Interesting point by Colin Cowherd

[BillsVet]

What if the business you work at had a cap for their payroll? How would that go over for you and your co-workers. It would only be instituted so that they didn't have an unfair advantage over other similar companies.

 

I'd prefer to see no cap at all then start placing restrictions on anything and everything to "level" the playing field. When someone tells me that it's in my best interest to agree to give up small freedoms to gain something, well, eventually you'll have no freedom.

[Doc]

without a CBA, there is no foundation to support a draft.

 

expect the union, or its decertified members, to sue to stop the draft claiming restraint of trade

Everywhere I've read about what happens with no cap in 2010 and a work stoppage in 2011 says that there will be a draft, with no mention of anyone suing to get it stopped. And what would be the point from the players' side?

[Geno Smith's Arm]

I side with the owners as well, even though they brought this on themselves with that last CBA. But the players will be absolute fools if they allow a lockout to happen.

 

I side with the fans. They pay the salaries.

 

The whole thing is running on the fans money (yes, even the television revenue), and we are treated terribly. Like a girlfriend you are trying to get rid of, but keeps coming back, bearing gifts.

 

Commercials thrown at us constantly, slowing the game, and at the stadium it is IMPOSSIBLE to not have some kind of ad in your field of vision (the world wasn't always like this, there was a time when every inanimate object wasn't a billboard). Overpriced concessions and parking, blacked out games, TAX BREAKS!

 

I stopped giving them my money back in 1990. I don't buy tickets, or NFL gear etc. I watch the games, but I don't buy any products that are advertised during the games (at least to my knowledge). No, I don't avoid the products, I'm just not a big consumer. I don't buy new cars, or Coors/Bud/Miller, or go to fast food joints, etc. I'm not a snob (just poor, but with expensive tastes), and I have to spend my money wisely. I know there are others like me out there in Bills Land.

 

Of course I'm a huge Bills fan, and they have the whole region in perpetual fear that they would move the team if the area resists, so it's a catch-22.

 

It's not the league's fault though, it's ultimately the fans that let it happen.

[Shoto]

I am not his biggest fan but he does, on occassion, make some good points.

 

Cowhered believes that lack of spending in free agency and player movement is a strong indication that the owners believe that there will be a strike in 2011.

 

Both sides are foolish - they are going to kill the golden goose.

 

Cowherd's a prick, he is nothing more than a radio shock jock. He talks in circles trying to get a reaction. I do not believe he has ever said anything positive about sports in Buffalo. As you can tell, I am not his biggest fan. I rather listen to Rush for my sports.

[Doc]

I side with the fans. They pay the salaries.

I think I can safely say that every fan sides with the fans. Beyond that however, we should be siding with the owners. Siding with the players only ensures prices will continue to rise.

[buffaloaggie]

Maybe the lack of spending is due to the lack of quality in the FA field.

This is so true. The players wanted to prove that there was collusion going on with the owners regarding FA. The players thought that with an uncapped season, that owners would go wild throwing big bucks at the FAs. Little did they realize that owners are tired of getting burned by overpaying for FA busts, so it has become natural for owners to become more frugal concerning FA.

 

As others mention, I am wondering is when the two sides will actually consider the fans and quit jacking up prices of tickets, merchandise, concessions and TV contracts. Only when other teams besides Jacksonville start showing dwindling attendance figures and companies pull their season ticket accounts.

[buffaloaggie]

What if the business you work at had a cap for their payroll? How would that go over for you and your co-workers. It would only be instituted so that they didn't have an unfair advantage over other similar companies.

 

I'd prefer to see no cap at all then start placing restrictions on anything and everything to "level" the playing field. When someone tells me that it's in my best interest to agree to give up small freedoms to gain something, well, eventually you'll have no freedom.

You don't think businesses have a salary cap? It's called an annual budget. And they don't have to institute it league wide. They establish it on themselves if they want to avoid bankruptcy. Sorry, bad analogy.

