Let's Cut The Crap, Shall We?
Enough is enough when it comes to the back and forth between the league and their locked-out players.
By PackerAaron
It's only been four days since time ran out on the last Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NFL and its players and I'm already sick of the back and forth between the two sides. I'm sure those of you following along are as well.
Please, spare me the rhetoric that this is "a fight" (or, indeed, a war) or that "these things get bloody" etc. This is a business negotiation, nothing more and nothing less. It's a negotiation about how to split up the money in a $9 billion business and no amount of weak, clumsy analogies to a physical confrontation are going to change that.
The number one thing fans need to know? Both sides are full of shit.
The NFL keeps trying to paint the picture that the players left a great deal on the table. They didn't. They walked away from a deal that should have been on the table weeks ago. The NFL knew all along they would have to make some serious concessions to get the players to give up the 18% roll back they were looking for. But rather than start there, they delayed and delayed and delayed, trying to frustrate the players into just being happy to get a reasonable offer. (Jay Feely illustrated this perfectly on a recent appearance on PFT Live).
On top of this, the league keeps getting caught doing shady shit. From the lockout insurance case that Judge Doty ruled on in favor of the players, denying the owners $4 billion worth of television money for games that wouldn't even be played (and where Direct TV would pay MORE in the event of missed games) to the revelation that the league tried putting in farcically low projected revenue growth numbers so that when the league easily surpassed them all the overage would revert to the league, rather than be split with the players.
It's just shady and shows why the players don't trust the league any further than they can throw them. (And with your bad knee Ed, you shouldn't be throwing anybody...)
And speaking of the players...
Where do I begin with this infantile bunch of petulant whiners?
For the record, I don't ever want to hear another player or anyone who represents them complain about the repercussions of playing football later on in life - ever. again. The proposal the players left on the table reportedly included a chance for all current, fully vested players to opt in to lifetime healthcare. Do you have any idea how costly that would be for ownership? Why does the league need more money? Um, perhaps to fund a program that will allow you to never worry about being covered for anything ever again when it comes to your medical issues later on in life?
And don't even get me started on the "open the books" mantra the now ex-union has adopted. Every reasonable movement toward the union by the league has been met with "We've been asking for 10 years worth of audited books for the last two years!"
Yeah, no shit. You know why? Because the owners opening their books was never, ever, EVER, going to happen. Ever. Ask any labor lawyer in America (and believe me, my Twitter feed and my Inbox has been deluged with labor lawyers telling me this) So why did the players keep asking for something they knew would never happen?
Because they wanted to go to court. They've been dying to go to court. De Smith, the Washington lawyer, wants to play on his home field. And now he's got his team set to do just that.
And you know what? At the end of the day, I can't say I blame him if that was indeed his strategy. He inherited this mess. It's not of his making. Yes, he campaigned for the job. He wanted it. But all he can do - ALL he can do - is keep as much as he can from the last CBA for his players. That's it. He knows whatever deal gets struck it will not be as good as it was. He has to show his players he's ready to do anything and everything he can to keep as much as he can for them.
My main point of contention then? Why the need to be SO over-the-top childish about this in the press and with the PR movement? "Suggesting" that the top college prospects not attend the draft at Radio City is the height of petulance. Enough has been Tweeted about on this subject to fill a book so I won't waste too much time here, but using these kids as pawns in your PR war with the league is as asinine as it is absurd. The kids coming into the NFL will have plenty of time to be indoctrinated into the ways of the union - leave them alone until they are actually claimed by a team.
And don't get me started on the "outreach" to the press after talks fell apart. Earlier this week the ex-union held a conference call for "selected journalists" And by "selected" I mean mostly, not all, but mostly jurnos that are sympathetic to the players point of view. Going back and looking at the first Tweets that appeared on my Twitter stream at the beginning of the conference call, I see Mike Silver, Jim Trotter, Mike Freeman, Doug Farrar and of course, Michael Schottey. Every single one of them have written heavily in favor of the players both before and after the lockout began. And every single one of them was there, trumpeting player propaganda for all their followers to read.
