No Movement on NFL Labor Talks
Sat Feb 6, 2010



ESPN reports NFL owners have met for several hours to discuss the labor situation, although it appears they are no closer to reaching an agreement with the players' union for a new collective bargaining agreement. League spokesman Greg Aiello said that "everything is status quo. Nothing new to report." Some of the owners listened to a presentation by NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith on Saturday as the two sides try to avoid a lockout in 2011, when the current labor pact expires. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said during his state-of-the-league address Friday that fans "expect solutions ... and we should deliver." Goodell said he and the league's owners want an agreement and it's "absolutely false" that owners would want to see a work stoppage. Goodell bristled about a statement union chief DeMaurice Smith made Thursday. Smith estimated the chance of a lockout next year was "14" on a scale of 1 to 10. "I couldn't make that prediction, and I sure hope he's wrong, and I sure hope it doesn't become a self-fulfilling prophecy," Goodell said Friday. "Right now we don't need a lot of focus on that. We need to take advantage of the opportunity we have right now to structure an agreement and sit down and negotiate. That's how this is going to get done, and we will have an agreement. It's just a matter of when, but talking about options like work stoppages is not going to get us there."

quote:

ORIGINAL: Duane Sampson

Steve Bisciotti: Several NFL Owners Struggling
Wed Feb 3, 2010

AP reports Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti said Wednesday that several NFL owners are facing a financial shortfall that could create "long-term problems for the league" and ultimately result in a lockout. As the Ravens prepare for a 2010 season without a salary cap, Bisciotti hinted the NFL could shut down in March 2011 if concessions aren't made by the players union in negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement. Speaking at a news conference in which team officials looked back at last season and ahead to 2010, Bisciotti insisted many of the 32 NFL teams are struggling to finish in the black. "I've got partners out there right now whose teams are making less money than their linebackers. I think we've got an acute problem here with the general profitability of the teams," Bisciotti said. "We always knew this was not a big cash-flow business, but when you've got guys like Jacksonville tarping up 10,000 seats to stop blackouts, when you've got teams that are voluntarily staying at the minimum of what they have to spend on the salary cap in order to not go upside down financially, then we already have a structural problem." Three years ago, the owners and players union signed a CBA that Bisciotti labeled "a bad deal" for the owners. "That puts us in the unenviable position of this thing ending in a lockout as opposed to a strike," he said. "There's no cash flow. If we don't get this thing back to the point that teams have enough cash flow ... then there's long-term problem for the league. We're going to have to address that." Ravens president Dick Cass said the club is "doing well compared to other teams around the league. But just because we're still doing well in revenues, that doesn't mean we're generating a lot of profit."

quote:

ORIGINAL: Jeff Jesser

ESPN's coverage of Little Ben possibly getting Big Ben in trouble again:


I talked with a bouncer at the bar who was working last night but asked to remain anonymous.  He was asked to stand in front of the the private room that Ben and his friends were in and make sure no men entered. 


What a freaking horrible "news" agency.  Way to keep the dude anonymous.  [&:]

quote:

ORIGINAL: Lynn G.

There seems to often be a tendency to overanalyze the actions or response of a victim of a sex crime. I think we all have our own notion of how someone SHOULD behave or speak in that situation but the truth is that none of us really know (hopefully) how to properly behave after being the victim of a crime like that. Let's just try to stop being judgmental of how the VICTIM behaves and focus our attention on the suspect.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Lynn G.

There seems to often be a tendency to overanalyze the actions or response of a victim of a sex crime. I think we all have our own notion of how someone SHOULD behave or speak in that situation but the truth is that none of us really know (hopefully) how to properly behave after being the victim of a crime like that. Let's just try to stop being judgmental of how the VICTIM behaves and focus our attention on the suspect.