The NFL owners and the NFL Players Association have failed to come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement. The current contract will come to expiration November of this year. This may be telling sign that the NFL's total revenue growth is failing to meet salary growth expectations of the Player's Association.
The 2007 Salary Cap was set at $107M, and that figure is to climb to $116M for the 2008 season; however there is speculation that this sharp increase -- vastly greater than the increases in pay (if any) for the average working-class American -- is grossly unsustainable.
Reports of the expected Owners' holdout can be read here (http://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?showtopic=27558),
here (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE7DB1439F936A2575BC0A9619482 60),
and here (http://www.prosportsdaily.com/forums/showthread.php?t=186533).
The squabble in the NFL can be more closely related to the NHL Owner/Labor dispute which resulted in a net 25% reduction in player salaries, than it relates to MLB and NBA disputes.
The NFL, in stark contrast to the NBA and MLB which have experience enormous worldwide growth, failed in its attempts to bring American-style Football to Europe and the greater global population. Whereas the NBA and MLB are growing on a global scale, providing increased salaries for athletes, the NFL has to rely soley on revenue growth via increase ticket sales and television licensing deals domestically. This public burden is something that fans do not necessarily want or need (source: http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentary/15121651.html).
The only way for owners to stay in the red going forward is to pass through the NFLPA drastic salary cap restrictions which will lower the percentage of the gate athletes will receive. The stadium financing is becoming too much for teams to handle, and everyone will suffer for it.
If anyone was not yet convinced that Lebron James is an immature, selfish ass, last night's post-game interviews have reminded us he's got a King-sized ego:
"We don't want any tag... We don't want any Big 3 or whatever. We just go out there and do our job. Z is playing career basketball right now, Drew is getting better, and I'm going to do what I have to do for us to win, of course."
Of course. Lebron is Cleveland Cavaliers basketball, there's no Big 3, because one big one is enough. Maybe one day he'll figure out that people don't like playing with him, maybe not.
"Things can sometimes by twisted," Said a head-scratching Lebron James, talking about ex-teammate Anderson Varejao. "I don't know if there is a lot of truth to that. When I have spoken to Andy he wants to be on this team. And whoever is on my team is going to be successful, [of course]."
It's naive to think that players should not be earning this kind of money when the leagues they participate in bring in billions and billions of dollars. The sports complex is an 11-figure enterprise. Owners of these teams are generally crooks, and the revenue balance, especially in baseball, is tipped largely in the favor of the few short bald men who sign the paychecks.
As the league brings in more revenue, the players earn more money. There's a finite number of spots to fill, but the amount of cash is growing.
The money has to flow into the hands of the athletes, thus the athletes share a burden of the responsibility to earn their keep and prove they are worth millions. Alex Rodriguez has the talent to earn this kind of money, but obviously that's not enough.
How can athletes do better to earn the fortune their given?
MLB took in over $6B this season from increased stadium attendence and increased exposure. That number will sharply increase as the MLB seeks exposure in foreign markets. This is why Carlos Silva will be getting $12M a year.
MLB players earned just over $2.5B this season, 41.6% of the total revenue. Players used to get 60% of the revenue maybe 20 years ago.
Never forget that this is an entertainment business, owned by 30 people, run by a pro-owner commissioner, with the players the cost of goods.
If you find an article online worthy for Yardbarker, use the QuickPost tool for, uh quick posting. The best part about the QuickPost tool though: if that webpage is already linked to on Yardbarker, you will be sent directly to that Yardbarker article.
It's amazing. I wanted to post and comment about the MLB GM collusion article on ESPN, and it the QuickPost tool took me instead to 'Droppinbombs' post where I am a gonna make me a comment.
Wide receiver Troy Williamson of the Minnesota Vikings was withheld his paycheck from last Sunday because he was with his family the day before his grandmother's funeral.
Owner Zigi Wilf and Coach Childress feel that there's enough precedent among players in the league that you ought to play immediately following the death of a loved one. Williamson will appeal the fine.
Major League Baseball GMs voted the other day on a recommendation to the league to allow for replay to be used in home run situations. This is another big step towards elimnating human error from baseball.
Bud Selig made a stupid quote: "I don't like instant replay because I don't like all the delays. I think it sometimes creates as many problems or more than it solves." But the managerse argue human error calls and... delay the game. Replay would speed up the process in those situations.
Replay is good for baseball. All you old-fashioned purists have no basis for wishing to keep replay away from the game. Too many games have been decided by umpire error, and replay goes a long way towards eliminating specualation that umpires are biased.
Replay for basket catches and feet on/off the base would likely follow, and then finally tag outs.
Odds are though, that the owners and the league will not institute replay yet. This vote from the GMs has absolutely no weight on the rule changes of the game. That power lies solely with the owners and the commish.