I have no problem with any of these guys. I've met and like them all. And they all have columnist responsibilities for their respective media entities, meaning its their job to have opinions. God bless them.
My problem is with the NFLPA shutting out people like myself, who have been critical of the union. (Yes, I know for a fact I am not the only one who was left off the invite list for the propaganda call) For months on end, my inbox has been flooded with conference call invites from the union. Some I joined, some I didn't. But now, having been deemed as someone "unfriendly" to the union's cause, my inbox lies empty of entreaties from the office of George Atallah. My inquires into why I am being excluded? Ignored.
I once wrote that Roger Goodell was insulting my intelligence. Yet I still get invites from the league and am allowed to cover their events because the NFL realizes I may disagree with them from time to time but I try to be more than fair with what I write. That's the grown up approach. Not so the infantile players union, which seems to have gone into full-on FOX News mode.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised. It's part of the union's M.O. The owners finally put a deal on the table that speaks to a lot of the concerns players have had over the years and what do the players do? Do they work with the league? Do they, you know, negotiate? No. They stamp their feet and decertify.
Everybody wants to take sides and everybody paints me as "pro-owner". I most certainly am not. But the owners are, outside of the absurd press conferences being held by Jeff Pash (seriously Jeff - Just. Stop.) at least treating this as a business negotiation.
Here's the thing - the players are actually "in the right" here. Ownership is coming after them for one simple reason: Because they can.
The real problem? Guys like Jerry Jones, and his long standing crusade against revenue sharing. Because that's what this whole thing boils down to. Some owners like Jones, Snyder, Kraft, etc keep finding ways to produce bigger and bigger revenue streams that don't have to be shared. The Packers are in the midst of pushing the envelope in this area as well with the massive expansion around Lambeau set to provide a huge new revenue stream for the team that doesn't have to be shared with the rest of the league. That's the way forward in todays NFL.
The problem, of course, is that this movement is starting to create a real caste system in the NFL, the Haves and the Have Nots. And rather than sit down and hammer out a way that these new team-specific revenue streams could be transitioned into the revenue-sharing model that turned the NFL into America's year-round obsession, the owners have decided that its much easier to go after the player's piece of the pie.
James Surowiecki, writing for next weeks New Yorker, puts it perfectly when he writes:
The owners argue that cutting the players’ share will let teams put more money into things like stadiums and new media, and that these investments will, in the long run, make everyone richer. The problem is that owners and players don’t benefit equally when football becomes more profitable. Sure, everyone’s income increases, but the owners also see the value of their teams rise; a 2004 study found that new stadiums increased the value of franchises by an average of thirty-five per cent, an effect that, along with a boom in television revenue, has caused the value of the average franchise to triple in the past twelve years. This increase in value benefits the owners alone, and explains why so many of them are now billionaires. If you work for Google or Apple, stock options give you a chance to share in the increasing value of the company. In the N.F.L., nothing like this happens...
Roger Goodell is fond of saying that the players are in "partnership" with the league. Nothing could be further from the truth. But the players need to understand that there were some real concessions in the offer that was on the table when they decided to walk away from negotiations. And that's how deals get done - both sides making moves toward each other until finding middle ground. The owners, for all their shady bullshit, made a real move last Friday. The players need to stop sticking their fingers in their ears while shouting "10 years of audited financials!" over and over again, get back to the negotiating table, and make a counter offer to what was an incredibly promising proposal from the owners.
Because seriously - this, this and this is happening everywhere else in the world. Do you really want to be the people who screwed up the greatest professional sports league in the history of our nation with THAT as a backdrop? Really? Because that's how history will judge you. That's how you'll be remembered - that at the height of it all, and with the world in chaos and turmoil all around you, with Americans longing for escape in the one place they thought they could get away from it all - you found it more important to act like spoiled fucking children than to talk to each other like adults.
Shame on you.
Get it done.
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHEESEHEAD NATION WEEKLY NEWSLETTER HERE.
