NFL Lockout Theater Brings You "Dueling Pundits"

by Christopher Gates on Jul 21, 2011 11:45 PM CDT in NFL

This post brought to you by the state song of the great state of Wisconsin.

In one corner, we have Chris Mortensen of ESPN, via Twitter. In the other corner, we have Sports Illustrated's Peter King, courtesy of SI.com. Here we go.

Duh-nuh-DUN-dun-DUN-dun-DUN-dun-dunnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.

Good news. Players wrapped call, then leadership received final details. Vote can come tomorrow if they can satisfy a finishing detail or 2.less than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet ReplyChris Mortensen
mortreport

Duh-nuh-DUN-dun-DUN-dun-DUN-dun-dunnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.

Owners gave the decertified union until Wednesday to recertify, or else the deal would be pulled. Apparently, the players won't need till Wednesday to decide. They didn't vote to kill it Thursday night -- FOX's Jay Glazer reported that was so -- but there obviously was significant opposition to it.

. . .

The players had to recertify as a union to officially end the stalemate because the NFL can't institute important terms of the deal like a drug policy or disciplinary tenets without the players having a collective bargaining unit. That was part of the owners' vote -- that all unsigned players are free to sign with NFL teams, but with the proviso that if players do not approve the deal by Wednesday, the contracts wouldn't be valid.

A weekend of mayhem appears certain. That's the only certainty on the immediate horizon for the NFL.

So, the players might vote tomorrow on this proposal. Then again, they might not. Nobody knows for sure.

The players might be really, super-duper angry. Then again, they might not be. Nobody knows for sure.

What I do know is that the part of the NFL fans in this case is being played by Ned Beatty. If you've never seen Deliverance, Ned Beatty's character gets. . .you know, if you haven't seen it, I'm not going to spoil it for you here. I'll just say it's not terribly pleasant and leave it at that.

Can this whole stupid situation just be done with now, please?

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Comments

they're both really involved, huh?

Don’t forget Adam Schefter, he’s got to get paid too.

Skol!

by DM_Purp on Jul 22, 2011 12:00 AM CDT reply actions

The only thing Schefter has said

In the last hour or so, via Twitter:

“In the end, De Smith and Roger Goodell can’t win if no deal. Neither side likes the alternative. Thus, they’ll figure it out. They have to.”

Not a whole lot of help, either.

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by Christopher Gates on Jul 22, 2011 12:04 AM CDT up reply actions

Shefter = stating the obvious

Skol!

by DM_Purp on Jul 22, 2011 2:00 AM CDT up reply actions

dat's why he getz paid da big buck$

by rj-b on Jul 22, 2011 12:54 PM CDT up reply actions

sounds to me

like the owners are trying to shift more blame upon players, throwing shit at a wall to see if it sticks. f-en a man, no one gives a s*** just get it done for petes sake.

by redhearring on Jul 22, 2011 12:49 AM CDT reply actions

no one cares

about who wins/loses we just want football

by redhearring on Jul 22, 2011 12:50 AM CDT reply actions

That's the thing..

NOBODY loses in this situation except us, the fans. The players will continue to make millions of dollars to play a sport they supposedly love. The owners will all still be billionaires and make *ssloads of money off us.

by Thor82 on Jul 22, 2011 8:43 AM CDT up reply actions

Everying agrees with you redhearring

From what I’ve heard, the deal they signed wasn’t that far off, just needed to be looked over and tomorrow we’ll probably see some sort of counter on a couple of minor issues. Still sounds like it’s close, but the players were still offended by the owners signing a deal that wasn’t fully discussed with the players(trying to sneak in a few extra things).

Skol!

by DM_Purp on Jul 22, 2011 2:02 AM CDT reply actions

The Numbers Game

The number of NFL owners is just 32. The number of NFL players is over 50 times that; therefore, education before a vote for the NFLPA on any proposal is a much harder task. Not all NFL owners are alike, and the variety of player personalities and individual circustances is even greater. The players don’t want to feel rushed. Most of the players will live with this argeement for the rest of their careers, so they need some time to get it right in their heads before voting on it.

Part of the problem that created the bubble that caused the financial collapse was people not reading and understanding the mortgages that they were signing. The players not wanting to jump in without getting all the facts is not a sign of unreasonableness at all, even if the deal is a one fair.

Some players are not going to be happy. In a group of that size, expecting to have everyone jumping for joy over any proposed CBA is unrealistic.

by Elgar on Jul 22, 2011 2:08 AM CDT reply actions

Education isnt that hard

Just point everyone to a website
Summarize main items
Support it with any video.

We’re in the internet era with near instant communication.

A poor excuse made worse by players jumping the gun in less than 140 words. It’s becoming an emotional time.

NFLPA chose to decertify as a tactic in negotiations. They have to walk a fine line here because NFL has a lawsuit for Sept 12 to expose it as a sham in case there’s no progress and resolution towards to a real football season.

Longer it lasts, the less leverage players have, the more the courts and NFL has. At least it looks like the owners did everything to offer the fans a football season and some schedule on how it can work out. The courts will see that NFL & owners did their part. I’ve yet to see players offering a better schedule in light of all of the logistics with pre-season, training camps, etc. All this coordination is harder work than a half day of organized team activities. I think a lot is being taken for granted when being paid over a million bucks to run around on grass in an entertaining way.

by VikesFanSince1967 on Jul 22, 2011 10:20 AM CDT up reply actions