I went to the Dallas Stars - Chicago Blackhawks game the other day to seek out an exclusive interview with Yardbarker's own Danny Harrison. Harrison isn't on the active roster I guess, and he wasn't sitting with the team. But, it was a sweet game anyway. The Blackhawks won the game 5-4 on a goal with 20 seconds left in the third period. The Stars made a sloppy line change and the Blackhawks' Jason Williams slapped one it (who the hell makes a line change with 25 seconds left in regulation?)
Highlight of the game was a big hit by the Stars' Brenden Marrow on Brent Seabrook (58 secods, bottom right):
The scuffle after the hit led to a 5 on 3 power play for the Stars, and they were able to capitalize on it with the Sergei Zubov power play goal, assisted by Mike Modano. With this assist, Modano tied Phil Housley, a stud from NHLPA '93, for the career scoring mark for American born NHL athletes. Way to go Modano, the best player on the Minnesota Northstars in NHLPA '93 (my only hockey reference point):
I am starting to see how excited people are about this guy Kevin Durant on the Seattle Sonics. He's got length, he's got deceptive quickness (or slow quickness), and he's lightning quick to shoot the ball. His shot isn't too pretty, but he has some touch from 22 feet.
As long as he's making his jump shots, which he did tonight against the Phoenix Suns, he's going to continue to stand behind the arc waiting for someone to swing it to him. When he feels giddy, then he goes and gets the ball, but he can't keep it up that energy level. Shaq works harder on offense than KD.
This is why his lack of athleticism will haunt him. He doesn't have the stamina or strength to be a motion guy yet. In a couple years, maybe he'll be great. He's got the jumper. There's hope.
By the way, there's no "Kevin Durant" keyword on Yardbarker yet.
True leaders on the court will look to praise the team when things are good, and look to put blame on themselves when things are rough.
Last night's season open for Lebron James and the Cleveland Caveliers resulted in a demoralizing defeat by the Dallas Mavericks, 92-74. Things did not go well, particularly for King James.
Just 10 points on 2-11 for Nike's and the NBA's most highly coveted asset. You would think they've trained him at least to say the right thing in interviews by now.
In fact, when pressed about how the game went, Lebron mentioned nothing about his horrible play, instead gave this little gem:
"We didn't do anything right, we didn't play hard and we didn't execute. It's the first game; hopefully we can put it behind us.''
That is the latest comment by Lebron about his discontent with the Cavs franchise. He's 22 years old, let's remember this. James has had everything given to him on a golden platter his entire basketball life, and really hasn't ever had to make his own decision. Now, he sounds more like a spoiled brat than the marquee player in the NBA.
Lebron James is becoming a sad story. He's been given so much already, but he's grossly immodest with the maturity level of a 9 year old. Read his biography on Nike.com (http://www.nike.com/nikebasketball/usa/#lbjv). He's been coddled and handled very carefully since people discovered his athletic ability, and it turns out he's not very grateful of the entire experience.
It's a shame that he is becoming so self-absorbed. A man of his influence, all eyes on him, has great potential to harness his own power to better his community and give off a positive message to the world. All we get is "look at me because my team is garbage." It's not enough Bron-Bron.
Don't give in to this total bullshit. When in doubt of fishing scams and desperate small-ball calls for attention, trust the YBN tags next to the source link.
Let's all focus our attention on this jjc3914 guy. he's a sore sonofabitch, with nothing better to do on a Friday night than post the same damn article over and over again for 3 hours!
Where I am, it's 2:12 am, and I'm still swooning over the Rockies' win, and I might be addicted to this damn website, but I'm no headline whore like jjc3914. watch our for these guys, Yardbarker.
Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) and Sigma Alpha Mu (Sammys) on the University of Wisconsin frat row face suspensions for Interfraternity Countil violatons stemming from organized parties and hazing in Madison.
Sammys promoted a Halloween party last October, a violation of the council because the fraternity is not allowed to promote an un-sponsor event. Sammys may be expelled from campus.
AEPi is facing a suspension of privileges as a result of unsubstantiated hazing allegations. No Brother testified against the house.
The comments in the following article capture the entire spectrum of opinions:
I've been reading the book, $40M Slaves", by William Rhoden, and it's helping me wrap my mind around the sports and race issue that has dogged professional American athletics since the 1800s.
Reading it, and thinking of what you said, I'm starting to developing a perspective on this matter that I'm curious to know if it's on par with those in the black community.
My new understanding of what you said has to do with the number of black quarterbacks playing in the NFL.
There are now 8 black starting quarterbacks in the NFL, 24 white starters. If a black quarterback gets injured or cut, he will be replaced by a white quarterback in every situation.
Counting yours D Mac, since you've been continuously threatened by injuries, 6 of these starting spots are in question. It's feasible, that by the end of the year, David Garrard and Vince Young will be the only black quarterbacks on the field.
The pressure on blacks to maintain even a small minority of NFL quarterback positions is enormous, especially in a league dominated in numbers by African Americans.
Stay healthy, and stay in control of your own situation.
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