When is your tipping point coming?

[JoeSixPat]

I'm not sure NE has a competitive advantage. They have a lot of youngsters looking to make leaps (Cunningham, Nink, Spikes, Fletcher, Chung, Gronk, Hernandez, etc) whose development is going to be stunted somewhat. This issue is particularly troubling on defense, where NE teams are notoriously slow starting even in the good ol' days.

I look at a team like Indy, whose style is a whole lot more simplistic as having the competitive advantage.

Yup - all that hurts. Which is why I passed my tipping point long ago.

Most of the talking heads assert that established teams with most starters set like the Patriots have a general advantage over teams that are completely rebuilding

While they're generally right I don't think anyone is ranking individual teams at this point. No doubt other teams with simpler schemes are better positioned.

Bill's complex D doesn't help matters either - and in fact he's already said he's going to be forced to simplify - so we don't even truly get "Patriots" football this season as it stands.

Frankly I'm a bit surprised this poll isn't illustrating more outrage. While I'll be even more outraged if actual games are missed, knowing that this season is going to see rookies and free agents tend to be pushed to a back seat and learn on the job, with a dumbed down offense and defense that might be much more sloppy than usual isn't anything to be excited about... and all of that's the likely reality even if they reached an agreement soon - which I doubt they will.

 

[BradfordPatsFan]

On or around July 16th I will lose it. That is when I get back from my vacation and we would be on the doorstep of training camp.

No free agency in March and April allowed me to focus on the draft and UConn's run to the national championship. I can get through this time of year because OTA's are wrapping up and we'd be heading into the quiet period anyway. The Bruins are helping this too. Then, once mid-June rolls around, NFL-N has nothing new, Sirius has little content worth listening to, and even the Sunday notes columns that I look forward to every week begin to go away as writers take their last vacations before camp. About a 2 month dead period overtakes the football world. Then we get hit with camp and while it can be tedious, it gives us something to watch, read about, discuss, listen to, etc. And it is fresh, it all starts over and just in time, too.

If we get to mid-late July and there is no resolution in sight, I will begin to lose it. The start of training camp usually is the oasis that saves me in the barren summer sportscape. If that is not there, I could go all Haynesworth on somebody.

 

[Frezo]

If that is not there, I could go all Haynesworth on somebody.

You mean you're going to lie down on their lawn?

 

[supafly]

On or around July 16th I will lose it. That is when I get back from my vacation and we would be on the doorstep of training camp.

No free agency in March and April allowed me to focus on the draft and UConn's run to the national championship. I can get through this time of year because OTA's are wrapping up and we'd be heading into the quiet period anyway. The Bruins are helping this too. Then, once mid-June rolls around, NFL-N has nothing new, Sirius has little content worth listening to, and even the Sunday notes columns that I look forward to every week begin to go away as writers take their last vacations before camp. About a 2 month dead period overtakes the football world. Then we get hit with camp and while it can be tedious, it gives us something to watch, read about, discuss, listen to, etc. And it is fresh, it all starts over and just in time, too.

If we get to mid-late July and there is no resolution in sight, I will begin to lose it. The start of training camp usually is the oasis that saves me in the barren summer sportscape. If that is not there, I could go all Haynesworth on somebody.

Yep, I agree--this is about the time for me too.

 

[TealSox]

NONE OF THE ABOVE.

My tipping point with be a week before my fantasy football league's live draft party. The league is going on it's fifth year and if there is still a question of the season being missed a week before the draft, the party will be lacking.

 

[jcdavey]

i'm still in favor of losing the entire season , as long as they finally pound out an agreement where we don't have to go through this again in another 5-10 years

ie, if they need to break it more, to finally fix it, go for it.

 

[patsfan-1982]

i'm still in favor of losing the entire season , as long as they finally pound out an agreement where we don't have to go through this again in another 5-10 years

ie, if they need to break it more, to finally fix it, go for it.

i think as long as the game keeps geting bigger they will always go through this every 5 years or so

 

[TheSolderKing]

if Training Camp is delayed and moved back I will LOSE it!!!

