Malazan

neither one really has a track record of success so who cares?

I think he meant he hasn't impressed anyone with actual results yet.

It's a blog, but we're supposed to believe that blogs are killing 'reporters' who do 'real reporting' and yet these 'reporters' are creating 'blogs'? It's the same reporter circle jerk that has been going on for years. A 'reporter' talks to another 'reporter' like you and I would talk to a buddy about sports and this becomes an article. That's fine if they want to be 'bloggers', but they're claiming the title of 'journalists' all on their own. No on is thrusting that title upon them.

Flutie could actually play a little though

You have to understand, Thoner7 is not interest in the Bills as much as he is in 'having company'.

I've explained this a few times on this board. The owners have to be able to show a certain level of profit to keep the franchises valued where they are at because no one can buy a team without financing. Banks aren't interested in financing a team worth say...813 million that has revenue of 30 million. That team is the Bills. They only make 30 million because Ralph has no loans. Loans would be around 20/million a year at least. That leaves about 10 million in profit. Would you be comfortable lending that money to someone when at 20 million / year that is a 40 year relationship. How many Banks are going to look at that and say yea..we'll do that when the valuation of teams has pretty much hit the maximum. Now, Jerry, Snyder, Kraft are at fault because they helped to drive up the valuation on franchises and that monstrosity in dallas certainly helped cause this situation, but the players merrily rode along as they were getting more money. Smith has also been going legal since he was hired. The players *got* the financial information they wanted and then demanded 10 years worth of information. What are they going to find in financial records from ten years ago? That revenue went up? They already know that and as I mentioned above, it's not exactly about sticking dollar bills in the owners pockets, but ensuring the financial solvency of teams so they *can* be sold. If no one can buy a billion dollar franchise then the value drops, the banks that are financing these teams get nervous (possibly interest goes up) and everyone loses money. Smith is not interested in getting the best deal. I'm sure he grasps the fiscal reality and the potential pitfalls of his current scorched earth strategy. He's interested in winning for himself and nothing else.

I think Pdaddy has clearly sailed into the lead for Village..err....Board...

only one team is not letting employees be affected by this...Good Show, Irsay

Amazingly, the millionaires need a reality check more than the billionaires

It's a very complex situation with plenty of blame on both sides. This particular 'the owners showed disrespect' while negotiating is baloney though because Smith was taking this legal from the getgo. If you want to blame Jerry and his ilk for creating a financial mess that now needs to be rectified then you'll have better traction, but the players have gladly sailed along as it increased their salaries. Now that the hous...player market has crashed, they're all uppity. Neither side gets a pass as both were complicit in creating the financial issues the league now faces.

I'm not disagreeing with you or agreeing with you, but I'd suggest looking into the situation a bit more.

An 'unsourced' story that amounts to a post on this board does not even make the start of a 'rumor'

More money than is available in Buffalo

has anyone accused Smith of having a good plan? This was going legal from the start and every time he tries something, it reeks more than billionaire owners who made bad business decisions wanting a bail out.

truth, all posts should just quote that one

Name one person that's even on the radar for buying an NFL team that has a billion dollars (cash) to pay for a team. Very few teams are paid for outright and even when a billionaire buys a team, he generally finances part of it. The big part of the problem is the valuation of the teams doesn't mesh with the actual profit. Yes, Dallas and Washington make 200 million a year (and that's something the owners need to address, Ralph seems to have put the financial facts together. He is good at keeping money, afterall , but many teams make less than the Bills (30 million/yr) after paying back the interest and making loan payments. What bank is going to finance a billion dollar investment that makes 30 million a year? It would takes 33 years to pay off a franchise at that rate if all 30 million went to paying the loan and there was no interest. This is what many fans and apparently, DeMaurice Smith , are missing. What happens if Banks do not have confidence that these loans can be paid back? The franchises would not be bought or their value would drop (which would most certainly affect the players and their salaries). Haven't we seen this with the 'problem' with the Bills in Buffalo? Anyone buying the team would be looking at loan/interest payments that would basically eliminate any profit. Many owners could lose 20 million and not notice. They're certainly greedy, but this 'fight' isn't about putting a few extra bucks in their posckets. It's a much more complicated financial issue. That aside, the owners like Jerry Jones have caused this problem to exist by forcing up valuations without care for the consequences. They can't expect the players to bail them out. However, the NFLPA made a poor hire in Smith (who was taking this legal from the moment he was hired) and has spent way too much time framing this as 'I can't feed my family or afford Health Insurance' instead of acknowledging that it's a complicated matter and that perhaps before building billion dollar stadiums on a whim that the entire financial situation of the league (and country) should be considered. Neither side in this smells like anything other than poop.