__________________________
Comments (70)
March 16, 2011 at 01:44 pm
Would have loved to have you at the final bargaining session to say all this Aaron.
March 16, 2011 at 01:49 pm
I got nothin'. Good job! The last 3 lines sum it up perfectly. I feel like we fans are kids in a messy divorce and both of our parents feel they deserve more than the other. We love them both but are torn between the two because they are both acting like jerks.
March 16, 2011 at 01:50 pm
YOU ARE MY HERO.
Seriously. LOVE it.
March 16, 2011 at 01:51 pm
I said something similar yesterday (though yours is much more eloquent, lol.
http://pocketdoppler.com/2011/03/15/a-violent-femmes-view-i-dont-care-wh...
For the most part, I really agree with you, Aaron. I really do.
March 16, 2011 at 01:51 pm
Wow. A-freakin-men. So well said as usual, Nagler. And the Bueller reference is priceless :)
March 16, 2011 at 02:03 pm
Man I wish you'd stop holding back Aaron. Tell us how you feel! SHOW US EMOTION YOU ICE CUBE!
March 16, 2011 at 02:03 pm
"Because they wanted to go to court. They've been dying to go to court."
We all should have known that's were this would end up. If the Judges of the 8th Circuit had any sense at all they would schedule any hearings for 2012. The courts should be used to solve real problems not the petty squabbles of delusional assholes like Jerry Jones and Adrian Peterson.
March 16, 2011 at 02:06 pm
tapping my walking stick on the floor twice.
March 16, 2011 at 02:08 pm
This article is exactly why I come to this site. This sums up my thoughts to a "T". Well said, Aaron. Someone needs to make sure that DerpSmith and Gerdell read this; with all of their clamoring about how "this is for the fans", they should really read something that sums up what, I belive, is the opinion of most fans at this point.
March 16, 2011 at 02:15 pm
One factual error (don't want to debate)...if you follow the links you gave for the healthcare bit, you'll see that the offer wasn't "full" it was a 60% increase from current (still great!) and that players would still pay premiums (and overages once they met a deductible).
So, to say a player would "never have to worry" is a little far.
Still, that is still a hell of an offer! But, as you pointed out it was part of something larger that had larger consequences.
Hopefully, when both sides reconvene a similar proposal will be discussed.
Again,
PackerAaron
March 16, 2011 at 02:21 pm
I hear you. But the fact that, after their current five-year plan is up most guys find it impossible to find anyone who won't charge them insane rates with what they deem "preexisting conditions" it seems as-good-as. But to the letter, you are correct.
March 16, 2011 at 06:34 pm
Pre-existing conditions are no longer legal way to prevent people from getting healthcare. [Until the Republicans go back to hating poor people]
March 16, 2011 at 07:35 pm
uh... have you watched the news in the past 3 years?
March 16, 2011 at 07:22 pm
My thoughts: Players and the public will get more information on (1) public funding for these teams (2) frivolous expenses (family members being on the payroll).
Also, I think the owners are over-stating rising player salaries. Everything I've read has indicated it's the rising cost of stadiums and financing these stadiums that's really driving owners to do this. Pharaohs want to be able to keep building their pyramids because they know it will eventually bankrupt them. All it proves to me is the price and pace at which they're building stadiums is unsustainable and an overall bad business model. Maybe owners should quit spending $1 billion every time they want a new stadium.
March 16, 2011 at 02:15 pm
Seriously. As a non-american who CHOSE to root for the Packers, if I had chosen to root for ANY other team, I would've quit by now.
The ONLY thing that's keeping me being a fan is that the Packers are publicly owned. I love the NFL, it's my favorite sport (not football altogether, because I'm only mildy interest in NCAA and couldn't care less to canadian or aussie football). I like it even better than soccer, which is the sport I play and grew up with (my love for my home team is still a little bit bigger than my love for the Packers though).
But I'll be damned if I ever root for someone else's personal "toy", not with this BS happening.
