If GEICO ever sold a policy to insure that pro football fans would have a 2011 NFL football season…that policy has now expired.
The NFL has won another round in the court fight with its players.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday decided that the league’s lockout of its players should stay in place until a full appeal is heard on whether it is legal, which means until at least the first week of June and possibly much longer.
The 2-1 decision mirrored a similar decision last month from the same panel, including a lengthy dissent from the same judge.
The 8th Circuit has scheduled a June 3 hearing in St. Louis on the legality of the lockout.
The decision came on the same day that NFL owners and their locked-out players resumed court-ordered mediation behind closed doors. It was the fifth day of talks in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan, but the first since April 20. As of today (May 17), those talks were called off.
Hall of Famer Carl Eller, representing retired players in their federal antitrust lawsuit against the league with the current players, said as he left the courthouse yesterday that “his side was waiting on a proposal from the owners”.
“It’s been a long day, and we’re still working on it,” Eller said at the seven-hour mark of the day’s talks.
The 8th Circuit has been seen as a more conservative, business-friendly venue for the NFL than the federal courts in Minnesota.
In my humble opinion, if the lockout continues into mid-or-late-June, as it now looks like it will— without some serious settlement negotiations happening first, then this 2011 season could be lost for good.
Nate Dunleavy, the beat writer for the Indianapolis Colts on this Network at 18 To 88.com, summed it up best:
Why is the ruling bad news for fans?
“While not final, the ruling clearly telegraphs the intent of the 8th Circut Court to overturn the injunction against the lockout. However, depending on the wording of the final verdict, the court could manage to embolden both sides. Unlike other court rulings against the owners that were harsh in their language, this ruling did not attack the players directly, nor did it jeopardize any of their key arguments. It’s merely a ruling about whether Judge Nelson has the right to lift the lockout or not. The owners can be confident their lockout will go on. The players can be confident that the general merits of their case are sound.”
In other words, this is a functional and tactical victory for the owners— but not an ideological one. Nothing in the ruling says the owners are correct or likely to prevail on the larger issues. It only says that the NLRB has to decide the case first.
Meanwhile, Judge Doty’s pending ruling on the TV case could prove a major monkey wrench in the process. If he awards massive damages for the players, they would then have the money necessary to wait out the owners, and the dispute could literally last another year at least.
This ruling’s overall effect tips the scales against a quick resolution and forces everyone to prepare for many, many more months of litigation.
What are the Owners’ options?
“If the owners are serious about a CBA deal (and I don’t believe them to be serious), they should immediately make their best offer to the players. A show of good faith now could lead to a resolution.”
If, however, the owners are committed to crushing the union, they will make a poor offer now. This ruling ensures that it doesn’t matter if the owners have any legal grounds for the lockout, the process will take so long to resolve that they can make the players cave. Jim Irsay suggested that he and Jeff Saturday could get a deal done over drinks. I’m sure they could. If the league listens to the statesmen now, there’s hope. Unfortunately, Jerry Jones and Jerry Richardson still have too much say.
What are the Players’ options?
They can cave now and take whatever deal the owners offer.
They can wait for the 8th Court’s final decision and appeal that to the US Supreme Court. The Court would have to hear the case, and then rule. A win there for the players on the jurisdictional issue would end the lockout…but it will take a year to happen.
They can wait out the owners, hope for a good ruling from Doty, and continue with their case. Nothing in the ruling yesterday attacked the merits of their case or their arguments. If they choose this path, they are settling in for a long bloody war which they are still likely to win legally…if they can last long enough to see the end of it.
What should fans hope for?
A miracle.
Unless the owners decide to make a credible offer, I believe now more than ever that this process will cost us the 2011 season. Suddenly, the doomsday scenario posed by Cris Collinsworth has legs.
Frankly, I don’t see any way this mess doesn’t last until at least the first few months of the season. Collinsworth says “November”… The reason is simple: the owners want it to drag on… They want the lockout to last as long as possible, because if they break the union, they get the best deal. The owners have never been “serious” about getting a deal done, and they want this process to drag on as long as possible.
In many ways, I don’t care who wins. I do believe the players’ position is more grounded in law and justice…
Frankly, I don’t think the union will fold. I fully expect this to drag on well past the one-year mark. Eventually, the NLRB and the courts will rule in favor of the players, but by then fans will be too angry to care. They’ll blame both sides, and the game will suffer.
It’s 1994 all over again.
Dang it, maybe I’ll have to bone up on my NASCAR coverage just to get a gig this Fall…
The suckitude of this situation is suddenly sickening…
Meanwhile, per the GK Brizer’s directive, I am happy to announce the recovery of many a fine poster from our former home at “On The Inside”, which, upon the final surgical improvements by Dave (“Spuds”) Spadaro as promised, we may surge en masse to reclaim again one day. In recent days, we have rescued Chris Lewis, Fields 69, Kent Phil of the U.K., JCC, Don Pardo, South Philly Ben, Kenemeka, Manth, J. Trent, SonButts, Jerked Up, Abe Lincoln, Dixon Sider and others yet to be named.
The following former posters are still missing in the aether of the explosion that tore our beloved pub down on March 31…
Swoop (has been seen at the reconstruction site), Joe Massucci (ditto for Joe), Eagle Blue Don (was treated rudely by Italicon over “there”), Old Bill (made a brief appearance there, as did Nuuuudlz)…Still missing: Jay Ringo, Ted 1972, AApoet, Eagle-1, J.Wood, Yankees MLB, amazinbless, WW1202, orange.tod, ball-hawk, taracaves, smitty aec, cereal killer, Bird-brain, S. Hudson, Sgt. Hambone, eaglesrbet, russo7…CB5 Alumni, King Eagle, Tommy J, gsbatch, the_Smart, londraj, ed driscoll, flyeaglez…. wibinga, kbsman2, philly phan, senhor cook, spirit 3532, fly eagles fly, Mike 1023, FYer…The Personnel King, iceman, irawillis, y0 philly, yo terrence, vaeaglesfan, franklin delano, m. harris (“FANNY”), jweave26, Stine, Scott Harrison, 1611 kjv, calmdown, stepash, Irish Sparx, newswaggin, rohash….kiwi, greenspeed, kanashibar, amoses, Bray, martymar, Tall Eagle… Some “troubled” celebrities missing are steveo 909, igglefandb, atvcar, dario, mazostylez, tdcc jones, justinmorrisnow, rhamses 730, mick jagger, Royal Flush, soulpheus, eaglesfank, Crowe, eagleyank…it’sayoungearth is lurking…haven’t heard from Officer Mike down at Fort Hood…bruzer9.5 and brizorro MIA…
This is a partial list..please feel free to suggest or add names of posters you personally remember that I may have omitted.
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