 

You don't think that sometimes it's in your best interest to give up freedoms? Tell that to the workers now who submit to an across the board pay cut rather than having a layoff. Sometimes, it needs to happen. I know that there can be layoffs that follow, but that can be a whole other thread to start talking about the state of the ecomony. Unfortunately with the NFL, they are under the impression that they are exempt from the effects of a struggling economy.

 

BTW, no cap has worked really well in baseball This go-round, both sides must address the issue of putting a cap on rookie salaries.

[Doc]

This is so true. The players wanted to prove that there was collusion going on with the owners regarding FA. The players thought that with an uncapped season, that owners would go wild throwing big bucks at the FAs. Little did they realize that owners are tired of getting burned by overpaying for FA busts, so it has become natural for owners to become more frugal concerning FA.

Actually, it sounds like players didn't realize that without a cap, it took 6 accrued seasons to become an UFA, not the previous 4. Meaning some 200+ players who would otherwise have been UFA's were now RFA's. And without good young FA's available, there wouldn't be a feeding frenzy.

[Red]

I side with the fans. They pay the salaries.

 

The whole thing is running on the fans money (yes, even the television revenue), and we are treated terribly. Like a girlfriend you are trying to get rid of, but keeps coming back, bearing gifts.

 

Commercials thrown at us constantly, slowing the game, and at the stadium it is IMPOSSIBLE to not have some kind of ad in your field of vision (the world wasn't always like this, there was a time when every inanimate object wasn't a billboard). Overpriced concessions and parking, blacked out games, TAX BREAKS!

 

I stopped giving them my money back in 1990. I don't buy tickets, or NFL gear etc. I watch the games, but I don't buy any products that are advertised during the games (at least to my knowledge). No, I don't avoid the products, I'm just not a big consumer. I don't buy new cars, or Coors/Bud/Miller, or go to fast food joints, etc. I'm not a snob (just poor, but with expensive tastes), and I have to spend my money wisely. I know there are others like me out there in Bills Land.

 

Of course I'm a huge Bills fan, and they have the whole region in perpetual fear that they would move the team if the area resists, so it's a catch-22.

 

It's not the league's fault though, it's ultimately the fans that let it happen.

 

 

Well said.

 

This is the same answer for the sad state of everything in this nation- government, education, politics. You name it, we have fallen asleep at the wheel.

[Mr. WEO]

I think I can safely say that every fan sides with the fans. Beyond that however, we should be siding with the owners. Siding with the players only ensures prices will continue to rise.

Regardless of side, ticket prices will always increase. Most ticket increases add relatively little to overall revenue for most teams. The Bills total ticket sales represent only about 15% of total revenues.

[MarkyMannn]

I don't know.

 

On the one hand, the players are the ones literally placing their lives on the line. They are 1 play away from a wheelchair.

 

Give me a break. The player CHOOSES to put himself in that position. If he is so worried about permanent injury, go get a job answering phones for Geico. Oh, yeah, much less pay. There are lots of professions out there making 5 figues putting their life on the line. Cops, military, industry, railroad, etc........... My son is in training to be a power lineman. F***king scary as all heck. I would trade THIS for a ACL injury any time

 

For that matter the Geico phone person risks carpal tunnel

[RyanC883]

Nah this one time I go with the owners. Players salaries have gotten out of hand. That is why newer, bigger, higher priced stadiums are being created. They need the money to pay the players and be profitable.

 

50-55% of 8 billion dollars is more than enough for the players union to live on. I am also big on putting not only a rookie cap in place, but a position cap as well and have it be a fixed cap.

 

 

Rookie cap is def needed. It's crazy that people who have not played a down in the NFL can instantly become the highest paid player at their position.

[Mickey]

It will be a lockout and it is virtually guaranteed to occur. RW may have been a horrible owner for the Bills but he has been good for the NFL. His leadership on AFL/NFL merger, revenue sharing and the TV contracts are what made him a legit HOF member. It's the new owners like Snyder, Jones, and Kraft that think they can turn their team into the Yankess and win all the time by not sharing money. Without revenue sharing the NFL will become as bad as baseball.

