Possible movement in negotiations?

[BlueThunder]

Most likely but I would rather see them do what they need to and reschedule it so they can play a full season than lose the games.

Eliminating the bye week would be one way...shorten the preseason by a game or two also.....extend the season by one week...even eliminate the long wait between the last playoff game and the SB.......VOILA ...4 extra games squeezed into the regular season.....and it could probably end on time.

 

[TruthSeeker]

It's just the opposite for me, i wouldn't consider a SB win in an 8 game season meaningful in any way. They would have to play at least 14 for me to consider it a real season.

The main purpose of the regular season (other than to enjoy watching football and making money) is to qualify for the post season and get a good seed. Based on this, if they have a full post-season with only 1 of the 32 teams winning the championship, why would that not fully count?

If we can celebrate the 6th seed New York Giants as Super Bowl champions (OK, bad example), what real difference does it make if the post-season qualifier was shortened in terms of recognizing a champion? Admittedly, the loss of a number of games would be sad in that we typically have football to enjoy 21 weeks or so every year and that might be cut be considerably. But in terms of having a true champion? Not really an issue in my mind.

 

[townes]

The main purpose of the regular season (other than to enjoy watching football and making money) is to qualify for the post season and get a good seed. Based on this, if they have a full post-season with only 1 of the 32 teams winning the championship, why would that not fully count?

If we can celebrate the 6th seed New York Giants as Super Bowl champions (OK, bad example), what real difference does it make if the post-season qualifier was shortened in terms of recognizing a champion? Admittedly, the loss of a number of games would be sad in that we typically have football to enjoy 21 weeks or so every year and that might be cut be considerably. But in terms of having a true champion? Not really an issue in my mind.

Everyone is going to make their own determination as to what does or doesn't constitute a real season but for me nothing short of a fourteen game regular season would do it. The best teams are constructed to deal with the attrition of a full season and don't just survive it but are usually peaking when the play-off's roll around and that ultimately is what makes them the champions. Many teams have early season runs only to flame out over the course of the full season and it's the best teams that prevail over a full season. If they play at least 14 I'll view it as essentially a full season with a true champion, anything less and I won't and my interest will be seriously diminished. Hopefully they get the deal done and we get a real season.

 

[townes]

I'm optimistic if for no other reason than they must realize that giving false hope is the absolute worst thing they can do in this situation, and because the first cracks in ownership showed when J. Jones said he didn't build a billion dollar stadium for it to sit idle, which indicates to me that the owners are starting to recognize how much they will lose upfront if the season doesn't start on time. Movement is required on both sides to get this done so the more each side realizes the peril they are in the better. They have indicated they are getting closer and nothing would infuriate fans more than the idea that one side or the other is hanging up the deal over the smaller stuff.

My other reason for optimism is that i don't see any way that the owners would be indicating serious movement if the players were looking to change the basic structure of the game, as eliminating it would be a dealbreaker, so i think they are talking about numbers and percentages within established parameters that maintain the structure of the game as it is and not a game without it.