The Media has Officially Picked a Side

[OchoNueve]

this is not surprising, everyone with any semblance of reason and intelligence is on the side of the players. they're not the ones who opted out of the CBA and are threatening no football.

you are the one lacking the "semblance of reasoning" with this statement... it is almost comedic

[rodeo]

I personally thought you negotiate with someone to come to some common ground when you both have some leverage in the situation? It may seem callous, but I don't negotiate with people when I hold all the chips. My daughter doesn't get a say in what's for dinner, my wife and I do. When going to buy a car when I didn't have one, I negotiated with the dealership on price, options, etc. Why? Because I needed the car. But when I went to buy a car because I felt like buying a new one, I didn't negotiate. I said I want x, y, z at this price period. They tried to haggle and I made it clear I wouldn't. Why? I didn't need to. When the DA has a video of you committing a crime along with 5 eyewitnesses, they don't negotiate a plea deal with your attorney for less time, because they don't have to. And when my company implemented a mandatory 10% across the board cut in pay back in '07, they didn't negotiate because they didn't need to. Again, you negotiate to come to mutually beneficial terms when both parties have some leverage. The players have none, so anything the owners sacrifice to them should be seen as a bonus IMO.

the players have all the leverage. they are the product. without them, there is no NFL.

unless Richardson is going to strap on a pair of shoulder pads, he will do what the people who actually matter in this situation say. and that's the players.

[MadHatter]

the players have all the leverage. they are the product. without them, there is no NFL.

unless Richardson is going to strap on a pair of shoulder pads, he will do what the people who actually matter in this situation say. and that's the players.

I say the owners have ALL the leverage. Without them, there are no teams nor a league for the players to play in.

See what I did there.

The owners are protected in the TV deal next season. They definitely have more financial resources to wait this out that the players do. You will see the dissention in the ranks of the NFLPA as soon as the paychecks stop comming.

[Delhommey]

Without our tax dollars/PSL's the owners don't exist.

[R0CKnR0LLA]

[rodeo]

I say the owners have ALL the leverage. Without them, there are no teams nor a league for the players to play in.

See what I did there.

except you're wrong. there are other leagues, and without the NFL a new one will sprout up. there is a thing called competition, and the players can quite easily take their services elsewhere.

the owners are actually quite meaningless. the players, on the other hand, are what YOU tune in every week to watch.

[rodeo]

I say the owners have ALL the leverage. Without them, there are no teams nor a league for the players to play in.

See what I did there.

i do see what you did, and you're wrong. there are other leagues, and without the NFL owners a new one will sprout up. there is a thing called competition, and the players can quite easily take their services elsewhere.

the owners are actually quite meaningless. the players, on the other hand, are what YOU tune in every week to watch.

if the owners want a product of a high caliber, they will shut the fug up and do what they're told. otherwise, they can put an XFL quality product on the field and see how far that gets them.

[Montsta]

i do see what you did, and you're wrong. there are other leagues, and without the NFL owners a new one will sprout up. there is a thing called competition, and the players can quite easily take their services elsewhere.

the owners are actually quite meaningless. the players, on the other hand, are what YOU tune in every week to watch.

if the owners want a product of a high caliber, they will shut the f**k up and do what they're told. otherwise, they can put an XFL quality product on the field and see how far that gets them.

The UFL is being crushed under the weight of a mountain of debt. Just "sprouting up" another league is easier said than done. In all reality, it's the NFL shield that people want to see, and the shield is the owners. I have no plans to go see a UFL game anytime in the future, yet I love to watch NFL, college, and even local high school football. And I'm nothing special and am not the only American who feels this way I'm sure. Even if there was a lockout and half the NFL players said screw you and went to play for the UFL, it couldn't handle the influx of players or the salaries that would be demanded.

I swear I heard on one of my local sports talk stations that the average payroll for a UFL team is a combined 9 million or something like that. Now take an NFL player, not a superstar ala Peppers or a Manning, but a solid starter making $4MM per and tell him to play for $150,000/year in the UFL. What's being asked of the players is not unreasonable considering they are in no position to really demand much of anything.

People sometimes forget just how much money goes into operating expenses for a business. And I feel that the guy putting up the money should always be paid substantially more than the one that is just being cut a check 16 times a year.

When James Cameron pulls together a group of producers to make crazy expensive movies like Avatar and Titanic, and they are risking their money on what could be a flop, it is because they should absolutely reap the monetary rewards if it is a huge success. The actors, who yes make the movie much like NFL players make the game, get their check regardless of what happens. The producers of a movie should make exponentially more than the actors, just as NFL owners should be making way more than the players.

[rodeo]

The UFL is being crushed under the weight of a mountain of debt. Just "sprouting up" another league is easier said than done. In all reality, it's the NFL shield that people want to see, and the shield is the owners. I have no plans to go see a UFL game anytime in the future, yet I love to watch NFL, college, and even local high school football. And I'm nothing special and am not the only American who feels this way I'm sure. Even if there was a lockout and half the NFL players said screw you and went to play for the UFL, it couldn't handle the influx of players or the salaries that would be demanded.

swap NFL and UFL rosters and within 10 years the NFL is gone.

When James Cameron pulls together a group of producers to make crazy expensive movies like Avatar and Titanic, and they are risking their money on what could be a flop, it is because they should absolutely reap the monetary rewards if it is a huge success. The actors, who yes make the movie much like NFL players make the game, get their check regardless of what happens. The producers of a movie should make exponentially more than the actors, just as NFL owners should be making way more than the players.

interesting that you bring up movies, because the going rate on a major film is 10-20% of gross per actor, plus the 10-30 million salary. producers get around 40% of the net profit. in other words, they do not make exponentially more. for example, Johnny Depp got 25% of the total revenue of his Pirates movies. that's not even counting the other actors.

apply the pay scale for that industry to the NFL and Manning is making 58,250,000 per year.

[MadHatter]

i do see what you did, and you're wrong. there are other leagues, and without the NFL owners a new one will sprout up. there is a thing called competition, and the players can quite easily take their services elsewhere.

the owners are actually quite meaningless. the players, on the other hand, are what YOU tune in every week to watch.

if the owners want a product of a high caliber, they will shut the fug up and do what they're told. otherwise, they can put an XFL quality product on the field and see how far that gets them.

Without this group of spoiled players, other players will sprout up. It is called competition.

We can do this all day long.

If you think that owners should just shut up and cave into the demands of every employee and union, it is apparent that you don't have a fuging clue about big business.

If owners did what you said in all industries, they would ALL go bankrupt.

You really are this fuging dumb....all this time I thought it was just an act.

[Delhommey]

Please name me an industry in America that, despite profitability, says "we're going to close shop and send everyone home unless everyone takes a major pay cut and starts working two Saturdays a month". One single one.