It’s usually around this time of year that longtime Chiefs season-ticket holder Scott Black begins to get excited about the coming season.
Thanks to the NFL’s ongoing labor dispute and owner-imposed lockout, this is anything but a usual year.
Without a collective-bargaining agreement between the players and owners or a court order forcing the lockout to be lifted, the 2011 season is in jeopardy. The next chapter in the saga will be written on Friday at an 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hearing in St. Louis.
Until a resolution is reached, first-round draft pick Jonathan Baldwin and the rest of the new Chiefs are not permitted at team facilities. A few Chiefs players are conducting practices on their own, but they’ve expressed a desire to work in secrecy. Nearly all Chiefs news these days is lockout- and labor-related.
For Black and many other Chiefs fans, the sense right now is not one of anticipation, but one of dread and doom.
“I’m at the point where I’ve just quit looking for Chiefs news because I’m just so disgusted with the entire situation,” Black said. “I’m not reading Chiefs news, I’m not watching the NFL Network.
“I’m at the point where I’m beyond frustrated. I realize (the labor dispute) is all a part of business, and I certainly empathize with both sides in wanting to get a fair deal. But in the end, they’re still fighting over a $9 billion or $10 billion industry, and I’m just disappointed and disillusioned by the whole thing.”
Black is just the sort of fan NFL commissioner Roger Goodell referenced last week at the conclusion of the league meetings in Indianapolis. Goodell indicated a sense that the lockout is wearing on NFL fans and warned of the economic trouble ahead for teams if things aren’t resolved shortly.
“I think it has clearly had an impact on our fans already,” Goodell said. “You see that in our various metrics that we have, whether they are (TV) ratings or traffic on NFL.com. … And that is a reflection of the uncertainty and the frustration of our fans.
“Our ratings were down at the draft, as an example, by roughly 4 million people. That’s a pretty significant decrease, about a 10-percent decrease, as I recall.”
Closer to home, the Chiefs may not be feeling the financial effects of the lockout as much as other teams. Chairman Clark Hunt said recently that the Chiefs were leading the league in new ticket sales by a significant margin. Of course, they also had a lot more inventory available than many teams to start with thanks to 76,416-seat Arrowhead Stadium.
“The changes we made to the business operation last year really paid dividends,” president Mark Donovan said. “We really tried to focus on the fan experience and making sure every single opportunity to have an interaction with our fans were positive ones.
“Obviously, winning the division and going 10-6 and having the excitement that went along with it, that built great momentum for us. That helped us with ticket sales. But it’s hard to measure how much more we could have grown or how much we were impacted by all this.”
That’s why the Chiefs say they are taking this situation so seriously. Hunt said that he hasn’t noticed an increase in negative comments from fans yet, but he expects it soon if the season remains in peril.
“As we get into summer, people will start thinking about football and about training camp,” Hunt said. “During the spring, we have (offseason practices), and fans focus on that to some degree, but it’s not a focal point. But football in the fall is very much a part of the fabric of society, and I think our fans will become very concerned.”
Until then, fans are experiencing increasing angst about the Chiefs and the fate of their season. It’s impossible to gauge in terms of numbers, but it’s also impossible to miss.
“I don’t feel connected at all,” said Gary Krings, who said season tickets have been in his family since the Chiefs arrived in Kansas City in 1963. “I feel I have no control over this and I’m totally at the mercy of the two sides. To be honest with you, I don’t care that much about the issues between them. It’s just a helpless feeling.”
Other fans tell a similar story, one that’s increasingly worrisome to the Chiefs and the rest of the NFL.
“Usually this time of year, I’m reading the newspaper every day,” said Jeff Yergovich, another longtime ticket holder. “I’m following what moves they make and how they do it, who’s new and who’s not. This year it’s all been a ‘blah’ situation for me. I figure if they don’t care about me, why should I care about them?
“They can’t even tell me whether there’s going to be a season this year. Why do I want to go out and buy a jersey? And do I really want to spend the money that ends up going back to the Chiefs or the NFL? I don’t know. It’s like I’m in a real holding pattern trying to figure out what to do.”
Krings said: “It’s totally different for me this year. I just can’t get into it at all. Somebody asked me the other day what I thought about their draft. I didn’t even know what he was talking about. It hasn’t even been anything I thought about. And that’s a frustrating feeling.”
Black, who lives in the Dallas area, travels to Kansas City for some Chiefs home games and distributes the rest of his tickets to friends and family. He had particular plans for the coming season that he may not realize.
“My youngest son has never been to Arrowhead Stadium, and he’s 7 years old,” Black said. “As a reward, I told him that he and I would fly to Kansas City and go to a Chiefs game, his first one. I had to tell him the other day we might have to come up with a plan B because I’m really worried there won’t be football this fall. Trying to explain to a 7-year-old why there won’t be football is extremely difficult.
“I’ve decided if we end up missing games. I probably won’t renew my tickets.”
Hunt hasn’t given up hope that an agreement can be reached, and soon. He acknowledged that with summer just around the corner, time is “very short.”
“I’m hopeful the players will start to feel the time pressure that we really all have,” he said. “None of us want to miss any football. That’s certainly our goal from an ownership standpoint, and I know the players want to play.”
Yergovich can’t see himself giving up on the Chiefs, but the frustration is overwhelming.
“I’ve always been a Chiefs fan, I’ve been around way too long to change,” he said. “But it’s frustrating that they’re sitting there arguing about things they shouldn’t be arguing about.”
Hunt’s message to fans like Black, Yergovich and Krings? Don’t give up on the Chiefs yet.
