Which "NFL" Gang is Greedier? the Owners or the Players?

By David Levy-Fan Experience reporter-Football Reporters Online



When I set out to film this documentary(Gang Greed) in August of 2008, my goal to tell the fans side. To let the fans speak about what it means to be a Jets fan. How the new PSL's were going to affect their status as a season ticket holder. Were they going to invest in them or stop going to games altogether. Now, it seams, no one may be going to any games in 2011.



National Football League team owners locked out the league’s players Saturday, shutting down professional football for the first time in 24 years and plunging the nation’s most popular and prosperous sport into a time of uncertainty.



The owners acted after labor talks with the players’ union collapsed Friday afternoon and players decertified the NFL Players Association, moving the bitter dispute into the courts and ending an era of NFL labor peace that had lasted since players went on strike in 1987.



Decertifying the NFL Players Association enabled the players to file antitrust litigation against the owners, which they did late Friday, with superstar quarterbacks Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees among the 10 named plaintiffs. Lawyers for the players also announced that they are seeking an injunction to lift the lockout.



Some still wonder if all of this was worth the headache. Not just for the players and owners, but the fans as well. Both the Jets and Giants issued apologies to the fans for the lockout. The players feel they did what they could but were left with no other choice.



The team owners will complain they are losing money. I am sure they will have no issues paying their bills though. The income is a loss for their business, not them personally. Some younger players will feel the crunch if they are not playing. Many veteran players have investments and other business ventures that will help them get by. But in the end, they will all be on the losing end.



Does anyone really win when this happens? When the last lockout occurred in 1987, who won that battle? The players went on strike while the owners went out and hired "scabs" to play out the season. Will the team owners do the same thing this year? Probably not. They all want to get this rectified before training camp begins. The fans would like it done sooner.



For season ticket holders, they would like to know sooner than later. Many are pleased only 50% is due and not the whole bill. It gives some longer to get that money together. But knowing a season will happen is better knowing now rather than three weeks into a season. We are on the outside looking in, wondering if a sport many of us enjoy will even happen this year.



Last week Judge David S. Doty ruled that the NFL violated the collective bargaining agreement with its players by renegotiating $4.078 billion in television rights fees for team owners to tap during a lockout even if no games are played in 2011. Why should the owners be entitled to money if there is no season? Should the players get paid if they do not play?



Both sides have their issues. Many players feel the union walked away from a deal that sounded good and met their needs, despite the negative media attention towards the NFL and its owners. According to that statement the NFL released the latest proposal’s details included:



1. The NFL proposed that the two sides split the economic differences between them, increasing their proposed cap for 2011 "significantly" and accepting the NFLPA's proposed cap number for 2014, which was $161 million per team.



2. The NFL proposed an entry level compensation system that was based on the union's "rookie cap" instead of a wage scale that the clubs originally proposed. In this proposal, the players drafted from rounds 2-7 would be paid the same amount of money, or even more money, than they are paid now. The savings that would come from the first-round picks would be reallocated to help veteran players and benefits.



3. After a player is injured, the NFL would guarantee that they would pay up to $1 milllion of that player's salary for the contract year. This is the first time that the owners have offered a standard multi-year injury guarantee.



4. The following changes would be made immediately to promote player safety:



Reduce the off-season program by five weeks, reducing OTAs from 14 weeks to 10 and limiting on-field practice time and contact.

They would limit full-contact practices in the preseason and regular season

They would increase the number of off days for players

5. The NFL proposed that any change from a 16-game season to an 18-game season would only be made if the two sides agreed on the change. The 2011 and 2012 seasons would be 16-game seasons.



6. The NFL team owners would boost retirement benefits for more than 2,000 former players by nearly 60 percent by funding retirees benefits $82 million in 2011 and 2012.



7. The owners offered current players the opportunity to stay in their current medical plans for the rest of their lives.



8. The owners would allow third-party arbitrators in the NFL's drug and steroid programs.



9. The owners would improve the Mackey plan (designed for players suffering from dementia and other brain-related problems), disability plan and their degree completion bonus program.



