of ratings it gets. Ridiculous. The product the NFL as a collective has control of is excellent, and beyond that, they're not selling it for cheap. It's expensive to go to games, and the TV rights are unfortunately restricted - ever watch a 1pm game on FOX, and have no 4pm game on another network, and another game covered is going to OT (not the one you were watching), past 4:!5pm the network legally has to stop displaying footage of any games. What kind of bullshit! YOU STOP PROJECTING ON ME!
Here are the main sticking points, at least according to the regurgitated ESPN article they've been poorly updating as the weeks have gone by, and my comments:
Rookie Wage Scale
Personally, this is the owners fault. They let spending get out of control, so screw them. At the same time, I think it's ridiculous that JaMarcus Russell could hold out on signing a contract for more money, get paid said money, and then suck as only a man named JaMarcus can. PUSH
Splitting $9B in Profits
Whaa, cry me a fucking river. Seriously. We're talking about a few hundred million to each individual owner, or a few hundred million to each individual owner. That's such an unfortunate problem to have. "Oh, I'm sorry your product is so popular that even rampant performance enhancing use no one even cares and the sport is as popular as ever, and now you have all these woes of splitting absurd amounts of money." Here's why my position is changing from being purely against the owners, to feeling both the players and owners are at fault. I don't get paid a salary by my employer and then get to negotiate with them about how much additional money I should take for profit. That's nice that the NFLPA has worked that out, more power to them. But figure it out without making the fans suffer. The owners and NFL should release the proper information and come to a fair agreement, but splitting $9B in profit shouldn't be something to stop work - this is something the owners asked for by opting out of the current CBA, and for real, most money for new stadiums comes from taxpayers anyway. Edge: PLAYERS
16 versus 18 Game Season
I don't agree with the 18 game season, mostly because it doesn't seem very worked out. I'm for portions of the plan - additional roster spots, two bye weeks (which is slightly annoying because your team plays less, but there is also the ability to rest up when needed). I'm not such a fan of starting two weeks early in lieu of two preseason games (I don't watch those preseason games but I know that my teams players and coaches rely on them to determine the talent and establish a flow and chemistry). Football has to be played once a week at max, and that puts a cap on how late in the season the game can extend, so it's a concern if you are saying playoff games are taking place entirely during the month of January. That said, I don't think it's so different than the current situation, I think the heat in the summer would be more problematic than the cold. The owners proposed this, but the players left a deal on the table that maintained the 16 game structure in place for two more seasons, and would allow the further negotiation of the 18 game season. PUSH
Additional Player Health Benefits and for Retired Players
It's a little difficult to argue against the players here. For arguments sake, I'll try. Most employers don't have pensions and you typically have to get your own health care after retirement - with all the millions they're making, you'd think they can figure something out to put a little nest egg out there for them. For real though, the NFLPA and owners should work together to take care of their retired players. Edge: PLAYERS
Apparently I'm still for the players, at least more so than the owners. You sell PSLs for thousands of dollars to fans for the ability just to purchase the tickets for their seats, and then you prevent your fans from purchasing said tickets by locking out the players? Good luck with that one guys.
The current argument is a bunch of rich men whining back and forth at one another. Fuck them all. I understand why the union decertified and filed and injunction and a class action lawsuit, and I also understand why the owners locked out the players. Susie slapped Josie because Josie called Susie a bitch. Great. Get the sand out and figure it out like men.
The owners and NFL are calling the decertification a "sham". Well, yeah, it's a fucking sham. So what? Ownership negotiated a "war chest" TV contract specifically to lockout the players and gain leverage. You're both fucking even. Move on.
Ownership wants to get back to the negotiating table, and I don't think the union necessarily wanted to proceed with litigation. They wouldn't have agreed to two extensions if that wasn't the case - the facts are that they're still so far apart, and they're taking things personally instead of treating things like a business. Whaa, you won't give me the information we wanted you to give us. Whaa, but we already gave you more than we wanted to give you. Shut up.
I think the thing I'm most annoyed about is hearing from anyone regarding the discussion; the players, the owners, Jeff Pash, Roger Goodell. Fuck them all. They bring no new information. "We believe they are still a union" - Jeff Pash, shut the fuck up. It's the different between libel and slander. Semantics. It's the difference between a Corporation and a Limited Liability Company. You know damn well what it is, and obviously this is a great chess move by the union because they don't want this to go to court. Injunction on top of injunctions. This shit shouldn't be covered by fucking Mortenson, I feel like TruTV should be picking this up and explaining it to me like I'm a moron - because I am.
The players should make a counter proposal, which obviously won't be accepted. Lace that shit with stipulations such as "reconsider percentage of profit sharing upon review of financial documents including...", and then shut the fuck up about it.
Finally, let me leave you with a portion from the ESPN "Disagreements" portion, with my comments inserted. Enjoy.
NFL players are fighting a proposed salary decrease by the owners, who are claiming that the 2006 agreement conceded too much to players. Under the current agreement, players receive about 60 percent of the revenue of the NFL's $9 billion in revenue (though some of that money is exempt, the total still works out to about half of the NFL's profits) Open the fucking books, and allow the owners to write off a percentage of their expenses and shut up about it. That figure was worked out in the 2006 agreement -- a large jump in salary percentage from the previous agreement that the NFLPA was able to convince the NFL on using the idea of revenue sharing.
Now, owners are saying a struggling economy -- leading to decreases in ticket sales and merchandise Lower your ticket prices and don't sell $20,000 PSL's -- is hurting their profits and making players' salaries an unreasonable expense on a waning income I'm sorry, isn't the $9B in profit the highest its been? Where's the waning?. The average value of a pro team dropped for the first time in 12 years in 2010, from $1.04 billion to $1.02 billion. But the NFLPA cites the league's $31 million, three year DIRECTV deal on top of broadcast deals with CBS, Fox, NBC and ESPN.
Another key difference in opinions between the owners and the players is the league's proposal to extend the regular season from 16 to 18 games, an idea most players are strongly against -- especially if it comes without pay increases, or even with decreases, in salary. Players have stated that the NFL's interest in expanding the regular season to 18 games is in direct opposition to the increased focus on player safety. Safety is the top concern, but fuck those god dammed knee pads.
[NFL Lockout - ESPN]
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