Ongoing CBA discussions

As always, first-class stuff from Andrew Brandt:

Welcome to Courtroom Football | National Football Post (http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Welcome-to-Courtroom-Football.html)

Do you remember the scab games from '87? They were pretty bad. Watching Joe the truck driver playing QB is no fun.

Trust me, whether you realize it or not, you watch the NFL because it offers the best talent and therefore the highest level of competition. Talent does matter.

Precisely. This is why I am more rabid for the NFL than I am for the college game.

As always, first-class stuff from Andrew Brandt:

Welcome to Courtroom Football | National Football Post (http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Welcome-to-Courtroom-Football.html)

This says it all:
"Negotiations are business, but these became personal."

I run into this crap everyday at work. People need to understand business is not personal. Everyone is trying to get a bigger piece of the pie, because they are greedy -- not because they hate you.

Do you remember the scab games from '87? They were pretty bad. Watching Joe the truck driver playing QB is no fun.

Trust me, whether you realize it or not, you watch the NFL because it offers the best talent and therefore the highest level of competition. Talent does matter.

Yeah but it was pretty fun watching our scabs beat The Dallas Cowboys' starters.

Do you remember the scab games from '87? They were pretty bad. Watching Joe the truck driver playing QB is no fun.

Trust me, whether you realize it or not, you watch the NFL because it offers the best talent and therefore the highest level of competition. Talent does matter.

Actually, watching our truck drivers beat the Cowboys' normal stars was great. :D

D0ZVIgJSgoM

Ed Rubbert at QB, led the NFL in passing in weeks 3 and 4!

Action starts at about 9:30 when our guys strip Tony Dorsett of the ball. :goodjob:

#16 Rubbert...idea for a custom jersey!

http://img860.imageshack.us/img860/6235/skins.jpg

beat
http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/4871/dallasqt.jpg
Box score:
Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys - October 19th, 1987 - Pro-Football-Reference.com (http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/198710190dal.htm)

I find the notion that only the owners are taking financial risk laughable. The mere fact that players get on the field means they take both financial and physical risks. Plus with the way the NFL collective bargaining is structured the owners probably don't want to lessen the financial risk players take by guaranteeing their entire salary and lessen the restriction on their movements.

The only issue the owners should be concerned about and want to see changed is the rookie contract structure...everything else is perfectly reasonable the way it is.

Can anyone give a GOOD answer to this. What is the difference between a players' association and a players' union? The association is now advising players to stay away from the draft. Since the NFL argues the de-certification is a sham. I am curious what specific actions the NFLPA could take that would constitute acting as a union? And, what allowances are there when comparing a Union's actions to a Trade Associations with regards to common law practices.

Sources: NFLPA tells players to boycott draft - ESPN (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft2011/news/story?id=6216135)

How can a non-union order non-union members (which rookies aren't until after they are drafted, even in a CBA environment) not to attend a specific event. And why would you ruin these players first moment in the sun -so to say...

No rookies on stage?
The players union wants them to turn down their first chance to be in the limelight?
That's just stupid.
Damn, this is a bitter struggle.............

I find the notion that only the owners are taking financial risk laughable. The mere fact that players get on the field means they take both financial and physical risks. Plus with the way the NFL collective bargaining is structured the owners probably don't want to lessen the financial risk players take by guaranteeing their entire salary and lessen the restriction on their movements.

The only issue the owners should be concerned about and want to see changed is the rookie contract structure...everything else is perfectly reasonable the way it is.

your entire post is whats laughable. the owners pay the players millions of dollars, YEARS IN ADVANCE, for work not yet performed. The owners also get billion dollar loans to pay for stadiums, hoping fans will come in and pay to see the team play. the owners take on enormous financial risk.

Just so everyone gets a sense of time scale here, the NFLPA's request for an injunction against a lockout will not be heard by District Court until 6 April.

Allowing for various motions to come forth before then and just after whatever ruling is handed down, count on an appeal of any ruling that comes down. The chances that appeal will be heard before May 1 are only 50/50.

AND, the injunction request is only one of a bunch of legal skirmishes that will be on tap in the next few months - - as long as there are no serious negotiations going on.

No matter which side you think is right or wrong here, both sides are on a course to keep this away from anything resembling a settlement enviornment until at least the summer (June 21st) and probably until mid-July...