The CBA and You - Insightful

[Rhys]

Pretty terrible article.

I'm not hear to preach about the humor, creativity, or insightful nature of my own writing or posts, because it likely lacks heavily in all three, but honestly "The CBA and You" offers nothing but a simplistic asinine perspective on a complex problem.

A synopsis might be, "The owners are winning, and the players are whiny crying babies who don't understand big business and get butt hurt by tough business stuff. Ignore all the propaganda/posturing from the players side because they're little butt hurt simpleton losers when it comes to big business stuff that owners do."

Thank you, thank you for that. Really truly enlightening.

It should have been titled, "The CBA and My Own Uninspired Asinine Opinion."

Both sides have been conducting their efforts in a way that will better their interests. If the owners felt that having the public "on their side" and increasing transparency with the negotiations would force the issue and in the end help their profit margins they'd have billboards and commercials and a marketing division fighting that war for them.

It is quite easy for 30 or so owners/businessmen to come to an agreement on how to display their side to the public in a way that would best suit their interests, (larger profits for themselves and their shareholders), NOT sustainability. It is another thing to display a unified/secretive/silent front to the public with a representative union of thousands of players with intensely varied economic situations, whose likely goal is ALSO larger sustained profits NOT actual league sustainability/stability.

I might also add that these current alleged Richardson comments were downplayed by Brees, showing that not everyone on the players side is using this as a ploy to will the public to them. Are there players out there trying to blow this into a larger issue to gain public support? Yes.

But, both sides are posturing, both sides are brimming with enviable embarrassingly large finances. There is absurdity, naivety, and greed on both flipping sides of the argument.

Don't ask us to ignore the propaganda of the players and belittle our mutual disgust with the owners ("How mean those awful owners are") unless you're going to call out the owners as well on their business tactics aimed at their own special interests. The ultimate goal on both sides of this is money; it's private big business at it's greediest.

If you're going to take sides, side with the fans, the ones without a voice in the negotiations but with the most investment, emotionally and financially in the whole shebang. That's what the CBA and YOU is about.

[mountainpantherfan]

Great post Rhys.

I will be the first to admit that over the last day or so I've gotten caught up and the back and forth on the boards and most probably saw me as a supportor of the owners.

I'm not. I think both sides need to give in on a lot of issues. I think the players (especially individually and not as the NFLPA) need to be better taken care of when it comes to health issues and further into retirement.

I can also understand how many owners, like Jerry Richardson, are struggling to continue to keep profits up and that they're is real concern on their part about sustainability.

I do support the fans above all. And I support the player (not the union), and the owner (not the collective group of owners).

[SevenSixes]

Nice retort.

I think that as a Panthers Fan, the impending lockout is extremely bad for our team in particular. If there is no CBA prior to the draft, clubs cannot trade for draft picks. There has been some discussion on the Sirius NFL channel as to whether teams can even talk to draftees after they are picked since they would automatically be a part of the players union.

Of course this is merely an inconvenience to the problems trying to install an offense or defense with no OTA's or Mini Camps. If the lockout persists into the pre-season I'd think we'd be looking at a shortened season (8 weeks perhaps) since the teams would need time to prepare for the season (i.e. get in shape) and I would think that would take at least 4 - 8 weeks. I didn't expect the Panthers to be worth watching until week 4 of this year, considering the house cleaning that has happened but this may delay even that.

Ironically, I'd figure Clausen is the biggest winner from any CBA lockout. Since his contract is secured, he can get right on to learning Chudz offense before the CBA expires. If Jimmy can learn the offense well enough, he'll have a lead pipe lock on the QB job for any of the season that remains.

The biggest looser of a CBA lockout is without a doubt the fan in general, and a Carolina Panther fan in specific.

Thanks Jerry! For a Crappy 2010 AND 2011. Your disgust of your fans is showing.

[Delhommey]

Clubs can trade draft picks for draft picks. They cannot trade draft picks for players.

[Hoenheim]

:grouphug:

[paulSM]

If I was the UFL I'd have a CBA drawn up ready to pounce, and as soon as the players are ready to cave I'd move in and offer then a 1 year agreement with health care and enough money to get through the season. Then, at the end of the year, I'd negotiate the new TV deals and try to put together a CBA offer close to that of the NFL with much better player safety etc. This could be the end of the NFL!!! ok, maybe not, but if I was the UFL or the old XFL guys I'd give it a try.

[ncbobcat]

We need to have one more CBA thread. No, TEN more! Maybe the entire first page can be all CBA threads.

[Rhys]

We need to have one more CBA thread. No, TEN more! Maybe the entire first page can be all CBA threads.

This is more of a rebuttal to the homepage article on the huddle than it is a tried and true CBA thread. Also, the importance of the CBA and the negotiations warrants the number of threads started about it, just as the importance of the number one pick warrants 23498573495783 threads started about it.

Merging all the threads into one massive unorganized 200 page thread isn't going to help because all the separate issues, perspectives, arguments and articles aren't separated out and someone looking to read about it doesn't want to sift through a few hundred pages of gobble-dee-****.

[ncbobcat]

Not just the CBA, but more than two threads on any topic is too much... just like the Jimmy clausen ones. Uuuuuugh.......

[Rhys]

I agree, but unfortunately redundancy and message boards are inseparable lovers. :(