* * * * The National Football League - 2011 * * * *

DURP

Oh well a lockout is what this league needs teach everyone a lessons that the fans are really the ones who make the league go round.

The Juggler

metsfan wrote:

The Juggler wrote:

Cliffy6745 wrote:

I love this. Would love for the NFL to take a big kick in the nuts.

why?

:?

agreed

this hurts the nfl at a time where it's the most popular sport here in america. look at how many teams now have season ticket holder not renewing cause of this and all the free agents that can do jack shit. people are gonna say fuck it and put their money to better use. i still think we will have football this season. i can see it starting in october or worse comes to worse november.

now way. absolute worst we lose a game or two.

the players will cave once summer time hits and they begin not receiving their paychecks. their salaries are not guaranteed and their careers are too short. they have way too much to lose.

The Juggler

Sila wrote:

Oh well a lockout is what this league needs teach everyone a lessons that the fans are really the ones who make the league go round.

i don't think they give a shit about us......i say that just a few days after the eagles gladly took my money for the first half of my 2011 season tickets. :roll: :x :x

JV130312

LOL @ people blaming the players...

You do realize it's a lockout and not a strike...right?

You think the players should give up a billion dollars to the owners and not expect the owners to prove that they are losing money? The players haven't asked for a red cent...

81

Sila wrote:

Oh well a lockout is what this league needs teach everyone a lessons that the fans are really the ones who make the league go round.

they don't give two shits about the fans. yeah, we spend money on shit, but the big bucks come from NBC, CBS, ESPN/ABC

we are but pawns at best

MFCarissa

I'm a hockey fan first, but I enjoy watching the NFL. I can live with a lock out though, and I definitely side with the players.

When the NHL locked out, it was because a lot of owners really were losing money. The NHL makes most of its money off people actually going to games. The NFL is a gravy train. The TV deals are enormous. They probably don't even need gate receipts to function, but they charge you up the ass for tickets anyway. And if you would rather watch at home on your big screen HD TV with beers that cost less than $8, too bad. The NFL will black out your game if seats go unsold. It's ridiculous.

Contracts aren't guaranteed, the average career is something like 3 years, and there are tons of health risks. Outside of a select group of star players and first round draft picks who can fill a swimming pool with hundred dollar bills, most players make a very modest salary compared to professional athletes in other big leagues.

mickeyrat

MINNEAPOLIS -- Star quarterbacks Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees were among 10 players who sued the NFL in federal court Friday, accusing the league of conspiracy and anticompetitive practices that date back years.

Their lawsuit asked the court to prevent a lockout.

Less than two hours after the players' union decertified, clearing the way for antitrust lawsuits, the players filed their 52-page claim and supporting documents in U.S. District Court. They asked the court for class-action status.

They filed a request for an injunction that would keep the NFL and the teams from engaging in a lockout. Invoking the Sherman Act, a federal antitrust statute from 1890 that limits monopolies and restrictions on commerce, the players said they were entitled to triple the amount of any damages they've incurred.

Which means the stakes could be in the hundreds of millions.

The players accused the 32 NFL teams of conspiring to deny their ability to market their services "through a patently unlawful group boycott and price-fixing arrangement or, in the alternative, a unilaterally imposed set of anticompetitive restrictions on player movement, free agency and competitive market freedom."

The collective bargaining agreement with the league was expiring Friday.

The NFL did not immediately file a response. Commissioner Roger Goodell called on the union to re-open negotiations.

A hearing date hasn't been set.

The legal wrangling took place in a federal courthouse in Minnesota, hundreds of miles from the mediated negotiations in Washington. It's the setting for what could be a long legal fight between owners and players with the 2011 season in jeopardy.

The names on the complaint were striking: Brady, Brees, Manning and a few others, listed in a block of text at the top of the first page. They're plaintiffs, for now, not simply players.

They allege that the NFL conspired to deny the players' ability to market their services in what is a $9 billion business. They spelled out what they called a long history of NFL antitrust violations, citing as constraints the potential lockout, rookie salary limitations and the franchise and transition player designations. Teams use those designations to keep key free agents off the open market, but the players also are well compensated when they sign new contracts.

Tom Condon, who represents Manning and Brees, wrote in a statement submitted to the court that a "'lockout' imposed by the NFL threatens to rob Mr. Brees and Mr. Manning, and all other NFL players, of an entire year, or more, of their brief playing careers, which cannot be recaptured."

"This is especially problematic because of the virtually constant need for NFL players to prove their skill and value on the playing field," wrote Condon, one of more than a half-dozen agents who offered statements supporting their clients. "Missing a year or more of playing in the NFL can cause the skills of NFL players to become rusty from lack of competition, making it difficult for them to regain the full talents they exhibited prior to the absence from play. This could shorten or even end the careers of NFL players."

The players also said - lockout or not - if teams "fail to pay any such required payments to any player, that player's contract shall, at the player's option, be declared null and void."

That's a potentially explosive claim: Players would have the right to get out of their contracts if they don't get a paycheck, even if a settlement is reached.

The NFLPA's general counsel, Richard Berthelsen, said a lockout would cause "irreparable injury" to NFL players even if it's only a few games or simply offseason activities that are wiped out.

"If young players are forced to forego an entire season, they will miss out on a year of the experience and exposure that comes from playing against NFL-level competition and receiving NFL-level coaching, both of which are a must for young players," Berthelsen wrote.

The players want their case in front of U.S. District Judge David Doty, who has overseen NFL labor matters since the early 1990s and has several times ruled in favor of the players.

