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Daring the NFL to Disappear


tshanno
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http://bearingthenews.com/?p=1131

 

Daring the NFL to Disappear

 

Here’s a heaping load of truth brought to you courtesy of Dan McNeil, writing for the Chicago Tribune:

 

“You don’t need the NFL. You only think you do.”

 

“I’m daring the NFL to disappear.”

 

So am I.

 

I’m old enough to have been around for the last NFL labor stoppage. You know what happened? I found other things to do on Sunday afternoon. So did millions of others. And that’s what will happen if NFL games are lost due to a lockout.

 

As much as I enjoy the NFL, I’m not too worried about missing it. In fact, I’m very ambivalent and I find myself growing more so every day as I consider the big picture.

 

Don’t get me wrong. I’ll still be blogging and I’ll be waiting. But I’m going to guess that many casual fans are going to find that life without professional football isn’t a big deal. If that doesn’t scare the NFL, both players and owners, it should.

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http://bearingthenews.com/?p=1131

 

Daring the NFL to Disappear

 

Here’s a heaping load of truth brought to you courtesy of Dan McNeil, writing for the Chicago Tribune:

 

“You don’t need the NFL. You only think you do.”

 

“I’m daring the NFL to disappear.”

 

So am I.

 

I’m old enough to have been around for the last NFL labor stoppage. You know what happened? I found other things to do on Sunday afternoon. So did millions of others. And that’s what will happen if NFL games are lost due to a lockout.

 

As much as I enjoy the NFL, I’m not too worried about missing it. In fact, I’m very ambivalent and I find myself growing more so every day as I consider the big picture.

 

Don’t get me wrong. I’ll still be blogging and I’ll be waiting. But I’m going to guess that many casual fans are going to find that life without professional football isn’t a big deal. If that doesn’t scare the NFL, both players and owners, it should.

 

I think it is safe to say no one needs the NFl and if the 2011 season is not played life will go on. I dont think Mcneil is cracking the case or writing anything that everyone already doesnt know. Where is the heaping load of truth??? The big truth is that anyone that loves the NFl doesnt NEED it but really WANTS a 2011 season. I have so many great memories from last season and every season before it. It would suck if the seaosn was not played. The one big truth that i have realized since this bullshit started is every year no matter who the Bears put out on the field i root for the Bears. When Urlacher went down for the season 2 years ago i didnt stop rooting for the Bears. My heart lies with the Bears, granted i love rooting for certain player the Bears have on the roster but the fact remains the same i rooted for the Bears before any of these players came and will be rooting for the Bears long after these current players are gone. That is the stone cold truth.

 

 

THESE PLAYERS BETTER GET BACK TO THE TABLE AND GET A DEAL SIGNED.

 

 

Everytime one of them open their mouth im seeing how much they are taking for granted the opporunity they have. Do you know how many players have the talent that some of these guys have but for some reason or another didnt make it ie: injury during tryouts. Take Tom Brady for example, 6th round draft pick, sat on the bench until Beldsoe got hurt. What if he never got hurt, who knows if Tom Brady would have happened. Very easily Bledsoe could have never got hurt and Tom Brady would have been a career back up, but Bledsoe did get hurt and Tom Brady is now got more money then anyone dreams about and a smoking hot wife not to mention 3 SB rings and will go down as one of the best QB's in the history of the game.

 

 

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http://bearingthenews.com/?p=1131

 

Daring the NFL to Disappear

 

Here’s a heaping load of truth brought to you courtesy of Dan McNeil, writing for the Chicago Tribune:

 

“You don’t need the NFL. You only think you do.”

 

“I’m daring the NFL to disappear.”

 

So am I.

 

I’m old enough to have been around for the last NFL labor stoppage. You know what happened? I found other things to do on Sunday afternoon. So did millions of others. And that’s what will happen if NFL games are lost due to a lockout.

 

As much as I enjoy the NFL, I’m not too worried about missing it. In fact, I’m very ambivalent and I find myself growing more so every day as I consider the big picture.

 

Don’t get me wrong. I’ll still be blogging and I’ll be waiting. But I’m going to guess that many casual fans are going to find that life without professional football isn’t a big deal. If that doesn’t scare the NFL, both players and owners, it should.

 

I don't think one realises just how easy it is to do without the NFL until a stoppage comes along; like Tom I am old enough to remember the last one and it was amazing how quickly I found other things to do on Sundays, and other things to think about generally rather than the Bears, and that was with replacement players. I reckon the smarter of the respective groups involved in the strike know this full well but the more ignorant might have no idea.

