lockout remains in place

[Mister Pittsburgh]

Re: lockout remains in place

The players can still play football this year. Go play in Canada or the UFL. Start your own league.....some of you have enough money to go together and do it.

[Oviedo]

Re: lockout remains in place

The players can still play football this year. Go play in Canada or the UFL. Start your own league.....some of you have enough money to go together and do it.

...and when they are responsible for profit and loss watch how quickly they start to act like the "evil owners." Once they have money coming out of their pockets to pay for others they will change their tune.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Re: lockout remains in place

The players can still play football this year. Go play in Canada or the UFL. Start your own league.....some of you have enough money to go together and do it.

...and when they are responsible for profit and loss watch how quickly they start to act like the "evil owners." Once they have money coming out of their pockets to pay for others they will change their tune.

Which NFL owner is in such dire financial straits that he has to pay out of own pockets...dipping into his own personal bank account...just to meet payroll so that his team does not go bankrupt? I forgot which NFL team that is...

The NHL lockout made sense, because multiple teams were truly losing money hand over fist under their economic model. That needed to change for the betterment of the sport, and a lockout was required to make it happen...I understand that.

This NFL lockout is nothing like that. NFL teams are more prosperous than ever. These billionaires even have us fools handing them money to build their football palaces with tax dollars. NFL ownership is a moneymaking racket with minimal risk compared to other businesses. The owners just can't stand having the lowly players take up so much of the financial pie, so they locked them out for a money grab, to correct what they felt was a bad deal for them several years ago.

But how bad was that deal, really? Bad enough to bring the most successful sports business model to its knees with screetching halt to operations? Not quite. The owners simply can't agree on an economic model among themselves (where there is a huge disparity between markets like Buffalo, Cincinnati, and Jacksonville vs. markets like Dallas, Washington D.C., and Boston), so they want to make the players give back to make up for this.

[Oviedo]

Re: lockout remains in place

The players can still play football this year. Go play in Canada or the UFL. Start your own league.....some of you have enough money to go together and do it.

...and when they are responsible for profit and loss watch how quickly they start to act like the "evil owners." Once they have money coming out of their pockets to pay for others they will change their tune.

Which NFL owner is in such dire financial straits that he has to pay out of own pockets...dipping into his own personal bank account...just to meet payroll so that his team does not go bankrupt? I forgot which NFL team that is...

The NHL lockout made sense, because multiple teams were truly losing money hand over fist under their economic model. That needed to change for the betterment of the sport, and a lockout was required to make it happen...I understand that.

This NFL lockout is nothing like that. NFL teams are more prosperous than ever. These billionaires even have us fools handing them money to build their football palaces with tax dollars. NFL ownership is a moneymaking racket with minimal risk compared to other businesses. The owners just can't stand having the lowly players take up so much of the financial pie, so they locked them out for a money grab, to correct what they felt was a bad deal for them several years ago.

But how bad was that deal, really? Bad enough to bring the most successful sports business model to its knees with screetching halt to operations? Not quite. The owners simply can't agree on an economic model among themselves (where there is a huge disparity between markets like Buffalo, Cincinnati, and Jacksonville vs. markets like Dallas, Washington D.C., and Boston), so they want to make the players give back to make up for this.

And what is wrong with them wanting to establish a business model that all 32 teams can live with? Isn't that why they are a league? It is far better than baseball where everything you see on TV is Red Sox-Yankees because the economic model has been so tilted towards a few teams.

[feltdizz]

Re: lockout remains in place

The players can still play football this year. Go play in Canada or the UFL. Start your own league.....some of you have enough money to go together and do it.

...and when they are responsible for profit and loss watch how quickly they start to act like the "evil owners." Once they have money coming out of their pockets to pay for others they will change their tune.

Which NFL owner is in such dire financial straits that he has to pay out of own pockets...dipping into his own personal bank account...just to meet payroll so that his team does not go bankrupt? I forgot which NFL team that is...

The NHL lockout made sense, because multiple teams were truly losing money hand over fist under their economic model. That needed to change for the betterment of the sport, and a lockout was required to make it happen...I understand that.

This NFL lockout is nothing like that. NFL teams are more prosperous than ever. These billionaires even have us fools handing them money to build their football palaces with tax dollars. NFL ownership is a moneymaking racket with minimal risk compared to other businesses. The owners just can't stand having the lowly players take up so much of the financial pie, so they locked them out for a money grab, to correct what they felt was a bad deal for them several years ago.

But how bad was that deal, really? Bad enough to bring the most successful sports business model to its knees with screetching halt to operations? Not quite. The owners simply can't agree on an economic model among themselves (where there is a huge disparity between markets like Buffalo, Cincinnati, and Jacksonville vs. markets like Dallas, Washington D.C., and Boston), so they want to make the players give back to make up for this.

And what is wrong with them wanting to establish a business model that all 32 teams can live with? Isn't that why they are a league? It is far better than baseball where everything you see on TV is Red Sox-Yankees because the economic model has been so tilted towards a few teams.

The NFL will never have a model that all teams can live with because there are a few powerful owners who want it to be Red Sox-Yankees.

You keep talking about the MLB tilt... it's baloney. The Steelers have been to 3 SB's since 2005.

The Yankees and Red Sox have been to 2 World Series combined in the same time frame.

The economic model doesn't translate to World Series and the past 10 years proves it. The problem is baseball has so many damn games no one outside of those 2 franchises really cares about the sport until the end of August.

[Oviedo]

Re: lockout remains in place

The players can still play football this year. Go play in Canada or the UFL. Start your own league.....some of you have enough money to go together and do it.

...and when they are responsible for profit and loss watch how quickly they start to act like the "evil owners." Once they have money coming out of their pockets to pay for others they will change their tune.