“If we can get to the bargaining table,” Hunt said, “I know that we’ll be able to find a deal that’s good for both parties and can get the Chiefs back on the field come this September.” This article was written by Adam Teicher and appeared in The Kansas City Star.
viernes, 3 de junio de 2011
Looking for clarity - Ingles
At the N.F.L. owners meeting last week, John Mara, the president of the Giants, was asked if the Super Bowl, scheduled for February in Indianapolis, would be played. Yes, he told a reporter, he was confident Indianapolis would have its Super Bowl.
“At some point there’s going to be a deal done,” Mara said. “I can’t tell you when that’s going to be.”
Neither can anyone else. But the uncertainty that has engulfed the N.F.L. this off-season — angering fans, irritating owners and players, and endangering the start of the season — may finally get some clarity after this week. On Friday, the most pivotal hearing of the lockout that has shuttered the league since March 12 will take place in St. Louis, where the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit will hear arguments on the N.F.L.’s request to reverse the injunction that would stop the lockout.
This hearing will include the theater of two of the nation’s most respected appellate lawyers, Theodore B. Olson and Paul D. Clement, arguing against each other for the first time. The two are friends, and each served as United States solicitor general under President George W. Bush. Olson will represent the players, Clement the owners.
The Friday hearing has loomed so large in the fight for leverage that court-ordered mediated negotiations have gone nowhere since they began in April, as both sides waited for the balance of power to be settled.
The outcome, expected by early July, will strongly influence when, and under what conditions, the N.F.L. will play this season. If the owners win and the lockout continues, as seems likely given preliminary indications from the three-judge panel, players will be confronted with a difficult choice with the calendar working against them. They could continue with their antitrust case, which could mean sacrificing paychecks come September and perhaps the entire season if the stalemate continues into autumn. Representatives of players have strongly hinted at that path in recent weeks, even though a few players and agents have openly wondered why they are not negotiating already.
Or they could tell the lawyers who represent them to start negotiating a new deal that will allow them to return to work and the season to begin. That decision and the question of who on the players’ side would make it kept owners on edge last week, even as the courts tilted in their direction. A decision by the Eighth Circuit to affirm the injunction would come as a surprise to everyone, and it would force the N.F.L. to open for business under rules it would have to put in place.
When the strongly worded decision granting the league’s request for a delay of the injunction indicated that a majority of the panel has serious doubt about whether the district court had the right to issue the injunction at all, the owners were given the situation they have wanted. While the players will argue that the injunction should be upheld — their brief called the league a cartel and argued that the district court did have jurisdiction to issue the injunction — lawyers inside and outside the case say the players face a steep challenge before a panel that gave an unusually open window into its thinking on the critical issues on which the appeal will be decided. One lawyer called the decision a rebuke to the players’ side.
“It’s always nice if they rule in your favor, but it’s also helpful to know what they’re thinking,” said Olson, the players’ lawyer. “It makes it easier in that you know the things of concern to the judges. It makes it harder if the things they are concerned about are against your direction.”
Owners will try to press their advantage in St. Louis. The N.F.L. will ask the judges not only to reverse the injunction, but also to issue a broad ruling that makes clear “that the solution to this dispute over terms and conditions of employment lies with the labor laws and not in the antitrust courts,” their brief said. That decision would most likely lay the groundwork for the league to seek the dismissal of the case.
“The league thinks the best way to get a resolution of the whole situation, the best way to get players on the field, is to have everybody understand this is a labor dispute, and instead of holding out hope for antitrust action they should focus on getting back to football,” said Clement, who succeeded Olson as the solicitor general. “I sure hope it’s going to get out of the courts. If they can iron out their disagreements, it’s not about antitrust law but about sharing revenue, whether or not they are going to have transition tags. All that is classic stuff of labor law.”
Olson, who represented Bush before the Supreme Court to decide the 2000 presidential election, said: “I have enormous respect for Paul — he’s just about the finest lawyer I’ve ever known. For someone in the business I’m in, you really much prefer a very talented, very principled opponent. Paul will make the best possible arguments, they will be clear, there won’t be any confusion, and the judges will have all the information.”
Regarding two high-profile friends facing off in court, Clement said: “For insiders, it’s completely normal. I’ve known it was going to happen sooner or later. I look forward to it because Ted is a terrific lawyer.”
David Boies is also working for the N.F.L. in its dispute with players, although he will not speak at Friday’s hearing. He and Olson opposed each other in Bush v. Gore before the Supreme Court, and later teamed to overturn Proposition 8, California’s ban on same-sex marriage.
Clement recently resigned from his firm when it decided not to defend the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal statue that bans recognizing same-sex marriage.
“A representation should not be abandoned because the client’s legal position is extremely unpopular in certain quarters,” Clement wrote in April. “Defending unpopular clients is what lawyers do.”
With few people expecting that the Supreme Court would have much interest in the N.F.L. case at this stage, this is most likely the last significant court decision on the lockout before the season is scheduled to begin Sept. 8. Players have, over several decades, made their greatest gains in the courts, and they stand to be awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in damages by United States District Court Judge David S. Doty in a case involving the N.F.L.’s television contracts. He previously ruled that the N.F.L. failed to maximize revenue in its renegotiated television deals.
But that decision will be appealed, too, and players will not have access to the damages in the short term to make up for any potential loss of paychecks. Still, the threat of that much money may be a useful tool at the bargaining table, if the two sides ever get back there. Olson declined to speculate about what the players’ next step would be if the injunction was cast aside.
In the meantime, the clock ticks toward the season. Jim Irsay, the Indianapolis Colts’ owner, said last week that he thought 90 percent of owners and players wanted a deal done so football could resume.
That, of course, would leave on the margins the other 10 percent, those who are prepared for an extended battle. Perhaps that is why Irsay also seemed concerned about creating enough urgency to get a deal completed before training camps and preseason games are lost. After nearly three months of intransigence, the three judges who will hear Friday’s arguments may finally force the end of public rhetoric and move the N.F.L. back toward practice repetitions. This article was written by Judy Battista and appeared in The New York Times.