10. The owners proposed a per-club cash minimum spend of 90 percent of the salary cap over three seasons.



Now that you know the particulars of the deal, do you still agree with the NFLPA's decision to decertify and go to court with the NFL?



Yes, the negotiations have been messy and well-publicized but progress was made before the recent burning of bridges. After having half the month of March in extensions of negotiations, both sides were reportedly off by $185 million on how much owners should get up from each season for certain operating expense before splitting up the rest of the revenues with players. That’s a far less amount than the $1 billion difference that separated the two sides earlier in discussions.



A recent poll by ProFootballTalk.com asked fans to place blame on who is responsible for the lockout and 27,000 have said that the player’s are to blame, barely. Just over 38% say the players are to blame, while 24.8% blame the owners and 36.7% blame both.



Many say this is the billionaires vs the millionaires. Two sides who get paid well, fighting to be paid more. If you own a professional football team, one would think you already had enough. Some of that may go to team operations and other bills to be paid, but many know where the bottom line ends. Players put their bodies on the line and should see a little more compensation. Let's see Woody Johnson or the Mara or Tisch families out there to battle for that extra compensation. I think not.



So while the league and the union continue to bicker like a divorced couple fighting over bank accounts, the fans are the ones who are truly hurting from this dispute, like a child overhearing their parents argument.

Glenn Beck Claims Japan Earthquake is a Sign From God

God hates Japan? Glenn Beck, Tea Party activist and Fox News commentator, has said that the 8.9 earthquake in Japan that has killed many and destroyed the lives of even more is a sign from God. Here's the audio commentary:



That was said on Monday during a radio show. Oh Glenn Beck, how eloquent a speaker.

Adrian Peterson NFL Slavery Comment Removed From Yahoo Post

Minnesota Vikings Running Back Adrian Peterson has become a Twitter Trend, and is getting slammed in the process for comments he supposedly made on Yahoo!'s Shutdown Corner blog column. While blogs like The Huffington Post claim that Peterson said "It's modern-day slavery, you know? People kind of laugh at that.."

But where that appears in the actual Yahoo! blog post is not there. Instead, it reads:

The owners are making so much money off of us to begin with. I don't know that I want to quote myself on that…
SC: It's nothing that I haven't heard from other players, believe me.
AP: People kind of laugh at that, but there are people working at regular jobs who get treated the same way, too. With all the money … the owners are trying to get a different percentage, and bring in more money. I understand that; these are business-minded people. Of course this is what they are going to want to do. I understand that; it's how they got to where they are now. But as players, we have to stand our ground and say, 'Hey — without us, there's no football.'

The "modern-day slavery" comment is just not there anymore. In a search through the blog post, it only appears in the comments issued by readers below the blog post. Thus, while Adrian Peterson allegedly made that comment, it's clear he didn't mean for it to remain online. Instead he says "I don't know that I want to quote myself on that…"

Still, the damage was done. Comedian Chris Rock sent out the most retweeted Twitter Tweet, which popped up on Google Trends as a "top update" and which reads:

@NotChrisRock Chris Rock
Adrian Peterson said the NFL is like modern-day slavery? Slaves got hit with whips & locked in chains. He just buys whips & lots of chains
1 hour ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Twitter - 52 minutes ago

And NFL Running Back and Notre Dame star Ryan Grant weighed in with his disagreement, as have thousands of people on Twitter. (It's died down now; Adrian Peterson is not longer a Twitter Trend.)

But is Adrian correct? Well, I think it's an insult to the real slaves: college football players. The problem is the black college football player thinks that's the only road to financial success in the NFL. So they're willing to put up with being used at the college level, and the colleges are into helping them.

Once a player get to the NFL, the pay scale, endorsements, and guaranteed contracts take the "slavery" tag off the table. Just look at how former Oakland Raiders QB  Jamarcus Russell made out with $29 million in guaranteed money, and is now out of football. A draft bust.

But beyond that, it's clear the NFL has a problem which could be solved by a comprehensive employee ownership program.  In that concept, NFL Players would get to own a share of the NFL.  Now I'm not quoting anyone's idea; it's mine.  But it seems like something that should have been done a long time ago.

