[gymnAnemoe]

cnnbrk CNN Breaking News



#NFL Networks : NFL and the NFL Players union have agreed to a 24 hour extension in CBA negotiations http://on.cnn.com/e9rD9i

From Twitter

[LClan439]

DonBanks Don Banks



Source said 24 hour extension is to keep working on longer extension of days or week.

From Twitter

[xFZ3k8Mw]

Please get this shit done.

[XKAgustin]

If you click on the video of "How it will end", its pretty interesting.

http://www.profootballweekly.com/multimedia

[estuapped]

If you click on the video of "How it will end", its pretty interesting.

http://www.profootballweekly.com/multimedia

Definitely interesting. But I bet it doesn't end up that way. There are a lot of egos involved and it's done by committee. It won't end up making nearly that much sense.

[EasyLOAD]

At least there is some idea that this thing needs to get done, and they know once this thing tips, it's going to be very very hard to right it.

[Vegeinvalge]

So it's being reported on ESPN.com that the NFL is opening its books further. What? I thought they had already given the players full disclosure of the league's finances and whatnot. What else are these guys hiding? My trust of he owners and the league has really gone down hill now. That's not good at all. I wonder just how much leverage this gives to the players now?

[TineSeign]

So it's being reported on ESPN.com that the NFL is opening its books further. What? I thought they had already given the players full disclosure of the league's finances and whatnot. What else are these guys hiding? My trust of he owners and the league has really gone down hill now. That's not good at all. I wonder just how much leverage this gives to the players now?

The owners never had the books opened completely and to my knowledge never stated that the players had each and every fact.

I'm just glad we're seeing more transparency and negotiation than we did back in the 80's.

[bahrains27]

So last night about 100 locals got to hang out at the Players association HQ and mingle/listen to players and reps. I was not one of the lucky 100.
The gist of the whole evening as relayed on the radio this morning was:

there's no chance of an 18 game season
the owners have already flinched twice by signing the extension
D Smith is a totally different director than Gene was. This guy is a major hardass and wont let the owners get away with any crap
Decertification is most likely coming

[chuviskkk]

So last night about 100 locals got to hang out at the Players association HQ and mingle/listen to players and reps. I was not one of the lucky 100.
The gist of the whole evening as relayed on the radio this morning was:

there's no chance of an 18 game season
the owners have already flinched twice by signing the extension
D Smith is a totally different director than Gene was. This guy is a major hardass and wont let the owners get away with any crap
Decertification is most likely coming

Which I take as nothing is getting accomplished. Great.

[scewDeasp]

So last night about 100 locals got to hang out at the Players association HQ and mingle/listen to players and reps. I was not one of the lucky 100.
The gist of the whole evening as relayed on the radio this morning was:

there's no chance of an 18 game season
the owners have already flinched twice by signing the extension
D Smith is a totally different director than Gene was. This guy is a major hardass and wont let the owners get away with any crap
Decertification is most likely coming

Good luck with that. With decertification, Smith is no longer in charge and Kessler steps to the front. And he's a dick. Also, two things could very well happen that the players won't like with decertification...

1) The league counter sues, showing the decertification to be the sham of a move that it really is.

2) The league cancels the draft, revenue sharing, and the salary cap. Rules of player movement are forgotten, and the 32 franchises act as 32 businesses- recruiting and competing for players, and paying them as much (and as little) as they would like. By doing this, they could prevent the non-union players from suing.

[tadacia]

Good luck with that. With decertification, Smith is no longer in charge and Kessler steps to the front. And he's a dick. Also, two things could very well happen that the players won't like with decertification...

1) The league counter sues, showing the decertification to be the sham of a move that it really is.

2) The league cancels the draft, revenue sharing, and the salary cap. Rules of player movement are forgotten, and the 32 franchises act as 32 businesses- recruiting and competing for players, and paying them as much (and as little) as they would like. By doing this, they could prevent the non-union players from suing.

Sham of a move or not. Its on

[grizolsemn]

Sham of a move or not. Its on

Upon further review, the last CBA contains language that the NFL cannot challenge the decertification as a sham.
“The Parties agree that, after the expiration of the express term of this Agreement, in the event that at that time or any time thereafter a majority of players indicate that they wish to end the collective bargaining status of the NFLPA on or after expiration of this Agreement, the NFL and its Clubs and their respective heirs, executors, administrators, representatives, agents, successors and assigns waive any rights they may have to assert any antitrust labor exemption defense based upon any claim that the termination by the NFLPA of its status as a collective bargaining representative is or would be a sham, pretext, ineffective, requires additional steps, or has not in fact occurred.”

It's pretty clear. Which, for us fans, is good, as it makes it more likely that there will be football this season.

[ruforumczspam]

Ugh...


http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...ry/rumor-mill/

The fact that the NFL has locked out a supposedly non-union work force implies that the league believes the union has not properly and effectively decertified.

And the NFL has now expressly said so.

“The union only pretended to decertify in 1990,” NFL outside counsel Gregg Levy said in a statement provided to PFT. “As history has confirmed, that purported decertification was a sham. In an effort to protect its ability to repeat the fraud a second time, the union tried in the White settlement to limit the NFL’s ability to challenge in an antitrust court any future attempt by the union to pull off a similar sham. But that limitation could have applied only if the purported decertification occurred after expiration of the Stipulation and Settlement Agreement. The union was in such a rush to get to court that it did not wait until SSA expiration. The league is therefore free to show that this ‘decertification’ is also a sham.”

Levy is referring to Article LVII, Section 3(b) of the CBA, which states as follows: “The Parties agree that, after the expiration of the express term of this Agreement, in the event that at that time or any time thereafter a majority
of players indicate that they wish to end the collective bargaining status of the NFLPA on or after expiration of this Agreement, the NFL and its Clubs and their respective heirs, executors, administrators, representatives,
agents, successors and assigns waive any rights they may have to assert any antitrust labor exemption defense based upon any claim that the termination by the NFLPA of its status as a collective bargaining representative is Article LVII, Mutual Reservation of Rights: Labor Exemption or would be a sham, pretext, ineffective, requires additional steps, or has not in fact occurred.” (Emphasis added.)

The problem for the players is that Article LVII, Section 3(a) of the CBA required them to wait six months before filing an antitrust lawsuit if they failed to file it before the expiration of the labor deal. So they’ve opted, apparently, to file the lawsuit in accordance with the terms of the CBA and hope that they can cobble together an argument that will allow the waiver of the “sham” defense to still apply.

The league’s position is pretty simple. By failing to wait until the CBA expired to decertify, the plain terms of the agreement preserves the league’s ability to argue that the process of shutting down the union is a sham.

And it is a sham. Everyone knows it’s a sham. But if the league can’t argue in court that it’s a sham, it doesn’t matter. If the league can argue that it’s a sham, then the league will be in good position to avoid an injunction and maintain a lockout.

Of course, that’s bad news for the fans, because it means that a lockout will continue until a deal is reached at the bargaining table. With the players taking personally the treatment they’ve experienced of late, the players may be willing to cut off theirs noses to spite their faces, which means that the offseason could indeed be compromised if not completely forfeited