 

[JoeSixPat]

NONE OF THE ABOVE.

My tipping point with be a week before my fantasy football league's live draft party. The league is going on it's fifth year and if there is still a question of the season being missed a week before the draft, the party will be lacking.

I don't bother with Fantasy Football but my friends who do are very pissed about the situation as rookies and eventual free agents won't have the same impact they normally would even if they reached a new agreement today. That means a mad scramble for the quality veterans on each team effectively limiting the pool of major contributors this year.

Again I don't think the average fan realizes what an impact the lockout has already had to the quality of the game but should the season ever start I think it will be apparent.

 

[supafly]

i think as long as the game keeps geting bigger they will always go through this every 5 years or so

I agree one hundred percent. As long as there is more money to be made, someone will always want it split differently. There's also the issue of the 18 game schedule possibility, and other 'terrific' Roger Goodell ideas that will likely piss off the players.

We'll be right back here in 5-10 yrs, no doubt about that. Especially with Gene Upshaw long out of the picture, and DeMaurice Smith at the helm too. Long gone are the cooler heads of Rozelle and Tagliabue, who seemed to do okay with Upshaw when paired up. I realize and remember the labor issues of the late 80's, but I don't know if I'd tend to blame any one side or person. The tandem of Goodell and DeMaurice Smith makes me cringe when thinking about it.

When DeMaurice Smith continues to use words such as 'combat, WIN, cartel, victory, worse sports deal in pro sports history' etc//etc//etc, it seems as though he is really trying to go for the gusto and make a name for himself.

Imagine if you sat down with your wife, girlfriend, loved one every single time that you had an argument and you both had the ideas of 'winning, combat, victory' etc in your head??? How the hell would anything ever be accomplished or worked out? It'd be absolutely impossible, as it's more than obvious that when 2 sides disagree and have different ideas, they need to sit down and try to see each others' points of view + meet them halfway in the middle somewhere. That's exactly the definition of 'compromise,' and that is NOT going to get done anytime soon as long as DeMaurice Smith is at the helm. Our only real hope to getting this solved is through the courts, and as soon as one side has the proverbial 'upper-hand' (likely somewhere on or before the beginning-mid July) the other side will HAVE TO give in somewhat...

 

[The Boston Patriot]

None of the above. It is what it is (to quote our coach). Guess what? This
will get resolved, as all things will. A good outcome will take time as the
owners cannot continue to operate as they have and the players are not
going to give up their great deal easily. I honestly feel that the season will
be lost as the entrenched positions are not easily altered. The sad part is
that the collateral damage will be huge in terms of football personnel and
careers, not to mention the ancillary worker force. Anyone know when
the Curling training camps start?

 

[Darrone]

My tipping point was they day they locked the doors. I mean, the absolute gall of the owners to stand on a soap box, and preach about how great football is, how great their cooperation has been, and how GREAT the CBA has been for the NFL, how their are more viewers, and higher attendance, and bigger ticket prices than ever before, and then to turnaround and LOCK the doors. To say, that despite all this money flowing their way, that they are too poor to continue to play football. That they are so badly hemoraging money that they need to LOCK the doors and prevent players from showing up. That they need to put clauses in their TV contracts to make sure they still get paid when they do so.

The one thing that AMAZES me about this whole situation is the lack of outrage of the fans and media. I see a little bit from the hardcore fans at the draft, many of whom probably represent the people here. But really, why are people talking about how both parties need to work out a reasonable solution? A reasonable solution was the CBA.

I stand here, a patriots fan for life. But at the end of the day, I care far more about the players on the field than the men in the box. The suits that shoot money into their veins like a drug. The guys who are so addicted to greed, they locked their businesses up, they told their employees they weren't getting paid, they ignored the locals who paid for the stadium in taxes, and they held a nation of fans hostage to go from 24% profit to 26%.