They announced that they would do that a long time ago if the whole thing went legal

I'd go against that. He's not going to be practicing and sitting on the sidelines. Imagine if the a QB entered the draft with a 'year away' from Football. It's not a positive imo. I'd adjust my draft strategy and go O / D Lines. This gives them a year to hit the weights and ensure they are physically prepared for the NFL.

There's a lot more to it than 'the owners are making money'! The valuation of franchises has basically topped out and the increasing difficulty of finding someone with the ability to purchase a team is troubling for the league and owners. A lot of the lucrative nature of a sports team is in the sale price. Think of the Bills which make about 30 million a year (no loans). A buyer would be looking at paying 30 million a year for almost 27 years to 'buy' the Bills and that is without any interest and all 'revenue' from the team going directly to the purchase. How many people are looking at that purchase favorably? More importantly, how many Banks are looking at that and saying, "yeah, let's finance that". The price of a franchise makes the list of people who can afford a team without financing very small and even with financing, the list is pretty small. Throw in the mega stadiums and that public money is much, much tighter now and it's going to be difficult to keep team valued as high as they are now. The owners are less concerned about if *they* are making another 20 million a year each (they certainly do care), but the larger concern is that they need to 'sell' the financial viability of their teams to keep the value high. The owners did plenty to get them into this place like building these mega stadiums from teams that have disproportionate profit compared to most franchises. They basically upped the ante..no one can go out and build a 300 million dollar stadium after the monstrosity in Texas was built. Their current belief that they don't need to give up anything to get the players to take a paycut or that revenue sharing among teams is a bad thing all have put them into this position that forces them to get the players to give up money. There *has* to be a reconciliation of the numbers and it will either come from the current labor strife of a devaluation of the franchises. When the finances get that high, it's way beyond a simple "I WANT MORE". I find it hard to stomach either of these sides talking about need money, but the players have been over the top that they need 'feed their families' and 'health insurance'. Seriously? Why not be honest about it? Come out and just say, "The NFL makes a lot of money and so do we, but there's no reason for us to take less without concessions so we're not going to...'

Can you stop your crusade? They're both at fault. Seriously, did all 32 NFL owners pee in your cheerios?

1. The league has fairly decent parity or it has a level of parity that it has happy with and does not feel the need to 'increase' parity. Parity is about the opportunity to be equal, not a guarantee. 2. It's a nice thought, but there's enough holes to drive a death star through. Just to start, if a QB is claimed then he is 'protected', but any QB claimed can't be claimed again? That right there already overlaps and makes one of them irrelevant. Throwing draft picks for lost QBs just makes it more of a 'cluster'. Are you adding picks? Taking them away from other rounds? This starts to create a cluster. What's to stop teams from using this to 'create' draft picks? Get another team to claim your backup QB and get a free 2nd round pick?

Donte needs a chastity belt for his fingers

What's odd? Most players are not going to sign contracts at this time given the CBA negotiations.

why give traffic to a sub par comic that trashes the Bills that no one had heard of?

I don't recall all this clamoring for holmgren. Either way, the decision to keep mangini made sense. In hindsight, Mangini wasn't great, but how could that really be known before they actually worked with him and weren't sure of the circumstances surrounding last season.