The NFL CBA Debate - My take
It is pretty much what Aaron Nagler and Mike Florio have been writing - both sides need to stop acting like damn fools or babies (pick one), get back to mediation and settle this thing.
The owners messed this up by putting Jerry Jones into any position where he could damage the tenor of the negotiations - they should have sent him off on an all expense paid visit to a miniature giraffe farm in central Africa. And they should not have decided to treat these negotiations by waiting until the 11th hour to put together their real proposal. Not to mention the other shady things the owners have said or done over the past 3 years. Really, if they take the approach of highlighting the highs and lows of their last offer, I really think reasonableness is going to prevail.
The players needed to have cooler heads about the owners bizarre behavior and actually reviewed the NFL last proposal and countered-it. Instead they became upset about being "disrespected" by the behavior and had a predictable childish response - took their ball and "decertified". Then they tried to damage the draft - for no other reason than to disrespect the shield. As for what they want - well, they pretty much got everything in the last proposal, in exchange for a decrease in compensation and rate of escalation. Of course there a few wiggle points, but that is what additional negotiation would resolve. However, they got on their high horse and have kind of painted themselves into a corner about demanding access to 10 years of audited financial records for all 32 teams - of which they have no right and will undoubtedly use it to embarrass the owners. Don't know how they can avoid looking like they lost after making such ludicrous absolute requirement. Really, the players need to realize that the concessions for pensions, health care benefits for life, etc. - not to mention the ongoing worldwide financial crisis - all cost money. And that owners actually listened to their concerns about mandatory reinvestment, by inserting stricter floor standards for salary caps and expenses.
Finally, as I pointed out via twitter, our alleged 4th branch - journalists - needs to stop carrying water when it comes to covering these negotiations. I have read too many articles, blog entries, tweets, and seen too many segments that were obviously done to curry favor with the NFLPA or the owners. It is disgusting. Journalists need to realize that this is the 21st century and anything you say or write can be quickly fact-checked by a self-employed business consultant with time on his hands.
But really, Aaron Nagler drives the point home with this close:
The owners messed this up by putting Jerry Jones into any position where he could damage the tenor of the negotiations - they should have sent him off on an all expense paid visit to a miniature giraffe farm in central Africa. And they should not have decided to treat these negotiations by waiting until the 11th hour to put together their real proposal. Not to mention the other shady things the owners have said or done over the past 3 years. Really, if they take the approach of highlighting the highs and lows of their last offer, I really think reasonableness is going to prevail.
The players needed to have cooler heads about the owners bizarre behavior and actually reviewed the NFL last proposal and countered-it. Instead they became upset about being "disrespected" by the behavior and had a predictable childish response - took their ball and "decertified". Then they tried to damage the draft - for no other reason than to disrespect the shield. As for what they want - well, they pretty much got everything in the last proposal, in exchange for a decrease in compensation and rate of escalation. Of course there a few wiggle points, but that is what additional negotiation would resolve. However, they got on their high horse and have kind of painted themselves into a corner about demanding access to 10 years of audited financial records for all 32 teams - of which they have no right and will undoubtedly use it to embarrass the owners. Don't know how they can avoid looking like they lost after making such ludicrous absolute requirement. Really, the players need to realize that the concessions for pensions, health care benefits for life, etc. - not to mention the ongoing worldwide financial crisis - all cost money. And that owners actually listened to their concerns about mandatory reinvestment, by inserting stricter floor standards for salary caps and expenses.
Finally, as I pointed out via twitter, our alleged 4th branch - journalists - needs to stop carrying water when it comes to covering these negotiations. I have read too many articles, blog entries, tweets, and seen too many segments that were obviously done to curry favor with the NFLPA or the owners. It is disgusting. Journalists need to realize that this is the 21st century and anything you say or write can be quickly fact-checked by a self-employed business consultant with time on his hands.
But really, Aaron Nagler drives the point home with this close:
Because seriously - this, this and this is happening everywhere else in the world. Do you really want to be the people who screwed up the greatest professional sports league in the history of our nation with THAT as a backdrop? Really? Because that's how history will judge you. That's how you'll be remembered - that at the height of it all, and with the world in chaos and turmoil all around you, with Americans longing for escape in the one place they thought they could get away from it all - you found it more important to act like spoiled f-ing children than to talk to each other like adults.
Shame on you.
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