“At some point there’s going to be a deal done,” Mara said. “I can’t tell you when that’s going to be.”
Neither can anyone else. But the uncertainty that has engulfed the N.F.L. this off-season — angering fans, irritating owners and players, and endangering the start of the season — may finally get some clarity after this week. On Friday, the most pivotal hearing of the lockout that has shuttered the league since March 12 will take place in St. Louis, where the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit will hear arguments on the N.F.L.’s request to reverse the injunction that would stop the lockout.
This hearing will include the theater of two of the nation’s most respected appellate lawyers, Theodore B. Olson and Paul D. Clement, arguing against each other for the first time. The two are friends, and each served as United States solicitor general under President George W. Bush. Olson will represent the players, Clement the owners.
The Friday hearing has loomed so large in the fight for leverage that court-ordered mediated negotiations have gone nowhere since they began in April, as both sides waited for the balance of power to be settled.
The outcome, expected by early July, will strongly influence when, and under what conditions, the N.F.L. will play this season. If the owners win and the lockout continues, as seems likely given preliminary indications from the three-judge panel, players will be confronted with a difficult choice with the calendar working against them. They could continue with their antitrust case, which could mean sacrificing paychecks come September and perhaps the entire season if the stalemate continues into autumn. Representatives of players have strongly hinted at that path in recent weeks, even though a few players and agents have openly wondered why they are not negotiating already.
Or they could tell the lawyers who represent them to start negotiating a new deal that will allow them to return to work and the season to begin. That decision and the question of who on the players’ side would make it kept owners on edge last week, even as the courts tilted in their direction. A decision by the Eighth Circuit to affirm the injunction would come as a surprise to everyone, and it would force the N.F.L. to open for business under rules it would have to put in place.
When the strongly worded decision granting the league’s request for a delay of the injunction indicated that a majority of the panel has serious doubt about whether the district court had the right to issue the injunction at all, the owners were given the situation they have wanted. While the players will argue that the injunction should be upheld — their brief called the league a cartel and argued that the district court did have jurisdiction to issue the injunction — lawyers inside and outside the case say the players face a steep challenge before a panel that gave an unusually open window into its thinking on the critical issues on which the appeal will be decided. One lawyer called the decision a rebuke to the players’ side.
“It’s always nice if they rule in your favor, but it’s also helpful to know what they’re thinking,” said Olson, the players’ lawyer. “It makes it easier in that you know the things of concern to the judges. It makes it harder if the things they are concerned about are against your direction.”
Owners will try to press their advantage in St. Louis. The N.F.L. will ask the judges not only to reverse the injunction, but also to issue a broad ruling that makes clear “that the solution to this dispute over terms and conditions of employment lies with the labor laws and not in the antitrust courts,” their brief said. That decision would most likely lay the groundwork for the league to seek the dismissal of the case.
“The league thinks the best way to get a resolution of the whole situation, the best way to get players on the field, is to have everybody understand this is a labor dispute, and instead of holding out hope for antitrust action they should focus on getting back to football,” said Clement, who succeeded Olson as the solicitor general. “I sure hope it’s going to get out of the courts. If they can iron out their disagreements, it’s not about antitrust law but about sharing revenue, whether or not they are going to have transition tags. All that is classic stuff of labor law.”
Olson, who represented Bush before the Supreme Court to decide the 2000 presidential election, said: “I have enormous respect for Paul — he’s just about the finest lawyer I’ve ever known. For someone in the business I’m in, you really much prefer a very talented, very principled opponent. Paul will make the best possible arguments, they will be clear, there won’t be any confusion, and the judges will have all the information.”
Regarding two high-profile friends facing off in court, Clement said: “For insiders, it’s completely normal. I’ve known it was going to happen sooner or later. I look forward to it because Ted is a terrific lawyer.”
David Boies is also working for the N.F.L. in its dispute with players, although he will not speak at Friday’s hearing. He and Olson opposed each other in Bush v. Gore before the Supreme Court, and later teamed to overturn Proposition 8, California’s ban on same-sex marriage.
Clement recently resigned from his firm when it decided not to defend the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal statue that bans recognizing same-sex marriage.
“A representation should not be abandoned because the client’s legal position is extremely unpopular in certain quarters,” Clement wrote in April. “Defending unpopular clients is what lawyers do.”
With few people expecting that the Supreme Court would have much interest in the N.F.L. case at this stage, this is most likely the last significant court decision on the lockout before the season is scheduled to begin Sept. 8. Players have, over several decades, made their greatest gains in the courts, and they stand to be awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in damages by United States District Court Judge David S. Doty in a case involving the N.F.L.’s television contracts. He previously ruled that the N.F.L. failed to maximize revenue in its renegotiated television deals.
But that decision will be appealed, too, and players will not have access to the damages in the short term to make up for any potential loss of paychecks. Still, the threat of that much money may be a useful tool at the bargaining table, if the two sides ever get back there. Olson declined to speculate about what the players’ next step would be if the injunction was cast aside.
In the meantime, the clock ticks toward the season. Jim Irsay, the Indianapolis Colts’ owner, said last week that he thought 90 percent of owners and players wanted a deal done so football could resume.
That, of course, would leave on the margins the other 10 percent, those who are prepared for an extended battle. Perhaps that is why Irsay also seemed concerned about creating enough urgency to get a deal completed before training camps and preseason games are lost. After nearly three months of intransigence, the three judges who will hear Friday’s arguments may finally force the end of public rhetoric and move the N.F.L. back toward practice repetitions. This article was written by Judy Battista and appeared in The New York Times.