And I can't stand DeMaurice Smith. Just can't. Goodell is a control freak, but that other guy just reeks of snobbery and ruddiness. He and Jerral are perfect for each other, but, unfortunately for all of us, they're disastruous for the game.
March 17, 2011 at 11:56 am
DM Smith fills a need the players need to level the playing surface. Union leaders aren't winners for Miss. Congeniality. He needs to be able to get in J Jones face, and still win the CBA.
March 16, 2011 at 02:38 pm
I fought in war. When I hear businessmen and politicians speak of going to war over an issue, it offends the hell out of me! They will never know what war is and they have always been to afraid to fight in a actual war so they send people like me to do their dirty work. So please shut your mouth when it comes to going to war.
Another thing...if I have to hear about how Roger Goodell is only making a dollar while being the commish I`m going to throw up! We all know you make money elsewhere so don't throw that in our faces when it comes to the CBA.
March 16, 2011 at 02:45 pm
Hadn't really given the "going to war" thing much more thought than it is something you hear thrown around in these situations. I can easily see how offensive this could be to our soldiers. Let me just say Thank You for your service. I will make sure I don't use that phrase when discussing this kind of crap with my coworkers. Thank You again.
March 17, 2011 at 05:58 am
Ditto. ++
Sir, I thank You as well.
March 16, 2011 at 02:50 pm
F bomb! Call aunt Gert!
March 16, 2011 at 03:28 pm
(Yawn)
I'll just play golf till this thing is settled, which it will be in advance of our title defense.
And no, just because I choose not to follow every twist and turn of the labor situation doesn't make me any less of a fan than anyone on this site.
PackerAaron
March 16, 2011 at 03:36 pm
I don't think anyone would accuse you of that Ken. In fact, I envy you. I WISH I could just ignore it. But it's like I have a disease...
March 16, 2011 at 03:50 pm
I'm sure living in Manhattan and being pitched opinions by both sides via Twitter doesn't help.
There's just something about the name "George Atallah" makes me lose interest real fast. The next time you have trouble falling sleep, opt against counting sheep and instead slowly sound At-tal-lah over and over again.
This will be all be long forgotten when Tramon pick-6's Cutlerdouche in the first play from scrimmage of 2011.
March 16, 2011 at 03:31 pm
Aaron,
I'm asking this in good faith, but why are owners unwilling to fully disclose their books? if theres a link or something that fully explains it, then that works too. thanks man.
March 16, 2011 at 03:51 pm
When the 2006 CBA was signed, the players, their union and their lawyers agreed to what financial info was needed, what info would be shared, how it would be shared, who had access to it and what all needed to be included
They all signed off on it as being sufficient for purposes of managing the finances/CBA going forward. They have all of this info and more, yet they run around screaming the meme " open the books !'
No private businesses open their books for competitive reasons and the players know it. They are just using it for leverage and the real crime is that DeMaurice Smith is using the players to further his own self interests.
PackerAaron
March 16, 2011 at 03:53 pm
De is def helping drive it but don't discount the union's counsel, Kessler. He's the main proponent for going to litigation.
March 16, 2011 at 06:38 pm
You don't think Batteram, who killed the NHL isn't in favor of litigation? He was pivotal in trying to get that 4B from the networks.
PackerAaron
March 16, 2011 at 03:52 pm
More than anything else, they don't want other owners seeing how they do their business. But on top of that, several teams no doubt have money funneled to family members through sham titles and positions, etc. Not to mention guys like Bengals owner Mike Brown who was, as it turned out, paying himself a $1 million dollar "GM bonus" (this came to light several years ago in court during a lawsuit) and probably still is.
March 16, 2011 at 04:23 pm
If we are going to open books, I would like to see the union's books and some players too. Maybe on National TV
Remember when the Strahan divorce proceedings were underway and we learned his wife was spending $20K/ month on food and clothes for the kids ?
$55K for a Dez Bryant dinner ? How about players blowing off a $250K workout bonus cause they were too busy
Both sides have proven to be very poor stewards of our money, maybe we should take some of it back...
