March 15th, 2011 Tuesday
That’s My Take
“The State of the League”
There is not a whole lot of “nice’” that can be said about either side or the current state of the NFL. You have millionaires and billionaires arguing about who gets the bigger half of the pie, while the fans are left standing outside on the porch waiting for the dinner bell to ring, fully knowing they won’t be served a single crumb.
As a matter of fact when these two bickering sides do figure out who gets what, you know that if for any reason it’s not enough, both will find ways to extract the difference from the fans’ pocket by either raising ticket prices, concessions, or the team and player memorabilia.
It really is sickening that the two sides can’t come to the simple of terms of keeping their operation going and negotiate in good faith, especially now with economy where it’s at and unemployment. When you think about it the fans are the ones who will be made to suffer, and when it is all finally said and done, the only winners will be the rich (the NFLPA and NFL Owners) getting richer.
There’s no question that what these two sides are negotiating are very complex issues and reaching a middle-ground will be difficult. Something that both sides should consider while they are trying reach an agreement is remembering what they do have versus what many hard working Americans and football fans don’t have; keeping this in mind they should think about keeping things civil and getting back to business as soon as possible.
Come’on guys, get this thing figured out and let’s get ready for more football in 2011.
"It Never is What it Appears to Be"….
…"it’s always what it can be made to look like." The NFLPA may believe they have a working partnership with the NFL owners, but things aren’t always what they appear to be. It’s quite apparent that the NFL players take monumental risks every Sunday with their own well-being, but the NFL is a business and the Owners (it would appear) assume a lot of the financial risk.
As simple as it is for the players to make the claim that they are the largest component to the cash cow that the league enjoys, it occurs to me every year there are just as many players not playing. They might share the last names of Brees, Brady, and Manning, but I can’t imagine if given the opportunity any of them disappointing the average fan with their effort.
My point is simple, the owners are still the employers and the in reality none of the 1,800 or so NFL players are guaranteed their job, so in theory each could be replaced. While something like firing all 1,800 players at one time would not make sense or likely to happen, why would any of them believe they share a business partnership.
Consider this, all the NFL players whose contract expired following the 2010 season are not guaranteed to return to the league in 2011 and none of the current owners are inclined to sign any of them. If these players don’t get re-signed or employed with any teams in the future, what do they receive in this so-called partnership?
Just a question….
Please note I am just a big fan of the game and have enjoyed watching the Sunday gladiators play since I was a kid, never did I ever think we would have a Sunday in the fall without football. I do not have any special insight or privilege to any factual knowledge of how the league is operated, how the money is split, and how each team handle’s their day-to-day, but I do know the difference from night and day, hot and cold, and employer and employee.
This may be a $9 billion dollar industry, but I have never seen any special rules or laws written for big business of this magnitude. That is not to say these rules don’t exist, but if they did I would ask why both sides don’t just refer to them.
Could it be because “it’s never what it appears to be?”
This is just my take on the state of the league.
By David Ortega
There is not a whole lot of “nice’” that can be said about either side or the current state of the NFL. You have millionaires and billionaires arguing about who gets the bigger half of the pie, while the fans are left standing outside on the porch waiting for the dinner bell to ring, fully knowing they won’t be served a single crumb.
As a matter of fact when these two bickering sides do figure out who gets what, you know that if for any reason it’s not enough, both will find ways to extract the difference from the fans’ pocket by either raising ticket prices, concessions, or the team and player memorabilia.
It really is sickening that the two sides can’t come to the simple of terms of keeping their operation going and negotiate in good faith, especially now with economy where it’s at and unemployment. When you think about it the fans are the ones who will be made to suffer, and when it is all finally said and done, the only winners will be the rich (the NFLPA and NFL Owners) getting richer.
There’s no question that what these two sides are negotiating are very complex issues and reaching a middle-ground will be difficult. Something that both sides should consider while they are trying reach an agreement is remembering what they do have versus what many hard working Americans and football fans don’t have; keeping this in mind they should think about keeping things civil and getting back to business as soon as possible.
Come’on guys, get this thing figured out and let’s get ready for more football in 2011.
"It Never is What it Appears to Be"….
…"it’s always what it can be made to look like." The NFLPA may believe they have a working partnership with the NFL owners, but things aren’t always what they appear to be. It’s quite apparent that the NFL players take monumental risks every Sunday with their own well-being, but the NFL is a business and the Owners (it would appear) assume a lot of the financial risk.
As simple as it is for the players to make the claim that they are the largest component to the cash cow that the league enjoys, it occurs to me every year there are just as many players not playing. They might share the last names of Brees, Brady, and Manning, but I can’t imagine if given the opportunity any of them disappointing the average fan with their effort.
My point is simple, the owners are still the employers and the in reality none of the 1,800 or so NFL players are guaranteed their job, so in theory each could be replaced. While something like firing all 1,800 players at one time would not make sense or likely to happen, why would any of them believe they share a business partnership.
Consider this, all the NFL players whose contract expired following the 2010 season are not guaranteed to return to the league in 2011 and none of the current owners are inclined to sign any of them. If these players don’t get re-signed or employed with any teams in the future, what do they receive in this so-called partnership?
Just a question….
Please note I am just a big fan of the game and have enjoyed watching the Sunday gladiators play since I was a kid, never did I ever think we would have a Sunday in the fall without football. I do not have any special insight or privilege to any factual knowledge of how the league is operated, how the money is split, and how each team handle’s their day-to-day, but I do know the difference from night and day, hot and cold, and employer and employee.
This may be a $9 billion dollar industry, but I have never seen any special rules or laws written for big business of this magnitude. That is not to say these rules don’t exist, but if they did I would ask why both sides don’t just refer to them.
Could it be because “it’s never what it appears to be?”
This is just my take on the state of the league.
By David Ortega