Youth camps feel the lockout - Ingles
In these oh-so-strange days in and around the NFL, John Pagano is glad to have a circled date or two coming up on his coaching calendar and glad he will have some players to put through the paces.
"They're just going to be a little younger is all, maybe a little smaller," Pagano said. "But football is football, and I'm excited we'll have another year working with these kids, getting back on the field."
Pagano, the San Diego Chargers' linebackers coach and a Fairview High School graduate; his brother Chuck, the Baltimore Ravens' defensive coordinator and a Fairview alumnus; and their father Sam have guided the Mile High Football camp for 36 years.
The Pagano brothers have seen their offseason turned upside down by the NFL lockout, and their June 19-22 camp at Colorado Christian University in Lakewood is on the growing list of things touched by the league's labor strife.
NFL players including Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Jay Cutler have worked at the camp. But with the league's no-contact edict between players and coaches in effect because of the lockout, NFL players won't be at this year's camp unless the labor battle ends soon.
"That's just one of the things the situation has affected," John Pagano said. "That's the unfortunate thing as everybody waits to see what's going to happen. But there are a lot of stories like that, I'm sure. There are probably a lot of people around the game that could have things affected in some way if things continue the way they are. But we're all in the same boat. We're just waiting and watching right now.
"The camp is always one of the great things every offseason. I've been to every one as a participant, a counselor and now working on the coaching side. It's a highlight of the offseason, part of our vacation."
Because NFL players can't be involved this year, Pagano has tried to secure more members of his coaching brethren to assist with the camp. That group is expected to include Broncos head coach John Fox. Pagano said Fox has agreed to come to the camp, which is for children ages 8 to 14.
"We'll be ready for the kids," Pagano said. "We'll have a full staff of people ready to go and we're all going to be ready to coach, I'm sure. It will be nice to get on the field, be with the kids and our family, that's for sure." This article was written by Jeff Legwold and appeared in The Denver Post.
"They're just going to be a little younger is all, maybe a little smaller," Pagano said. "But football is football, and I'm excited we'll have another year working with these kids, getting back on the field."
Pagano, the San Diego Chargers' linebackers coach and a Fairview High School graduate; his brother Chuck, the Baltimore Ravens' defensive coordinator and a Fairview alumnus; and their father Sam have guided the Mile High Football camp for 36 years.
The Pagano brothers have seen their offseason turned upside down by the NFL lockout, and their June 19-22 camp at Colorado Christian University in Lakewood is on the growing list of things touched by the league's labor strife.
NFL players including Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Jay Cutler have worked at the camp. But with the league's no-contact edict between players and coaches in effect because of the lockout, NFL players won't be at this year's camp unless the labor battle ends soon.
"That's just one of the things the situation has affected," John Pagano said. "That's the unfortunate thing as everybody waits to see what's going to happen. But there are a lot of stories like that, I'm sure. There are probably a lot of people around the game that could have things affected in some way if things continue the way they are. But we're all in the same boat. We're just waiting and watching right now.
"The camp is always one of the great things every offseason. I've been to every one as a participant, a counselor and now working on the coaching side. It's a highlight of the offseason, part of our vacation."
Because NFL players can't be involved this year, Pagano has tried to secure more members of his coaching brethren to assist with the camp. That group is expected to include Broncos head coach John Fox. Pagano said Fox has agreed to come to the camp, which is for children ages 8 to 14.
"We'll be ready for the kids," Pagano said. "We'll have a full staff of people ready to go and we're all going to be ready to coach, I'm sure. It will be nice to get on the field, be with the kids and our family, that's for sure." This article was written by Jeff Legwold and appeared in The Denver Post.
Is it over yet? - Ingles
Seriously, you could fall asleep watching football practice, even if line coach Sweaty McBluster happened to be manically bull-horning something about "pad level" from 3 yards away.
He's just talking leverage, basically the same principle that applies to the NFL's tedious labor spat that's gone on just long enough to turn righteous indignation into the worst thing that could happen to an entertainment industry. And that would be apathy.
But wake up, because something's about to happen.
On Friday in St. Louis, lawyers and judges again get to scratch plays in the dirt. Outside of a Carolina-Cincinnati exhibition game, it's hard to imagine any football-related activity more mind-numbingly exhausting. But that's what it has come down to once more, finding the right pad angle for leverage in the courtroom.
It's fairly simple from here on. If the players win a decision that might take up to a month to reach, it's likely back to business. That way, the Packers could get their Super Bowl rings on June 16 without subjecting anyone to the awkward-moment equivalent of Scott Walker getting stuck in an elevator car with a couple of state workers.
If the owners win and the players don't cave, it becomes a countdown to how many games get lost to this nonsense.
We're less than 100 days from the Packers' scheduled season opener against the New Orleans Saints, which means it's getting close to the time when something's got to give if they're going to play all 16.
Your guess on the point of no return is as good as any. Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times recently identified Aug. 15 as the date teams would have to begin training camp to miss no games. That seems reasonable if the Packers are to keep most hamstrings intact on Sept. 8.
Anything after mid-August, and chances become better than good the season would have to be abbreviated or scrubbed altogether. When the players instigated work stoppage in 1982, they played nine games. With the next strike five years later, they played 12 real games and three with replacements. As most would agree, there would be no point in playing eight or fewer.
That's why this thing is probably over after the next ruling. All the macho huffing and puffing at the negotiating table was able to cross the line of civility back when winter was supposedly turning into spring. But the sudden reality of the calendar flipping to June is going to motivate a lot of football players to put down their video-game controllers and 9-irons.
As much as the players deserve to win this squabble the owners started, I can't see the players doing anything but eventually giving in if the lockout is upheld. Unfortunately, not enough of them are financially prepared to miss more than a paycheck or two. Not enough of them are willing to give up an entire season of a career that lasts, on average, less than four.