March 16, 2011 at 06:36 pm
You already see the player's contracts. The rest of what they do is leaked out when a news outlet thinks it will get attention.
March 16, 2011 at 06:39 pm
Right, Mike Brown is probably paying himself under the table but I doubt he is "making it rain" in strip clubs, spending 5000 a month on shark food, investing 70,000 in an inflatable raft invention that saves furniture during a flood, paying 10,000 a month in child support or giving a $168 million settlement to his ex-wife.
March 16, 2011 at 06:43 pm
He could be paying 1000s/hr for prostitutes, renting only to Koreans, and supporting Friends of Hitler.
March 16, 2011 at 03:37 pm
Ok. This is a stupid question. I know it. You'll know it as soon as you read it. But I don't know the answer, so apologies in advance.
With the union decertified, and no collective bargaining agreement in place, why are teams not negotiating individually with players for salary? Do they not want to bargain outside of a CBA? Are individual teams barred by the league from bargaining outside of a CBA?
Thanks for indulging my ignorance.
March 16, 2011 at 03:41 pm
*Standing ovation*
That is all. Great post.
March 16, 2011 at 03:43 pm
Oh, and BTW, I've never thought you were pro-owner. Frankly, I thought you were pro-player. But that's because I really only read this article by you: http://cheeseheadtv.com/blog/murphy-nfl-might-do-too-much-for-players
March 16, 2011 at 05:38 pm
That's not being pro-player or pro-owner. That's being anti-patronizing BS.
March 16, 2011 at 03:58 pm
Fantastic job, Aaron, is this your opus?
March 16, 2011 at 04:56 pm
AN pretty much summed up the entire 'sham' on one page ...... Now both sides have turned to their "PR Mode' which pretty much guarantees zero movement forward .....
Two bullies fighting in the parking lot after school ...... How can you side with either ? ...... I'm think'in a bipartisan group of influential players & owners needs to step forward & say 'enough is enough' ......
JohnRehor
March 16, 2011 at 04:58 pm
Bravo Aaron!
Take a well deserved bow.
March 16, 2011 at 05:56 pm
Fantastic post, Aaron!! Thanks!!
March 16, 2011 at 06:05 pm
Couldn't agree more. Love, LOVE this site because of posts like this.
March 16, 2011 at 06:21 pm
Nice work Aaron.
March 16, 2011 at 06:30 pm
NBA opens its books to the NBAPA. The labor lawyers you're getting talks from aren't dealing with monopolies.
PackerAaron
March 16, 2011 at 07:53 pm
"NBA opens its books to the NBAPA" - and what did the PA say? That the league must have cooked the books - pretty much proving the NFL's point.
March 16, 2011 at 08:17 pm
It's very immature to characterize comments by the NBAPA untruthfully. Is that what was said? No, the NBAPA mentioned that much of the losses are depreciation[250M of 400M]. You can open up some MLB books from Deadspin.com to get an idea of how depreciation works. Take X player salary off the books for the season and remove a depreciated amount of the same salary. When the books are opened by litigation, the fans and stubbornly pro-ownership bloggers will see how much money is made.
PackerAaron
March 16, 2011 at 08:27 pm
You say immature, I say oversimplification for the sake of expedience. The point being, the opening of the books was nowhere near the magic bullet most thought it would be. And it's funny that you can read the post above and still intimate that I am "pro-ownership"...
March 17, 2011 at 08:09 am
You ignored the new 18-game schedule the league is trying to ram down the player's throats. Skipping a fact that is decidedly pro-ownership puts you on their side.
PackerAaron
March 17, 2011 at 08:26 am
Have you even read what was in the final proposal from the owners? It specifically took 18 games off the table until at least the 2014 season. But of course, when I mischaracterized something, I was immature. Are you now the same?
And even if it hadn't, IT'S A NEGOTIATION. FOR BOTH SIDES. The 18 game season is another bargaining chip, nothing more, nothing less. As tends to happen, my being in the middle has uncovered the bias of the person attacking me. Cheers.
