Schefter: CBA Meeting for Today Canceled, JR Rubbing People Wrong Way

[Proudiddy]

The owners walking out makes me think that as a whole, they are full of poo

Same here. Again, they won't show proof that they are "losing" anything. Most likely because they aren't.

I don't know if ESPN has it on their site, but the little piece they did on the CBA on sportscenter the other day really painted the owners in a light I hadn't saw them in before, even feeling that they were being unfair and asking too much... The piece said the only team that has opened their books were the Packers because they are essentially owned by the town, and showed no losses IIRC. And if I also remember correctly, they are the smallest market in the NFL. Go figure...

I hate the owners right now.

[countryboi]

aint the green bay books open to the public? why dont the NFLPA use that to get an idea of how the rest of the league is doing?

[Proudiddy]

aint the green bay books open to the public? why dont the NFLPA use that to get an idea of how the rest of the league is doing?

See my post above.

[Mr. Scot]

aint the green bay books open to the public? why dont the NFLPA use that to get an idea of how the rest of the league is doing?

The league response would likely be that Green Bay is a unique situation.

No other team is so closely tied to its fanbase and so they cannot be used as a correct representation of how things work across the league.

Not saying that's valid, mind you. It may or may not be. Just pointing out what they'd likely say.

[DaCityKats]

so instead of throwing out a counter deal, they call the meeting off...please tell me what will that solve?

[countryboi]

See my post above.

yea i saw that piece they use green bay as a blue print for the rest of the league....and didnt really paint either side in a particularly good light

[HSCBandit07]

Green Bay is the smallest market in the NFL? Says who?

[Mr. Scot]

I really think the owners are collectively cutting off their nose to spite their face at this point.

They want a CBA that's more favorable to them because they feel like they're losing money. That's a notion I can understand. The problem is that the way they're going about it risks doing damage to their untimate goal.

The league has never been more popular than it is right now. A big part of that is that they've had labor peace for a long time. Baseball was once at the height of its popularity too, but labor strife took pretty much all the wind out of their sails.

You want a bigger piece of the pie? Fine, but there's a very good chance that what you're doing will shrink that pie, perhaps significantly. So if you get your "bigger piece" but it's from a smaller pie, what did you really accomplish?

[Proudiddy]

yea i saw that piece they use green bay as a blue print for the rest of the league....and didnt really paint either side in a particularly good light

Yeah, but I got the impression that the owners are lying. Both sides are scratching and scraping, but the owners are being dishonest and aren't being very transparent in their pursuit of what they want.

[theyhateme45]

This is only my opinion, but I do not believe JR will be a reason the new deal gets done. I read an Article a while back that talked about what the NFL is now missing are the owners who had good relationships with the NFLPA and who pushed the others to work with the players to get a deal done… I think they mentioned Mara and a few others. You need the guys who can negotiate in good faith with the players to get a deal done. I don’t think JR is this kind of owner…. I think he is more of a, this is what it is and until you’re ready to start talking along these lines there is nothing to discuss. And I think there are a lot more Owners like JR than there are owners ready to LISTEN to the players so they can try to negotiate. Until the players start talking something better I think JR will be “Hard headed” and not even listen. I think that style of Hard core negotiations work great in some situations… I just don’t think it’s best for this current one.

That’s just the opinion I get on JR from listening to him, and reading what has been written and said for awhile.

[Mr. Scot]

This is only my opinion, but I do not believe JR will be a reason the new deal gets done. I read an Article a while back that talked about what the NFL is now missing are the owners who had good relationships with the NFLPA and who pushed the others to work with the players to get a deal done… I think they mentioned Mara and a few others. You need the guys who can negotiate in good faith with the players to get a deal done. I don’t think JR is this kind of owner…. I think he is more of a, this is what it is and until you’re ready to start talking along these lines there is nothing to discuss. And I think there are a lot more Owners like JR than there are owners ready to LISTEN to the players so they can try to negotiate. Until the players start talking something better I think JR will be “Hard headed” and not even listen. I think that style of Hard core negotiations work great in some situations… I just don’t think it’s best for this current one.

That’s just the opinion I get on JR from listening to him, and reading what has been written and said for awhile.

I'd agree with that, but I think it's true of leadership on both sides.

Kevin Mawae and DeMaurice Smith are a far cry from Gene Upshaw.

[theyhateme45]

I'd agree with that, but I think it's true of leadership on both sides.

Kevin Mawae and DeMaurice Smith are a far cry from Gene Upshaw.

I do agree!.... I was just speaking on JR in that rant.

While I also believe that JR's approach is the best for getting the owners a more favorable deal, I don't think it's best for the NFL, fans a preventing a lockout.

At the end of the day the NFL owners Money stretch long!! And if they outlast the NFLPA through a lockout, then abuse the NFLPA when they are ready to deal on the owners terms they will get a greater % of the pie, so even though revenues would have been lost they will make it up in their share.... and the players will not only end up with a smaller piece of the pie, but a smaller piece of a smaller pie equaling major lost $$$.

[Boltergeist]

Probably was his bed time. Or he hadn't had his metamucil yet.

don't discount the talks were the same time as the early bird special theory

[thunderraiden]

Don't forget Smith is the leader of NFLPA and he gets 24/7 bad press, so it would make sense that the leader of the NFL labor committee would get 24/7 bad press -_-; Helps that on the outside he looks to be following Al Davis' footsteps (not what I believe, but a third party looking from the outside in might see that)