If the judges again rule in favor of the owners, Jerry Jones' pad level would become so low that even a 68-year-old little guy would be able to figuratively knock a monster like Ndamukong Suh off his game. That is the physics, as well as the economics, of leverage.
The owners got a little more of it recently when it was disclosed that season-ticket sales are up despite the lockout. In the event of another favorable ruling, they would have more than enough to wait around until the players surrendered.
After a face-saving period of a month or so, the players would be back. At least then, we could all be bored to distraction by chatter of a different kind of leverage. This article was written by Michael Hunt and appeared in The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
He's just talking leverage, basically the same principle that applies to the NFL's tedious labor spat that's gone on just long enough to turn righteous indignation into the worst thing that could happen to an entertainment industry. And that would be apathy.
But wake up, because something's about to happen.
On Friday in St. Louis, lawyers and judges again get to scratch plays in the dirt. Outside of a Carolina-Cincinnati exhibition game, it's hard to imagine any football-related activity more mind-numbingly exhausting. But that's what it has come down to once more, finding the right pad angle for leverage in the courtroom.
It's fairly simple from here on. If the players win a decision that might take up to a month to reach, it's likely back to business. That way, the Packers could get their Super Bowl rings on June 16 without subjecting anyone to the awkward-moment equivalent of Scott Walker getting stuck in an elevator car with a couple of state workers.
If the owners win and the players don't cave, it becomes a countdown to how many games get lost to this nonsense.
We're less than 100 days from the Packers' scheduled season opener against the New Orleans Saints, which means it's getting close to the time when something's got to give if they're going to play all 16.
Your guess on the point of no return is as good as any. Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times recently identified Aug. 15 as the date teams would have to begin training camp to miss no games. That seems reasonable if the Packers are to keep most hamstrings intact on Sept. 8.
Anything after mid-August, and chances become better than good the season would have to be abbreviated or scrubbed altogether. When the players instigated work stoppage in 1982, they played nine games. With the next strike five years later, they played 12 real games and three with replacements. As most would agree, there would be no point in playing eight or fewer.
That's why this thing is probably over after the next ruling. All the macho huffing and puffing at the negotiating table was able to cross the line of civility back when winter was supposedly turning into spring. But the sudden reality of the calendar flipping to June is going to motivate a lot of football players to put down their video-game controllers and 9-irons.
As much as the players deserve to win this squabble the owners started, I can't see the players doing anything but eventually giving in if the lockout is upheld. Unfortunately, not enough of them are financially prepared to miss more than a paycheck or two. Not enough of them are willing to give up an entire season of a career that lasts, on average, less than four.
If the judges again rule in favor of the owners, Jerry Jones' pad level would become so low that even a 68-year-old little guy would be able to figuratively knock a monster like Ndamukong Suh off his game. That is the physics, as well as the economics, of leverage.
The owners got a little more of it recently when it was disclosed that season-ticket sales are up despite the lockout. In the event of another favorable ruling, they would have more than enough to wait around until the players surrendered.
After a face-saving period of a month or so, the players would be back. At least then, we could all be bored to distraction by chatter of a different kind of leverage. This article was written by Michael Hunt and appeared in The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Shortened season will mean more blackouts in Tampa - Ingles
The ongoing labor impasse could reinforce Tampa Bay’s reputation as the blackout capital of the National Football League.
Ten weeks ago in New Orleans, Bucs co-chairman Joel Glazer said club officials were encouraged by strong season-ticket sales for 2011. But the uncertainty about when, or even if, the new season will begin has hurt marketing efforts for all 32 teams.
Last year, the Bucs were the only NFL club with every home game blocked out in the local market. With sales stalled, Tampa Bay fans without a ticket may once again have to travel out of the blackout region to view games at Raymond James Stadium.
Even the one home game that appeared certain to be televised in the Bay area, an Oct. 23 matchup against the Bears at London’s Wembley Stadium, could be blacked out because the game will be played in Tampa if the lockout is still in place Aug. 1.
Until last season, the Bucs had not suffered a home blackout since Raymond James Stadium opened in 1998. Any momentum the club had generated from last year’s surprising 10-6 finish has been undermined by a prolonged labor impasse with no resolution in sight.
The Bucs typically stage their annual FanFest in June, drawing thousands of supporters to RayJay, but those plans currently are on hold.
Just like the 2011 NFL season.
This article was written by Ira Kaufman and appeared in the The Tampa Tribune.
Ten weeks ago in New Orleans, Bucs co-chairman Joel Glazer said club officials were encouraged by strong season-ticket sales for 2011. But the uncertainty about when, or even if, the new season will begin has hurt marketing efforts for all 32 teams.
Last year, the Bucs were the only NFL club with every home game blocked out in the local market. With sales stalled, Tampa Bay fans without a ticket may once again have to travel out of the blackout region to view games at Raymond James Stadium.
Even the one home game that appeared certain to be televised in the Bay area, an Oct. 23 matchup against the Bears at London’s Wembley Stadium, could be blacked out because the game will be played in Tampa if the lockout is still in place Aug. 1.
Until last season, the Bucs had not suffered a home blackout since Raymond James Stadium opened in 1998. Any momentum the club had generated from last year’s surprising 10-6 finish has been undermined by a prolonged labor impasse with no resolution in sight.
The Bucs typically stage their annual FanFest in June, drawing thousands of supporters to RayJay, but those plans currently are on hold.
Just like the 2011 NFL season.
This article was written by Ira Kaufman and appeared in the The Tampa Tribune.
Chargers assistant still gets to do what he loves - Ingles
John Pagano participates in coaching camps every summer, always enjoying them but sometimes having to find an extra gear to do so at the start of his only time off all year.