March 17, 2011 at 08:11 am
Neglecting the reality that books will ALL be opened in the courtroom makes you pro-ownership.
PackerAaron
March 17, 2011 at 08:22 am
Brilliant - where have I neglected that? My ONE desire is for BOTH sides to get back to the table and negotiate a deal before it ever GETS to court. That's it. I think that's pretty clear above. I could care less if the books get opened or not. It has zero effect on me or my view of the NFL.
March 16, 2011 at 06:32 pm
Standing Ovation!!!!!!!!!! No one could of said it any better.
March 16, 2011 at 07:11 pm
Well said. The only thing that each side has proven, is that they're extremely shady and that everything they say can only be only interpreting with a high degree of skepticism.
The biggest misconception about this all is people saying people will still watch nfl games. No crap, but the league is experiencing unprecedented success. Fans have varying interest and varying tolerance for meanial posturing. Simply put, people will fall off the bandwagon. Sure I don't expect them to experience a big hit in revenues, but you can't just look at it that way-- you have to consider how much more profitable the league could have become.
The longer this goes the more jaded people become hearing the same stagnant arguments. Do people really expect there to be record breaking games at various time-slots if the more casual fans decide this game isn't quite as interesting anymore.
And this is already beyond the point of being so relevant and so public that it's actually beneficial. Conflict doesn't equate to an emotional investment with fans if it becomes stagnant-- it just makes for a boring conflict.
I think both sides are really underestimating the risk they're running by hurting the goodwill/relevance they've built up with fans. They deserve any losses that come to them.
March 16, 2011 at 07:57 pm
Slow clap.
PHENOMENAL work. This is why I come to this site, Aaron.
March 16, 2011 at 08:28 pm
Aaron, there are a lot of times where I don't agree too much with an angle you take or your general disposition in commenting upon it.
This is not one of those times. Fantastic.
I'm not a labor expert, but once upon a time I took a few industrial relations and labor law classes, so I'm not completely clueless, either.
You are dead on the money, IMO, about a couple things. First of all, the demand for greater "opening of the books" is ridiculous. All the owners cook the books anyway so their ex-wives and whoever else can't skim money. You can get enough info from Forbes to do a CBA.
The players absolutely want this to go to court, and it is because of Judge Doty. I firmly believe that if he keeled over dead tomorrow (Heaven forbid), the NFLPA would sign a deal on Tuesday.
But what truly pisses me off about all this is the "PR" on both sides. Shut up, all of you. It is insulting to me. Who cares which "side" the fans are on? I'm on the side that makes sure there is football this fall. Greedy bastards, all of you.
March 17, 2011 at 05:45 am
Wonderful writing. I'm glad someone finally had the cajones to point out in such blunt terms how both sides are screwing this up.
March 17, 2011 at 06:52 am
I know exactly what could solve this conundrum.
Both parties should get together over a meal and express how the others have disappointed them in the past negotiation.
That should be followed by Roger Goodell challenging DeMaurice Smith to a wrestling match.
And instead of the NFLPA and NFL logos on the background, there should only be an aluminum pole.
March 17, 2011 at 07:30 am
Loved it Aaron. Keep the faith!
March 17, 2011 at 09:00 am
Can't reply to Aaron in the current boxes. I'm against the owners, they have been far from good for the game.
18-games, hiring Batteram(Cancelled NHL season), opting out 2 years ago, demanding 2B, walking out when player's proposed 50% of actual revenue split, talking down to Peyton Manning who runs plenty of horse farms(that's big business), barrel-raping TV networks for 4B. Not mentioning the injury information that was released by Esquire. You're trying to paint yourself as I want negotiations and leave facts out of your scroll. There's a reason you're viewed as pro-owners, you are.
PackerAaron
March 17, 2011 at 09:37 am
Love that you write I am "leaving out facts" - when doing so yourself.
Why did the owners opt out two years ago? Because they could. Do you know why? Because the provision that allowed them to do so was agreed upon BY BOTH PARTIES.