 

To be honest, I love the Bears, but there are many things I won't miss if there is no football...that being said, I hope that there is football next year.

 

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Good points...

 

I think it is safe to say no one needs the NFl and if the 2011 season is not played life will go on. I dont think Mcneil is cracking the case or writing anything that everyone already doesnt know. Where is the heaping load of truth??? The big truth is that anyone that loves the NFl doesnt NEED it but really WANTS a 2011 season. I have so many great memories from last season and every season before it. It would suck if the seaosn was not played. The one big truth that i have realized since this bullshit started is every year no matter who the Bears put out on the field i root for the Bears. When Urlacher went down for the season 2 years ago i didnt stop rooting for the Bears. My heart lies with the Bears, granted i love rooting for certain player the Bears have on the roster but the fact remains the same i rooted for the Bears before any of these players came and will be rooting for the Bears long after these current players are gone. That is the stone cold truth.

 

 

THESE PLAYERS BETTER GET BACK TO THE TABLE AND GET A DEAL SIGNED.

 

 

Everytime one of them open their mouth im seeing how much they are taking for granted the opporunity they have. Do you know how many players have the talent that some of these guys have but for some reason or another didnt make it ie: injury during tryouts. Take Tom Brady for example, 6th round draft pick, sat on the bench until Beldsoe got hurt. What if he never got hurt, who knows if Tom Brady would have happened. Very easily Bledsoe could have never got hurt and Tom Brady would have been a career back up, but Bledsoe did get hurt and Tom Brady is now got more money then anyone dreams about and a smoking hot wife not to mention 3 SB rings and will go down as one of the best QB's in the history of the game.

 

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They're not going to dissolve. It's their league. They can simply get different players. Some players are willing to play at the terms they've offered. Others can sit out. But, if 53 players are suiting up in Bears helmets and jerseys, best believe I would watch.

 

The NFL makes up some of the best business owners in American industry. Many own private companies. There is no way a judge will force a private company to open up its books to its employees on demand or to negotiate compensation. That would set precedent that would apply outside of football. Big long shot.

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They're not going to dissolve. It's their league. They can simply get different players. Some players are willing to play at the terms they've offered. Others can sit out. But, if 53 players are suiting up in Bears helmets and jerseys, best believe I would watch.

Actually, they can't get different players. This isn't a strike, where they could just hire scabs. This is a lockout; the NFL can't lock their employees out and then say "you can either come back to work for less money or stay home." Here's why:

 

A single team is free, obviously, to offer whatever wage it wants to a single player. If the player doesn't like it, he can try to find another team to pay him more, or he can sit at home. But that doesn't mean that ALL the NFL teams can get together, decide the wages they're going to offer, and tell all the players "take it or go sit at home." That's wage-fixing, which is a kind of collusion, one of the things that unfair competition law prohibits.

 

The reason the NFL teams are (normally) allowed to get together to make decisions is because the CBA exists. The NFL owners negotiating with the players' union under the CBA is basically one entity negotiating with another entity. The Supreme Court has already held (in American Needle v. NFL) that the 32 teams are 32 separate businesses when they're negotiating with a single party (like a single non-union player would be.) If there's no player's union and no collective bargaining agreement, those 32 teams can't do things like agree on a veteran minimum salary without getting slapped with an antitrust suit. That's exactly why the NFLPA decertified, and why they're in court now.

 

The NFL makes up some of the best business owners in American industry. Many own private companies. There is no way a judge will force a private company to open up its books to its employees on demand or to negotiate compensation. That would set precedent that would apply outside of football. Big long shot.

No, it wouldn't. First off, this case is in federal district court (either with Judge Doty or another district court judge) - the precedents set by a federal district court's decisions are only binding on that court. In any other federal court in the country, that precedent is persuasive at best, never binding.

 

Second, we're talking about a highly specific factual scenario here: a union asking for financials from a professional sports league during the course of CBA negotiations. Decisions are only valuable as precedent when a later case turns on the same question, and "Do the NFL owners have to disclose their financial statements to the players' union?" is a much narrower question than "Do all employers everywhere have to disclose their financial statements to all employees everywhere?"

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Helluva a good point Tom. I continually lament the amount of time and money I spend being fanatical about football. For me & the wife to go to a game it's typically a $400.00 day. I spend an incredible amount of time watching, blogging, and talking about football. Not to meniton the $$$ I spend on Bear's stuff. Football far too often equals drinking beer for me and the season almost always ends in dissappointment. I'd be better off spending this time with my kids & being productive.

 

While I know these things, I ain't never going to change. So let's get this deal done! :headbang

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