This year, though, his John Pagano Skills Camp, June 11 and 12 at Westview Park, provides an opportunity to do something the long-time Chargers linebackers coach has not been able to do – actually coach.
“We miss it constantly,” said Pagano, who like other NFL coaches has been working but due to the NFL lockout not coaching the players he normally would be in offseason workouts and minicamps. “Being able to coach the Sycuan fantasy camp I was trying to kill those guys the other day. (Coaching) is what we do. That’s what we’re about. ”
Pagano’s father, Sam, was a longtime high school coach in Colorado and runs the Mile High Football Camp, where his sons help him every June. Before he goes there again for the 36th year – first as a camper, then a counselor and then a coach – Pagano will run his camp to benefit Mira Mesa Youth Football.
“I love doing it,” Pagano said. “I love doing camps for kids, my son’s friends, (teaching) them what I know about the game …
Cost for the camp, which runs 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and is open to all AYF players is $100. That includes lunch and a t-shirt. Click here to download the registration form.
Unlike past year, Chargers players cannot participate due to the lockout, which forbids coaches from interacting with players. Among the Chargers coaches scheduled to participate are Carlos Polk, Greg Williams and Chris Dishman.
“We’re going to have the guys who coach the pros,” Pagano said. “It’s going to be a good time.” This article was written by Kevin Acee and appeared in The San Diego Union-Tribune.
This year, though, his John Pagano Skills Camp, June 11 and 12 at Westview Park, provides an opportunity to do something the long-time Chargers linebackers coach has not been able to do – actually coach.
“We miss it constantly,” said Pagano, who like other NFL coaches has been working but due to the NFL lockout not coaching the players he normally would be in offseason workouts and minicamps. “Being able to coach the Sycuan fantasy camp I was trying to kill those guys the other day. (Coaching) is what we do. That’s what we’re about. ”
Pagano’s father, Sam, was a longtime high school coach in Colorado and runs the Mile High Football Camp, where his sons help him every June. Before he goes there again for the 36th year – first as a camper, then a counselor and then a coach – Pagano will run his camp to benefit Mira Mesa Youth Football.
“I love doing it,” Pagano said. “I love doing camps for kids, my son’s friends, (teaching) them what I know about the game …
Cost for the camp, which runs 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and is open to all AYF players is $100. That includes lunch and a t-shirt. Click here to download the registration form.
Unlike past year, Chargers players cannot participate due to the lockout, which forbids coaches from interacting with players. Among the Chargers coaches scheduled to participate are Carlos Polk, Greg Williams and Chris Dishman.
“We’re going to have the guys who coach the pros,” Pagano said. “It’s going to be a good time.” This article was written by Kevin Acee and appeared in The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Former Packers capologist tries to decipher lockout jargon - Ingles
The doctor says the diagnosis is isolated systolic hypertension - and it sails right over the head.
The mechanic explains the recall is due to improper casting of the steering lock bar, which is a component of the interlock system - and it goes in one ear and out the other.
The anchorman says National Football League, $9 billion, lockout, mediation, litigation and appeal - and we're listening because we know somehow it all means no football. But we need to hear this in plain English.
And so, we need Andrew Brandt.
Former Green Bay Packers vice president, salary cap manager and negotiator, player agent, World League general manager - Brandt draws upon nearly three decades of experience in all of those fields to help him in his latest career venture:
Decoding the legal strategies and rulings of the NFL lockout. Brandt boils down the legal jargon into digestible terms.
"I know people are frustrated, angry and bored with the labor dispute, but I tell them to take a deep breath and realize this is all part of the process," said Brandt. "It is a negotiation, no more and no less. The courtroom wins and losses are merely ways of tilting leverage to one side or the other in the eventual negotiation of a new CBA."
Officially out of the NFL for three years now, the 50-year-old Brandt no longer has the edict of solving the league's problems, just explaining them. He does that in three ways:
With columns for National Football Post, a website he cofounded in 2008. Staffed with former front-office personnel men, agents and players, the site offers firsthand insight to the NFL game and the business behind it.
With instruction, teaching sports law and negotiations at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He's also done seminars in Chicago and Indianapolis.
With analysis on ESPN.
Brandt identifies June 3, when a ruling is expected on the NFL's latest appeal, as the next major event for the lockout.
"If the NFL loses the appeal, then they're paying players, business is open, they're under temporary rules and they need to forge a new deal," said Brandt. "If the players lose the appeal, they're locked out indefinitely and missing paychecks and they'll need to make a deal.
"At the end of the day, when it comes to negotiations, I always believed: Never let your adversary become your enemy. Unfortunately, I think that's happened a couple of times in this negotiation. There's been a bit of lack of trust. Or a lack of honest and open communication. Hopefully it's all just part of a process."
When it comes to haggling out deals, Brandt feels right at home.
After Georgetown University Law School, Brandt worked for ProServ in Washington, assisting agent David Falk with NBA and NFL players, including Michael Jordan, Boomer Esiason and Patrick Ewing. He was there when Nike began the Air Jordan phenomenon.
"It was a great experience. We had some remarkable negotiations, which I learned a lot," said Brandt.
After six years, Brandt left to try something different. In 1992, at age 31, he became the general manager of the World League's Barcelona Dragons. Brandt wasn't just running a team. He was introducing a new sport to an unfamiliar fan base.
"They cheered at the wrong times, they did the wave the entire game," said Brandt.
There were only 100 tickets sold for opening night in Montjuic Stadium, site of the 1992 Olympics, which holds 55,000. So Brandt asked a well-known soccer GM in Barcelona whether he could put his football team on their field at halftime to pique interest.
The GM just wanted to make sure the fans could still smoke cigarettes.
They could and it worked; 18,000 showed up for the Dragons' opener.