It's business. That's all it is.
March 17, 2011 at 12:06 pm
It's being pointed out that you left out important facts that show you are pro-ownership.
Oh yeah, the owners could have negotiated with good faith at any time in the last 2 years.
Who went to the NLRB first? Owners, trying to block decertification. Owners with a brain, like Pat Bowlen, are amenable to opening their books. You remove the "trade association's" PR moves by actually releasing the books. The NFLPA has a general idea of money made, now they will see ALL OF IT B/C you and your pro-ownership cronies continued to support their crap tactics.
PackerAaron
March 17, 2011 at 12:15 pm
It's being pointed out to you that I am pro-football. I am able to see both sides. You, only one.
Cheers.
March 17, 2011 at 12:25 pm
+1
March 17, 2011 at 09:12 am
Not to be overly dramatic or anything, but when I think of the 50+ workers in the Japanese nuclear plants who are truly risking their lives (maybe sacrificing is a better term) to literally help save their country (or a good part of it anyway), and they're probably making around $100K (a guess) and then I think of the NFL labor dispute and the lame ass PR war by both sides and stupid ass comments by people like Adrian Peterson, making $10 million, I get angry. Real angry.
As someone else noted above, I'm not on the players side or the owners side, I'm on the side of let's get this settled and play some football so the World Champion Green Bay Packers can begin their quest to repeat.
March 17, 2011 at 12:07 pm
It's not getting settled, it's only getting uglier. This has been building for years, BURN IT ALL DOWN!
March 17, 2011 at 12:45 pm
I like to hope that it's just the darkness before the dawn.
I like Jeremy's comment above about having the judge schedule the first hearing in 2012, but I suppose that just favors the owners if in fact the players really just wanted this to go to Judge Doty all along and had no intention of getting a deal done at the bargaining table.
And what is it with these Minnesota judges? First the Starcaps thing with the Williams brothers delays their suspension, now this guy, and of course Alan Page is on their Supreme Court. No wonder all their rulings favor the players. Lucky for us they don't have the power to overturn results on the field. They haven't tried that yet have they? "In the case of Vikings vs. Packers, we rule that Percy Harvin did in fact get both feet down in bounds and we therefore award the Vikings a touchdown and rule in favor of the plaintiff: Vikings 31 Packers 28. This therefore eliminates the Packers from the 2010 NFL Playoffs and we award the Super Bowl XL trophy to the Minnesota Vikings and declare Brett Favre as Super Bowl MVP. So certified by President Al Franken."
(Wakes up from nightmare screaming)
March 17, 2011 at 05:18 pm
"WE ARE GOING TO WAR" been there done that, lost. Boy it seems that this whole thing is turning into, or has turned into a monster.
But one thing good, at least this folks have something to write about because I am so tired of Cam Newton crap...
All this is made better by one thing..."GREEN BAY PACKERS - SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS"
Love to all....
March 17, 2011 at 08:00 pm
I really don't understand how anybody with any sense whatsoever can firmly be on one side or the other in this ordeal.
And I believe it was on Dean Vernon Wormer who once said,"Cut the horseshit, son..."
March 18, 2011 at 01:40 am
I am not worried yet.... At least madden 12 is dropping for sure.
March 18, 2011 at 01:27 pm
Agree with PackerRS that I have never been more proud of rooting for the only Publicly-Owned NFL team than now.
That said... is anyone else disappointed that Murphy is falling in with the owners rather than using his unique status in a productive way?
Unlike the other 31, the non-profit Packers should have no motivation to "come after" they players, at least to the point of locking them out. (even when they are acting like petulant whiners.)
I know standing out from the other owners would further alienate our franchise from the Joneses and Snyders of the league, but still... I wish the non-profit team could come up with some middle ground in a battle over profits.
March 18, 2011 at 06:40 pm
I'm a little concerned about the reference to FOX News. Was this a slight aimed at the Right? I thought I could expect to find zero politics here.