this ain't a strike, as you know it's a "lockout",initiated by owners. the players (not the scabs) probably couldn't play if they wanted.
Wow, that really clears things up. Wow, you really have this class warfare thing down, don't you? Even in situations where one millionaire is pitted against another millionaire, you find a way to paint the dispute as pauper versus land baron. Your quote plays like a rusty fiddle with two strings.
It's a private business! Players have no right to see the owners' books. And it makes zero (ZERO) difference how much of a profit margin the owners make. This isn't North Korea. In this company, you make what you negotiate. If you don't like it, take employment somewhere else.
Not really, Jerry Jones sold his natural gas business to buy the Cowboys and got loans to cover the rest, it is his only business which is a rarity among the owners. It was also why he rankled a bunch of the old guard owners when he came into the league, the Cowboys was his business and he needed to make money with it, it wasn't a toy to play with like many of the other owners. If the league has a significant work stoppage it will hit Jones hard, he has $850 million worth of debt to carry on Jerryworld so he will have to find other events to service that debt. The CBA was set to expire this year whether the owners voided the last year or not so no matter what the owners would have decided they were headed for this showdown anyway. If the NFL didn't exist as a lure to college football players, you would probably find the elite athletes headed to other, more lucrative sports. For most of them the lure of big money in the NFL is why they play football in the first place, very few at that level play for the love of the game. If baseball or basketball gave them a better opportunity then that is more than likely where they would be and not playing college football. College football needs the NFL a lot more than most people think. Unlike baseball and in some extent college basketball, college football is the minor league feeder system to the NFL. They need each other to be healthy to thrive.
In case you havn't noticed, we the fans pay all of the NFL's bills, so I think it is reasonable that we have a say, and by the way, I support the side who DOESN'T want the NFL season to be extended to 324585293 games.
No. Without the owners, nearly all the players would be flipping burgers, digging ditches, or in prison.
Probably depends on your definition of healthy and it certainly would change. I disagree that many of the elite athletes could make it in other sports as baseball and basketball are already extremely competitive. Some certainly could, but I'm talking percentages here. The level of play would fall, no doubt, and coaches wouldn't pull down $5m/yr. But big time programs wouldn't drop all the way down to ivy league level as too many players still play for love of the game. Some fans would probably like it better. But this is all hypothetical - the NFL money machine won't go away for long.
Do you remember how much of Jerry's own money was put up for that stadium? Yeah he was rich before owning the Cowboys, but if you think he views it as a hobby you are beyond delusional.
How much money have the players put into the team? How much money have the owner groups put into the team? Jerry Jones bought the 'Boys' for a 140 million...the franchise is now worth 1.8 billion.... If YOU had a piece of property that was worth 1.8 billion how much profit would you require each and every year? The players know what they are getting into when they sign a contract....they know of possible future medical issues...if they play at league minimum for three years they will pull in a million...many people don't make a million in a lifetime...if their NFL career falls short then they can fall back on the degree they got from the college, if they were smart enough to get one... I can see the players not wanting an 18 game schedule... A couple of offers the union turned down... http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-nfllabor-nflproposal A per-club cash minimum spend of 90 percent of the salary cap over three seasons. The owners offered 161 million dollar salary cap per team...(that can make a hell of a lot of millionaires)...on average, 3 mill a year per player...I would find that acceptable... Offer current players the opportunity to remain in the player medical plan for life. Both sides are greedy pricks...but if I were an owner I would tell the players to go play in Canada...
The REAL fools are the fans that pay hundreds of dollars for a seat and finance the outrageous salaries and owner profits that we now bitch about... And yes, I happen to be one of those REAL fools...