"Our first touchdown, our tight end broke three tackles on a seam pass. There was polite applause," said Brandt. "The kicker kicks the extra point - and they go nuts."
After a year and a half, the World League disbanded and Brandt went back to being a player agent, this time for Woolf Associates in Boston.
He picked up an unknown kicker, Adam Vinatieri, became friends with client Matt Hasselbeck and worked with Ricky Williams as his agent for baseball while he pursued him as a client for pro football.
Titletown comes calling
Then in 1999, the Packers called out of the blue. Ron Wolf, Green Bay's general manager at the time, had just lost coach Mike Holmgren and executive Mike Reinfeldt to Seattle.
"Ron wondered if I would switch sides," said Brandt. "I made a life decision between chasing Ricky Williams and moving to Green Bay. We decided the lifestyle of an agent - now we had young children - was not conducive to our family."
For the next nine years, Brandt negotiated all player contracts and managed the Packers' salary cap as vice president of player finance and general counsel.
"It was a little different going from Matt Hasselbeck's agent to being a manager on the other side of the table in Green Bay," said Brandt. "And then, of course, I was the one who told him he was traded."
Under Brandt, the Packers managed to keep their salary cap position healthy and strong. He was a valued cap expert and negotiator who never mortgaged the future of the Packers.
Two focuses
"It was always important to me to play for the present and the future," said Brandt. "I did not want our team to be struggling out of salary cap jail like we saw from other franchises."
That meant he had to resist constantly restructuring quarterback Brett Favre's contract, he said, to give the Packers short-term relief with long-term ramifications.
"I had seen the consequences of what happened to teams when their franchise quarterback either retired, was released or was traded," said Brandt. "I was adamant about not putting ourselves in that position and always structured our bigger contracts with that in mind."
When Packers president and CEO Bob Harlan retired at the end of the 2007 season, Brandt was a candidate to replace him. When the Packers went with Mark Murphy instead, Brandt and the Packers parted ways in February 2008.
"It was a good time for a change, for both the Packers and myself," said Brandt. "I had been there nine years; we had just hosted the NFC championship; most players were under contract for a while. I was caught in a web between the football and administrative sides of the organization. Feeling as though I was a senior executive and should apply, I put myself out there - warts and all - for the CEO position, and they decided to go another way.
"In the midst of the search process I was told I would no longer be reporting to Bob Harlan but to Ted Thompson. Ted and I once shared an office, got along well and had the same philosophy on team-building, but I think the CEO selection process made things difficult to continue in the role I had.
"I'm happy for all their success and stay in touch with many people in the organization and the community. The Packers are a true national treasure."
Brandt worked as a consultant for the Philadelphia Eagles 2009, helping with free agent and rookie contracts. He has since consulted other players and agents on contracts. But he was being pulled in a different direction.
Career change
While Brandt was an undergraduate at Stanford, a professor had told him he had the writing gift, but Brandt hadn't pursued it. Brandt launched into the high-risk, low-reward world of online sports journalism.
The National Football Post draws an average of 2.5million to 3 million page views a month.
Living in suburban Philadelphia brought his wife, Lisa, back home, but she still keeps tabs on the school she helped found, the Wisconsin International School in De Pere.
Best of all, there's time for his boys: Sam, 14, and Max, who turns 9 on June 3.
It's not clear whether working for National Football Post - and peeling back the curtain on the NFL business - would be a help or hindrance toward getting back in to the NFL.
But when asked whether he wants to get back into the NFL to run a team, Brandt sounded content for now.
"You never say never, but I'm certainly happy doing what I am doing now," said Brandt. "Even though I am somewhat busier than I was when I was with the Packers, I still have time for my boys. And I see teaching as a way of giving back. I certainly know it's not curing cancer, but it's a way of sharing a lot of practical experiences with students."
As for looking forward during this football drought, Brandt offered one more pitch for deal-making, as this has been his very nature all along.
"If the Eighth Circuit upholds the lockout on appeal - which I expect them to do - the NFLPA has to look in the distance and see a future of an indefinite lockout," Brandt said. "I would hope their strategy would turn to deal-making instead of litigating.
"And I would further hope that the NFL would not use that leverage in an unreasonable way.
"There is a deal to be made here; one that will not look much different than what was being discussed on March 11 when negotiation turned to litigation." This article was written by Lori Nickel and appeared in The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
The mechanic explains the recall is due to improper casting of the steering lock bar, which is a component of the interlock system - and it goes in one ear and out the other.
The anchorman says National Football League, $9 billion, lockout, mediation, litigation and appeal - and we're listening because we know somehow it all means no football. But we need to hear this in plain English.
And so, we need Andrew Brandt.
Former Green Bay Packers vice president, salary cap manager and negotiator, player agent, World League general manager - Brandt draws upon nearly three decades of experience in all of those fields to help him in his latest career venture:
Decoding the legal strategies and rulings of the NFL lockout. Brandt boils down the legal jargon into digestible terms.
"I know people are frustrated, angry and bored with the labor dispute, but I tell them to take a deep breath and realize this is all part of the process," said Brandt. "It is a negotiation, no more and no less. The courtroom wins and losses are merely ways of tilting leverage to one side or the other in the eventual negotiation of a new CBA."
Officially out of the NFL for three years now, the 50-year-old Brandt no longer has the edict of solving the league's problems, just explaining them. He does that in three ways:
With columns for National Football Post, a website he cofounded in 2008. Staffed with former front-office personnel men, agents and players, the site offers firsthand insight to the NFL game and the business behind it.
With instruction, teaching sports law and negotiations at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He's also done seminars in Chicago and Indianapolis.
With analysis on ESPN.
Brandt identifies June 3, when a ruling is expected on the NFL's latest appeal, as the next major event for the lockout.
