Triumph

I must agree that they will still be fighting this thing out in June. NFL is right back where it started before lockout began - Don Banks - SI.com

PatsWickedPissah

"has there been a worse 30 days to be a pro football fan, with all the non-stop spin, lawyer-issued legalese and mind-numbing rhetoric that this spectacularly ill-timed squabble between the league and its players has subjected us to? The Norris-LaGuardia Act? Really? Is that why we follow the NFL?"

A resounding NO from this fan.

Sorry to the handful here who enjoy hurling the same legal arguments at each other 100 times. Groundhog Day style.

__________________
Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.
This is known as "bad luck." RAH

PatsWickedPissah

"Nelson could have ordered the league and the players back to the negotiating table, but instead urged them to return to talks while she decides whether to issue an injunction. That's a request sure to fall on deaf ears. The NFL has made it clear it has no interest in talking about settlement of the antitrust lawsuit the players filed, because it doesn't want to repeat history and forge a collective bargaining agreement out of a settlement negotiation, most likely giving the federal courts supervision over the CBA (see Doty, Judge David, 1993). The NFL wants a CBA crafted between it and its players in federal mediation, but free of the courts, like every other professional sports league."

Just great. Now I've flip-flopped back to pessimism again.

__________________
Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.
This is known as "bad luck." RAH

patfanken

Well WPW, that's pretty much the crux of the matter. Its not ab out the game itself its all about WHERE the game is being played.

The solution UNFORTUNATELY is exactly what Bob Kraft and Mike Vrabel stated weeks ago. Get rid of all the lawyers and let the players and owners work it out face to face. Why I said, UNFORTUNATELY is that the players are being led by LAWYERS. That is the turf that they are used to and comfortable in. That is the turf which they have had success in the past (the Reggie White case).

I have no doubt that right from the begining THIS was the player's strategy. They want a court mandated solution, which they think will be better than anything they could get from head to head negotiations.

I have been on the owners side on this, especially since they made some VERY major concessions on the last day of negotiatioins. Dropping the 18 game schedule, allowing independant 3rd party arbitration on drug tests, and offering lifetime health insurance to vested players after they leave the game were all HUGE wins for the players. I think (again unfortunately) their leadership failed to see it because they had an agenda that didn't include honest negotiations.

There may have been still differences on the money, but Friday's offer certainly should have been enough concessions from the owners to continue talking. I don't blame the owners now if they decide to play hard ball, because that is what the union* has been doing from the beginiing,

NEGoldenAge

Those "concessions" were more than countered by the method with which revenue would be calculated in that offer. The NFLs last offer was an insult, and when called out on it, they claimed it was a "starting point"...... at noon of the final day of extended negotiations. Hook, line and sinker.

Rob0729

According to Adam Schefter, Judge Nelson has ordered the two sides back into mediation. So she could have done it and HAS DONE IT. Already, Banks' article is outdated.

SanAngeloState

I'm getting to the point where I'd prefer it if football was never played again.

Triumph

Banks penned the article last week.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports Judge Susan Richard Nelson told the NFL and NFLPA that she will impose forced mediation on them early this week, sources familiar with the situation said.

Sources: Judge to impose NFL, union mediation

JoeSixPat

Up til now it's just been posturing, PR, and general spin by both sides and most of us have played right along with it.

Eventually they'll have to put that aside and actually talk. It's just a question of how much its going to affect the season at this point.

If either side plays hardball this will go well into the season as the owners can opt to play the card of "starving out" the players should it go that far - a tactic that's been mentioned since the start of this drama.

I think the courts need to take a very active role in holding both sides feet to the fire in mediation - there's tons of other jobs aside from the players and organizations involved here as well.

If not for the fact that the Congress and White House can't seem to work an agreement, I'd advise increased legislative and executive branch scrutiny of the NFL as another potential stick to induce an agreement.

"Just get it done" should be the mantra of all fans at this stage. Screw blaming one side or another. Stop encouraging them.

Let's play some football.