The Boxer's Poem

In my video talk with boxing legend Irish Pat Lawlor he got off a poem that's worth hearing. So here's the video:



Stay tuned.

Donald Trump Gets Roasted

Tonight on Comedy Central will be the roast of Donald Trump, previews show that Mike Sorrentino aka The Situation will probably be getting it worse than The Donald.

Watch it tonight at 10 pm after Tosh.O

posted from Bloggeroid

99ers Hungry & Homeless NOT an Emergency - But Japan Is?

I cannot understand how 99ers being hungry and homeless is not an emergency, but Japan Is?

I believe that anyone going hungry or homeless should be an emergency that must be tackled and resolved immediately by the powers that be - after all which is worse:

• Acute hunger and homelessness knowing that help is on the way?

or

• Prolonged hunger & homelessness knowing there is no help in sight?

The disaster and tragedy playing out in Japan is horrendous and every available resource must be used give aid and comfort to those effected. On the other hand, the USA who has yet to address the hunger and homelessness of millions of it’s own people must take care of the crisis on it’s own shores.

It makes me sick that our President, who has yet to utter the term “99ers” in public for more than 1 year now has mentioned Japan several times over the past week. Congress has focused it’s ‘post Japan disaster rhetoric’ on how “safe” nuclear power is in this country. The terms: Safe Nuclear Power or Clean Coal always strike me as intentional myths, like the term: Virgin Whore - exactly who are they trying to kid?

Fact is, the only thing these members of the US Congress or the current Administration care about is the campaign contributions the big power companies put into their pockets and NOT the Safety of the US population. They lie and twist the facts and claim they are doing the “will of the American people” when nothing could be farther from the truth. If Wisconsin showed us anything at all it is that the “Will of the People” is one thing the Republicans couldn’t care less about and neither does Obama. For all his campaign promises to “march on the side of the workers” the first time the opportunity presented itself during his presidency - Obama was a no show!

Anyone who believes that our government or the Japanese officials for that matter are giving us the straight scoop on the nuclear portion of the current disaster - is only fooling themselves. The thing is, if the governments were honest about what is really happening due to the failed reactor incidents in Japan - the stock markets would crumble.

So we can infer from this intentional omission of the real facts that the US and Japan care far less about protecting the masses of poor, now in the path of huge radiation exposure and the resulting health consequences and care far more about protecting the wealth of those heavily invested in the markets. In other words, “Business as Usual” for our greedy leaders.

Perhaps this will finally wake up the world about the consequences of continuing to serve the needs of the few and risk the well being of the masses. Germany seems to be getting the message.

On Saturday, March 12, at the protest in southwestern Germany, demonstrators formed a human chain between the Neckarwestheim nuclear plant and the city of Stuttgart, which are 28 miles (45 kilometers) apart. Some waved yellow flags with the slogan "Nuclear power — no thanks." Organizers put the number of protestors at over 60,000.

The demonstration was planned long before the post-earthquake blast at Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, but the fears of possible disaster gave an added focus to opponents of the technology in Germany.

So why can’t the US seem to get the message? Most of the nuclear power plants in California are said to be able to withstand a potential quake of up to 7 on the Richter Scale. With approximately 20 quakes in the last decade over the threshold of 7 - the present state of safety of these structures is in extreme jeopardy. Now is NOT the time to cut funding or repeal regulations that could further imperil our populations near these sites and around the world. Something the Republican Congress needs to be reminded of daily.

Another thing the Congress needs to be reminded of on a daily basis is the continuing effects of the man made 99er disaster playing out in every state of the union, unabated and unresolved with nobody coming to the rescue.

Before anyone condemns me for criticizing the USA’s rapid aid response to Japan - DON’T - I believe that every bit of help is needed to assist the Japanese at this terrible time of vulnerability for their country.

I simply cannot fathom how the US Government and main stream media can continue to put the suffering of Millions of American 99ers - for more than a year now with no help in sight - on the back burner yet again in favor of the latest “crisis of the month” - Remember the BP oil spill nearly one year ago?