"If the NFL loses the appeal, then they're paying players, business is open, they're under temporary rules and they need to forge a new deal," said Brandt. "If the players lose the appeal, they're locked out indefinitely and missing paychecks and they'll need to make a deal.
"At the end of the day, when it comes to negotiations, I always believed: Never let your adversary become your enemy. Unfortunately, I think that's happened a couple of times in this negotiation. There's been a bit of lack of trust. Or a lack of honest and open communication. Hopefully it's all just part of a process."
When it comes to haggling out deals, Brandt feels right at home.
After Georgetown University Law School, Brandt worked for ProServ in Washington, assisting agent David Falk with NBA and NFL players, including Michael Jordan, Boomer Esiason and Patrick Ewing. He was there when Nike began the Air Jordan phenomenon.
"It was a great experience. We had some remarkable negotiations, which I learned a lot," said Brandt.
After six years, Brandt left to try something different. In 1992, at age 31, he became the general manager of the World League's Barcelona Dragons. Brandt wasn't just running a team. He was introducing a new sport to an unfamiliar fan base.
"They cheered at the wrong times, they did the wave the entire game," said Brandt.
There were only 100 tickets sold for opening night in Montjuic Stadium, site of the 1992 Olympics, which holds 55,000. So Brandt asked a well-known soccer GM in Barcelona whether he could put his football team on their field at halftime to pique interest.
The GM just wanted to make sure the fans could still smoke cigarettes.
They could and it worked; 18,000 showed up for the Dragons' opener.
"Our first touchdown, our tight end broke three tackles on a seam pass. There was polite applause," said Brandt. "The kicker kicks the extra point - and they go nuts."
After a year and a half, the World League disbanded and Brandt went back to being a player agent, this time for Woolf Associates in Boston.
He picked up an unknown kicker, Adam Vinatieri, became friends with client Matt Hasselbeck and worked with Ricky Williams as his agent for baseball while he pursued him as a client for pro football.
Titletown comes calling
Then in 1999, the Packers called out of the blue. Ron Wolf, Green Bay's general manager at the time, had just lost coach Mike Holmgren and executive Mike Reinfeldt to Seattle.
"Ron wondered if I would switch sides," said Brandt. "I made a life decision between chasing Ricky Williams and moving to Green Bay. We decided the lifestyle of an agent - now we had young children - was not conducive to our family."
For the next nine years, Brandt negotiated all player contracts and managed the Packers' salary cap as vice president of player finance and general counsel.
"It was a little different going from Matt Hasselbeck's agent to being a manager on the other side of the table in Green Bay," said Brandt. "And then, of course, I was the one who told him he was traded."
Under Brandt, the Packers managed to keep their salary cap position healthy and strong. He was a valued cap expert and negotiator who never mortgaged the future of the Packers.
Two focuses
"It was always important to me to play for the present and the future," said Brandt. "I did not want our team to be struggling out of salary cap jail like we saw from other franchises."
That meant he had to resist constantly restructuring quarterback Brett Favre's contract, he said, to give the Packers short-term relief with long-term ramifications.
"I had seen the consequences of what happened to teams when their franchise quarterback either retired, was released or was traded," said Brandt. "I was adamant about not putting ourselves in that position and always structured our bigger contracts with that in mind."
When Packers president and CEO Bob Harlan retired at the end of the 2007 season, Brandt was a candidate to replace him. When the Packers went with Mark Murphy instead, Brandt and the Packers parted ways in February 2008.
"It was a good time for a change, for both the Packers and myself," said Brandt. "I had been there nine years; we had just hosted the NFC championship; most players were under contract for a while. I was caught in a web between the football and administrative sides of the organization. Feeling as though I was a senior executive and should apply, I put myself out there - warts and all - for the CEO position, and they decided to go another way.
"In the midst of the search process I was told I would no longer be reporting to Bob Harlan but to Ted Thompson. Ted and I once shared an office, got along well and had the same philosophy on team-building, but I think the CEO selection process made things difficult to continue in the role I had.
"I'm happy for all their success and stay in touch with many people in the organization and the community. The Packers are a true national treasure."
Brandt worked as a consultant for the Philadelphia Eagles 2009, helping with free agent and rookie contracts. He has since consulted other players and agents on contracts. But he was being pulled in a different direction.
Career change
While Brandt was an undergraduate at Stanford, a professor had told him he had the writing gift, but Brandt hadn't pursued it. Brandt launched into the high-risk, low-reward world of online sports journalism.
The National Football Post draws an average of 2.5million to 3 million page views a month.
Living in suburban Philadelphia brought his wife, Lisa, back home, but she still keeps tabs on the school she helped found, the Wisconsin International School in De Pere.
Best of all, there's time for his boys: Sam, 14, and Max, who turns 9 on June 3.
It's not clear whether working for National Football Post - and peeling back the curtain on the NFL business - would be a help or hindrance toward getting back in to the NFL.
But when asked whether he wants to get back into the NFL to run a team, Brandt sounded content for now.
"You never say never, but I'm certainly happy doing what I am doing now," said Brandt. "Even though I am somewhat busier than I was when I was with the Packers, I still have time for my boys. And I see teaching as a way of giving back. I certainly know it's not curing cancer, but it's a way of sharing a lot of practical experiences with students."
As for looking forward during this football drought, Brandt offered one more pitch for deal-making, as this has been his very nature all along.
"If the Eighth Circuit upholds the lockout on appeal - which I expect them to do - the NFLPA has to look in the distance and see a future of an indefinite lockout," Brandt said. "I would hope their strategy would turn to deal-making instead of litigating.
"And I would further hope that the NFL would not use that leverage in an unreasonable way.
"There is a deal to be made here; one that will not look much different than what was being discussed on March 11 when negotiation turned to litigation." This article was written by Lori Nickel and appeared in The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
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