Revenue sharing and not a cap is the key to the CBA. The union is right in that the problem right now is between the owners. They won't be able to come to an agreement amongst themselves and therefore there will be no CBA and no football in 2011.

Obama should step in and negotiate a settlement! It will be better for his legacy than health care reform.

But then he'll be accused of orchestrating a government take over of professional football in furtherance of his nefarious socialist plot to eradicate all human life on the planet.

[Doc]

Regardless of side, ticket prices will always increase. Most ticket increases add relatively little to overall revenue for most teams. The Bills total ticket sales represent only about 15% of total revenues.

I meant "prices" as in all prices. That includes things like parking, concessions, and club seats, which are unshared revenue, to go with regular ticket prices which are split ~60/40 between the home and away team. And while it's true that prices will still rise, it's the rate at which they rise. And realistically, if the owners win, they can't justify raising ticket prices for at least a few years, since their major cost will have decreased.

[Mr. WEO]

I meant "prices" as in all prices. That includes things like parking, concessions, and club seats, which are unshared revenue, to go with regular ticket prices which are split ~60/40 between the home and away team. And while it's true that prices will still rise, it's the rate at which they rise. And realistically, if the owners win, they can't justify raising ticket prices for at least a few years, since their major cost will have decreased.

Oh you mean because they will no longer be "paying 60% of thier revenue to players"?

 

hahahaha. Good one!

[Mike in Horseheads]

You don't think businesses have a salary cap? It's called an annual budget. And they don't have to institute it league wide. They establish it on themselves if they want to avoid bankruptcy. Sorry, bad analogy.

 

You don't think that sometimes it's in your best interest to give up freedoms? Tell that to the workers now who submit to an across the board pay cut rather than having a layoff. Sometimes, it needs to happen. I know that there can be layoffs that follow, but that can be a whole other thread to start talking about the state of the ecomony. Unfortunately with the NFL, they are under the impression that they are exempt from the effects of a struggling economy.

 

BTW, no cap has worked really well in baseball This go-round, both sides must address the issue of putting a cap on rookie salaries.

 

I could not agree more with everything you said. I'm a controller for a NFP and the peeps were glad just to keep their jobs with no raises this year. The annual budget slashed other perks instead but nobody bitched. You'll find very little sympathy for players making millions here.

 

As for baseball, I'm a Baltimore Orioles fan. By June the season is over because the Stankees and Bosux will be buying up whatever they need to get over the top.

[muggins]

Funny how people have differing opinions on sports radio personalities.

I can't stand listening to Stephen A. Smith, but a friend of mine listens to him every day.

For me...Cowherd is currnently hands down the best in the business.

what... no

 

If you like someone who states their opinion 14 different times in one hour and constantly talks about things that don't have to do with sports and shouts down anyone who disagrees with him and craps on anything except LA or NYC or "good airport cities" then yeah I can see this

[ExiledInIllinois]

A lockout is when the owners don't let labor into work... Right? Kinda like a "strike" by management. How can a lockout be labor's fault? They are willing to work, let them into work. Lockouts in sports with highly paid workers always amazed me, you would think ownership would do anyting to keep workers working then come to a deal... Make the players look like the bad guy. How can a lockout make the players look bad? IMO, it makes it look like the owners are saying: "I don't care about my business, so I will just destroy it by pouting." I mean, one needs the workers to make the product right? How is this an effective tool for the owners? I am I missing something? Especially in hockey, some players could have went to Europe to play.

[scribo]

A strike might be the market correction the Bills need to stay relevant.

 

Of course, as a diehard football fan, I really do not want another strike. But...it might be in Buffalo's best interests.

[Doc]

Oh you mean because they will no longer be "paying 60% of thier revenue to players"?

 

hahahaha. Good one!

Almost as good as continuing to cling to the fantasy that that CBA was a good one, or that it wasn't bad because "it didn't hurt anyone." Or ensuring us that a lockout would never happen. Or that a lockout in 2011 is better than a lockout in 2008.