From 20 April through 15 July 2010 for hours on end the media constantly showed the gushing oil from the bottom of the gulf. Had they featured the suffering from one 99er family each hour in addition to that gushing broken oil well - we might have already by now resolved the 99er issue and I’d have nothing more to write about....a development I look forward to with immense, happy anticipation - however it isn’t bloody likely to occur anytime soon.

Oakland Ranked Choice Voting Complaints An Insult To Mayor Quan

There's still discussion over the new Oakland Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV) system, with the latest article suggesting that a number of voters didn't understand it. Well, that's wrong headed and an insult to Oakland Mayor Jean Quan that's starting to sound like that high-pitched whine journalists make over the sale of The Huffington Post to AOL. Look, the November election's over and Quan won.

Moreover, Jean Quan won because a healthy number of voters did understand RCV - enough to product an incredible outcome.

In our election recap, Oakland City Attorney John Russo actually explained how Quan could win over Don Perata, who scored about 35 percent of the first-choice votes, before she won, then said that the possibility of Quan getting three-quarters of the second-place and third-place votes was so remote, it wouldn't happen. See this video:



But guess what? It did happen. Russo actually called it. Moreover, it means, once again, that Quan and Oakland Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan's gamespersonship worked. That's right. They smartly gamed the RCV system in telling their supporters to vote for the other person's candidate. Nice work.

And before you get upset over my use of that term gamespersonship, which was deliberate, calm down and consider the reverse. Don Perata didn't play the game. He failed to use a campaign strategy of working a deal to make sure even his supporters knew who to pick for second and third choice. Think of what may have happened if none of his supporters picked Quan as their second choice?

Now you see the point.

Even if all voters understood RCV, it would not have translated into a different outcome. The playing field was open to anyone willing to apply a little game theory and marketing. That's what Quan and Kaplan did.

Now Quan's the Mayor of Oakland. Get over it, please. We have too many problems and still not enough jobs for Oakland residents. We need more than a new retail store; we need a manufacturing plant. Our focus should be on Oakland's economic development, and not on ranked choice voting.

The Fighter: Irish Pat Lawlor: Boxer On Beating Roberto Duran, Boxing Poem

Today, while with my friend Thomas Bonk at a bar called La Rocca's at Chestnut and Columbus in San Francisco's North Beach, and making the first videos of what will soon be the Thomas Bonk Show, I had the pleasure of meeting a boxing legend. The Fighter: Irish Pat Lawlor, a San Franciscan who fought, on-and-off, between 1987 and 2005, and in some of the most memorable matches in boxing history.

Irish Pat Lawlor's career was marked by three major victories over fighters Roberto Duran, Wilfredo Benitez and Rene Arredondo. But separate from the joy of winning and fighting 12 boxing champions, was the grind of being a career boxer. Someone who fought to make the rent.

But, even while posting what became a 23-16-1 (7 KOs) record, Lawlor's never-say-die attitude and winning personality carried him through. His determination allowed him to later (in my video) describe his win over the intimidating Roberto Duran as "easy." It also caused him, at one point, to run for San Francisco Mayor on what was described as an "arch-conservative, anti-gay platform."

But all of that, some 20 years ago, seems well in the past, and Lawlor's a far more willing to go-along to get-along today. The kind of guy who will buy the bar a round and engage in friendly banter, as he did today.

Of late, Lawlor's become known for "The Boxer's Poem," that he recited in the video without a break and for just over 3 minutes. It's a riveting poem Lawlor delivers in a riveting way, and starts like this:

Sometimes I think it's a lowdown shame
the way I try to hang in this rough, crazy game
My body is aching, my hands and feet are sore.
And I'm getting really tired of pulling myself up off the floor
It all started as a tribute to a friend ...

From my research my video is the first to have Lawlor actually speaking a poem only written about before.

The variation of the poem Lawlor tells today is different from the one recorded in text in 2001. It focuses more on the loss of a friend than the prostitute that the boxer sometimes is. This version, the 2011 version, is softer and more touching that before, but packing no less of a punch.

Irish Pat Lawlor's still got it, just in a different way.