Posted on 03/13/2008 6:33:52 AM PDT by JZelle
A fight between NFL owners and players was simmering already, but it flared into the open not long ago when the federal judge who has presided over 15 years of labor peace invited union officials into his private chambers for coffee and conversation and left NFL owners and their lawyers waiting in the courtroom.
It happened 30 minutes before the judge, David Doty of Minneapolis, began a hearing on Nov. 30 to determine whether to allow disgraced NFL quarterback Michael Vick to keep his bonuses.
In papers filed in court after Doty ruled in Vick's favor, the NFL and its owners accused Doty of "bias" and violations of the code of conduct that governs the nation's federal judges.
The first step is to opt out of the contract, a move the owners must and probably will make between now and November.
Under the terms of the player-owner agreement, the owners' termination of the contract will trigger two more years of salary-cap football, then the 2010 season will be played without a cap on salaries. After the 2010 season and the college draft in spring 2011, the players and owners will be at a critical crossroads.
Upshaw and others involved in NFL labor issues expect the owners to announce that the players will be locked out of training camps, putting the 2011 season in jeopardy. An NFL lockout would come six years after the National Hockey League locked out its players, which killed the 2005-06 NHL season.
The NFL's union, according to Upshaw, will counter with decertification, which means it will give up its role as the official labor organization of NFL players and become a trade association.
"How can they lock us out if we are not a union?" Upshaw said.
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.espn.go.com ...
The answer: College Football!
“The answer: College Football!”
That’s tough for me, I’m a Notre Dame fan :(
2011? I’ll worry about this later.
Bunch of overpaid, undereducated prima donnas, good riddance to the lot.
at least the Detroit Lions wont suck for one year.....
No football after 2011? Is this the end of times predicted by the Mayans?
Yes! One and the same! Amazingly prescient, weren't they?
CA....
No that’s 2012.
Whaa. No pity for those who make more in 2 or 3 games than 70% of Americans make in a year.
How ironic that Indianapolis is going for the Super Bowl to be played in 2012.
Watch - we’ll get the bid then the owners have a lockout and nuke the 2011-2012 season.
Question: Who cares if the NFL owners and players go on strike?
Answer: Not me.
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