The case was assigned to U.S. District judge Patrick Schiltz, though it still could end up in front of Doty. The court has designated it as a related case to the Reggie White-led class-action suit that Doty guided toward a 1993 settlement, opening the doors to free agency.

The league has tried in the past to remove Doty from the case, alleging bias toward the players.

Doty issued a ruling last week that backed the NFLPA in a dispute over $4 billion in TV revenue that players argue was illegally collected by the owners as a war chest to survive a work stoppage.

Also involved in bringing the lawsuit: San Diego receiver Vincent Jackson, Minnesota linebacker Ben Leber and defensive end Brian Robison, New England guard Logan Mankins, New York Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora, Kansas City linebacker Mike Vrabel, and Texas A&M linebacker Von Miller, who is entered in this year's draft.

"The torch has been passed to a young Aggie who has decided to put his name on a lawsuit," NFLPA chief DeMaurice Smith said.

Manning, Jackson, Leber and Mankins are free agents. The Colts tagged Manning as a franchise player, while the Chargers did the same with Jackson and the Patriots with Mankins. The union is disputing the validity of those tags.

The Fixer

what a mess this is. roger goodell is going to go down as the worst commissioner of all time...in any sport. he has ruined the NFL.

Personally I'm sick of hearing about this. LIke cliffy said, the only reason the NFL is good for is for the gambling. The on-field product gets worse every year

The Juggler

The Fixer wrote:

what a mess this is. roger goodell is going to go down as the worst commissioner of all time...in any sport. he has ruined the NFL.

come on. until he presides over the cancellation of the super bowl and gives incredibly unnecessary weight to winning a glorified exhibition game that both teams could care less about....i think bug selig's got him beat by the longest of shots.

edit--gary bettman is pretty horrendous too, if hockey counts in this.

The Fixer

The Juggler wrote:

The Fixer wrote:

what a mess this is. roger goodell is going to go down as the worst commissioner of all time...in any sport. he has ruined the NFL.

come on. until he presides over the cancellation of the super bowl and gives incredibly unnecessary weight to winning a glorified exhibition game that both teams could care less about....i think bug selig's got him beat by the longest of shots.

edit--gary bettman is pretty horrendous too, if hockey counts in this.

Bettman and Selig never ruined the on-field (ice) product of their league. Goodell has. And the draft.

the NFL just moved kickoffs from the 30 to the 35. so fucking gay. god forbid football players run into each other coving kicks.

5 more years of shitty rule changes and soccer is going to be more physical than the NFL. Awful

Wobbie

I'm aware trey wingo and merrill hoge need paychecks.....but with the lockout, do we really need NFL Live every day? :wtf:

Newch91

imalive wrote:

I'm aware trey wingo and merrill hoge need paychecks.....but with the lockout, do we really need NFL Live every day? :wtf:

I hope not. I don't understand why that show is on every day, even in the summer. Just be like Baseball Tonight and whatever NBA-related show is on and retire during the offseason.

dCowboyPJ

i'm not going to let this bother me until july/august. i don't think a deal will get done until around that time anyways when shit gets real.

if we are hitting the last week of august and no deal is in sight i will start losing my mind.

81

dCowboyPJ wrote:

i'm not going to let this bother me until july/august. i don't think a deal will get done until around that time anyways when shit gets real.

if we are hitting the last week of august and no deal is in sight i will start losing my mind.

this year, next year....doesn't really matter in dallas since they aren't a contender

dCowboyPJ

Bubbles wrote:

dCowboyPJ wrote:

i'm not going to let this bother me until july/august. i don't think a deal will get done until around that time anyways when shit gets real.

if we are hitting the last week of august and no deal is in sight i will start losing my mind.

this year, next year....doesn't really matter in dallas since they aren't a contender

we will see about that.


:?

81

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=A ... yle_031711


nice article

The Fixer

Can't wait to see what Goodell gives Talib. I'm guessing he suspends him for a pre-season game.

Gotta love the shit the NFL gets away with

The Juggler

i think the bottom line here is as long as the nfl loses it's appeal, which we should know in the coming days, the lockout will be lifted and football will resume while they continue to negotiate a deal.

hopefully this shit gets straightened out ASAP so my birds can deal the kolber on draft day

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... ut-ruling/

The Fixer

The Juggler wrote:

i think the bottom line here is as long as the nfl loses it's appeal, which we should know in the coming days, the lockout will be lifted and football will resume while they continue to negotiate a deal.

hopefully this shit gets straightened out ASAP so my birds can deal the kolber on draft day

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... ut-ruling/

I was thinking about this. Isn't lifting the lockout a bad thing? Now the players will get paid, which gives them less motivation to negotiate a deal. If they weren't getting paid they would have caved in a week or so.

I just want this to end. I'm sick of hearing about it.

The Juggler

The Fixer wrote:

The Juggler wrote:

i think the bottom line here is as long as the nfl loses it's appeal, which we should know in the coming days, the lockout will be lifted and football will resume while they continue to negotiate a deal.

hopefully this shit gets straightened out ASAP so my birds can deal the kolber on draft day

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... ut-ruling/

I was thinking about this. Isn't lifting the lockout a bad thing? Now the players will get paid, which gives them less motivation to negotiate a deal. If they weren't getting paid they would have caved in a week or so.

I just want this to end. I'm sick of hearing about it.

yeah, but if the lockout is lifted, they will be forced to negotiate without having a work stoppage.