Which NFL owner is in such dire financial straits that he has to pay out of own pockets...dipping into his own personal bank account...just to meet payroll so that his team does not go bankrupt? I forgot which NFL team that is...

The NHL lockout made sense, because multiple teams were truly losing money hand over fist under their economic model. That needed to change for the betterment of the sport, and a lockout was required to make it happen...I understand that.

This NFL lockout is nothing like that. NFL teams are more prosperous than ever. These billionaires even have us fools handing them money to build their football palaces with tax dollars. NFL ownership is a moneymaking racket with minimal risk compared to other businesses. The owners just can't stand having the lowly players take up so much of the financial pie, so they locked them out for a money grab, to correct what they felt was a bad deal for them several years ago.

But how bad was that deal, really? Bad enough to bring the most successful sports business model to its knees with screetching halt to operations? Not quite. The owners simply can't agree on an economic model among themselves (where there is a huge disparity between markets like Buffalo, Cincinnati, and Jacksonville vs. markets like Dallas, Washington D.C., and Boston), so they want to make the players give back to make up for this.

And what is wrong with them wanting to establish a business model that all 32 teams can live with? Isn't that why they are a league? It is far better than baseball where everything you see on TV is Red Sox-Yankees because the economic model has been so tilted towards a few teams.

The NFL will never have a model that all teams can live with because there are a few powerful owners who want it to be Red Sox-Yankees.

You keep talking about the MLB tilt... it's baloney. The Steelers have been to 3 SB's since 2005.

The Yankees and Red Sox have been to 2 World Series combined in the same time frame.

The economic model doesn't translate to World Series and the past 10 years proves it. The problem is baseball has so many damn games no one outside of those 2 franchises really cares about the sport until the end of August.

The Pirates won two World Series in the 70's and were a perennial play off team. Owners lost control of baseball in the 90's, how have things been for the small market teams since then. Would anyone who ever grew up with the Pirates of the 70's have thought they would have 18 seasons of losing records..no way!!! Don't think that the NFL can't have it's apple cart upset too if the players get to do what baseball players can. Never say never.

[feltdizz]

Re: lockout remains in place

Florida Marlins won a WS

Aneheim won a WS..

Tampa is doing good right now.

It's not the system it's the Pirate owners who screwed over the team. They refuse to invest in their product and are happy collecting their revenue share and turning a small profit.

If the Pirates really wanted to contend they would have hied Jim Leyland when he said he was interested. The reason they wouldn't hire him is because he would have been vocal about putting out a winning product.

If Mario was allowed to purchase the team you would see a change.

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: lockout remains in place

Cindrich: Damage is already done by NFL lockout

Wednesday, May 18, 2011
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


Poorly played football, more injuries, young men losing their chance forever to make it in the game. Those are the body blows the NFL took when a court affirmed the owners' right to continue to lock out their players at least into June, said Pittsburgh sports attorney Ralph Cindrich.

And those negative outcomes will happen even if the lockout ends before training camps open in August, he said.

"What a lot of people are missing out on is the game suffers," said Cindrich, a former Pitt and NFL player who has spent more than 30 years representing pro players. "If you ask coaches, how will the game be now compared to last year, they'll say there will be no comparison. There's no way you can get all your players together in such a short time."

Usually, the Steelers and every other NFL team would have been practicing the past week or two along with their draft picks and 10 or so rookie free agents. None of that has occurred since the lockout began March 12 and was lifted for only four days before the draft in April.

The ruling by the federal appeals court in St. Louis on Monday -- overturning a lower court decision that had lifted the lockout temporarily -- assured that players would continue to be locked out for at least a month. The same three-judge panel that ruled 2-1 in favor of the owners on Monday will start hearing the full case on the legality of the lockout on June 3 and it could be weeks after that until it issues a ruling.

Court-ordered negotiations before a mediator in Minneapolis ended Tuesday after just two days and the sides announced they would resume talks on June 7.

That means rookies have no chance to start learning and showing what they can do, and it will be especially difficult for an undrafted rookie -- or one drafted late -- to make a team.

"I don't know if you can define 'irreparable harm' for a free agent rookie," Cindrich said after the appeals court wrote in its majority opinion that there could be irreparable harm done to the owners if they were not permitted to maintain their lockout. "He's lost; he has nowhere to go."

Players such as Pitt fullback Henry Hynoski may never get the same chance as one of Cindrich's clients, Colts center Jeff Saturday.

"Jeff Saturday made Pro Bowls and was a free agent rookie. You look at the number of guys affected by this. That window of opportunity is so small, once it passes you may never get a shot again. Next year, there will be all new guys."

Cindrich noted that veteran free agents -- such as cornerback Ike Taylor of the Steelers -- also will be affected, especially quarterbacks.

"They have to go to a new team, learn the system, learn the players. One other factor: injuries. I don't know if anyone will be surprised to see more serious injuries this year."

Cindrich called Monday's ruling a large victory for the owners.

"It's a major gain for the owners if they are put in a position to where they can lock out the players as the season nears. They will surround the fort and starve out the players."

He believes the one area in which the players could regain some advantage and negotiation leverage is if federal Judge David Doty awards them a substantial settlement when he rules on the damages owed to the players in the court battle over television broadcast fees that the owners would receive even if there is a lockout during the season.

He ruled the owners violated their agreement with the players by negotiating the multi-billion-dollar television deal. The players are seeking at least $707 million in damages.

"The unknown card is Judge Doty," Cindrich said. "He is the one who has the TV revenue case. He has the ability to use an injunction and damages. The damage portion there, most people feel he has the power to level the playing field on that particular area."

Read more: [url="http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11138/1147237-66-0.stm#ixzz1MlhDHD4p"]http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11138/11 ... z1MlhDHD4p[/url]