Posted on 12/04/2010 10:51:47 AM PST by NormsRevenge
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -- The NFL players' union has advised its members to prepare for a lockout it expects to come in March, telling players to save their last three game checks this year in case there is no season in 2011.
In a letter to the players that was seen by The Associated Press, NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith said the union had an "internal deadline" for agreeing to a new collective bargaining agreement.
"That deadline has now passed," he wrote. "It is important that you protect yourself and your family."
The letter was dated Wednesday, and copies were strewn across a table in the New England Patriots locker room during the media availability on Saturday. After a reporter asked players about the letter, a Patriots spokesman flipped the copies face-down.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
I’d like to say I would be disappointed to not see the games.. but.. Life will go on.. battered player brains will heal, kids will learn how to ride bike and fish..
and Favre will be officially retired whether he wants to be or not. ;-)
The comments on this story over at ESPN.com are frightening. The concept of private property is as completely, utterly, and totally unknown to modern Americans as are the details of the inner workings of the Amphictionic Confederacy.
I wonder how many will have to file for bankruptcy before they miss their third game check?
poor poor underpaid spoiled pampered athletes
Someone needs to start holding fundraisers for them...
Funny thing , I could really care less if the NFL went bye bye
You are going make us google that??
The law of unintended consequences.
In general, in an industry where the number of qualified workers far exceeds the number of jobs available, wages will fall. This has proven to be true for every position in America except for two: the position of CEO, and the professional athlete.
How this applies to CEOs is beyond the scope of this post, but take the plight of the NFL player. Thirty years ago, a professional athlete was drafted by a team, lived in a city, and spent most - if not all - of his professional career playing for that team and building ties in the community.
The players union thought this resulted in professional athletes being paid ‘less than market wages’ and fought hard for free agency...and they got it.
Fast forward to today, an era in which professional athletes play for a handful of teams during their career. Look at your local NFL franchise. How many names on that roster were there 3 years ago? 5 years ago? 7 years ago?
Player movement has resulted in people cheering for laundry, with less interest in - and attention paid to - the individual players on any given roster.
Enter this lockout. If the NFL moves forward with replacements, large numbers of players that communities have little connection to will be replaced by large numbers of players that communities have little connection to...but the show will go on.
This lockout will occur in a fan environment that’s very different than the last one...one borne of free agency and rapid player movement from team to team.
In the end, the NFL players association will find that salaries will move downward in their industry...just as in every industry where the supply of eligible employees far exceeds the demand for them.
If the NFL locks ‘em out many of them can fall back on their avocations — drug dealing and armed robbery — to pay for the groceries.
Is there anything the unions won’t destroy?
I truly believe that the "community disconnect" you described . . . coupled with the wholesale movement of players between teams with free agency . . . and further coupled with the influx of new NFL franchises and frequent threats of moving existing teams in the last 20 years . . . has resulted in a potential nightmare scenario for the NFL if they decide to lock the players out next season.
The nightmare scenario I'm envisioning here is that 2011 may be the best opportunity for the establishment of a rival professional sports league in my lifetime.
Hey didn’t one just say that they are the same as soldiers and shouldn’t be booed or heckled? (snicker)
No football season may be the best thing to come along in years. Now if we could just shut down TV broadcasts, Movie releases, Basketball etc for one year the country’s health may improve!
For all its many faults, I still like MLB better.
Boy, wouldn’t that be sweet?... Be able to survive for a year and a half on three weeks pay? I would feel quite privileged and deliriously happy to have a salary like that!
Me either...I love "Football" the real kind, played with the feet. AKA Soccer
Who cares? They’re pimples on the ass of time. There is an incremental takeover of the Republic that should be holding everyone’s attention.
The United Football League has been around for 2 or 3 seasons already. Not that anyone has noticed.
It’s possible, but I doubt it. A competitor to the NFL would be tremendously complicated to set up. The startup costs would be enormous.
All the NFL has to do is this:
Start two weeks before the preseason and hold large scale tryouts in every NFL city. You’ll undoubtedly get enough people trying out to staff the rosters of 2 or 3 football leagues. Take these players and whichever existing players are willing to honor their current contracts and start preseason play.
Except this year, have two preseason games.
Make the last two preseason games this year regular season games and use this opportunity to permanently expand to an 18 game season.
Strike hard, and strike while the iron is hot.
3 weeks into the regular season everything will be forgotten.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.