UPDATE: The lockout is back on......

[SteelerEmpire]

MINNEAPOLIS -- The federal judge who lifted the NFL lockout dealt another blow to the league Wednesday, denying its request to put her ruling on hold and guaranteeing more limbo for the $9 billion business.

U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson wrote that the NFL "has not met its burden for a stay pending appeal, expedited or otherwise." She dismissed the NFL's argument that it is facing irreparable harm because of her decision Monday to end the 45-day lockout.

LINK: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d81f861c6/article/lockout-still-lifted-judge-denies-nfls-stay-request?module=breaking_news

[stillers4me]

http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/657785492/alex__mcfadden_normal.jpg
mortreport (http://twitter.com/#!/mortreport) Chris Mortensen



2010 rules something DeMaurice Smith offered to extend through 2011 but was rejected by league, which wants long-term "fix" - now in a fix

[stillers4me]

http://a3.twimg.com/profile_images/313743829/PFW_FB1_normal.jpg
ProFootballWkly (http://twitter.com/#!/ProFootballWkly) Pro Football Weekly



Tomorrow could be one of the most interesting days in the 91-year history of the NFL. League year could begin hours before Rd. 1 of draft.

[zulater]

Geez what a a shock Judge Stacked Deck upheld her own ruling. Of course there is some fitting irony here with the way Goodell is in charge of appeals of punishment he meted out. :chuckle:

[zulater]

Good category for The $25,000 pyramid.

Partner 1

That tiger looks friendly, maybe I'll pet it.

ooh a live wire in the road, just drive over it.

that gang of bikers cut us off, flip em the finger!

Let's opt out of the CBA early

Partner 2.

Things a stupid person would say!!!

[X-Terminator]

Still not completely supporting the players, but I do love seeing Der Kommissar get kicked in his nonexistent balls not once, but twice!

[Vis]

Geez what a a shock Judge Stacked Deck upheld her own ruling. Of course there is some fitting irony here with the way Goodell is in charge of appeals of punishment he meted out. :chuckle:

Judge stacked deck? She's right on the law. She would have to be corrupt to find any other way. There is a reason the players aren't as afraid of litigation as the owners are.

[Vis]

I love this line from Judge nelson, "The world of 'chaos' the NFL claims it has been thrust into -- essentially the 'free-market' system this nation otherwise willfully operates under -- is not compelled by this court's order," Nelson wrote.

[zulater]

Judge stacked deck? She's right on the law. She would have to be corrupt to find any other way. There is a reason the players aren't as afraid of litigation as the owners are.

If we allow her to be the final arbiter team sports as we know it will be confined to only major markets within two decades. Because by the letter of the law the draft is illegal, as is any form of exclusive rights to a player by a team.

Sports have been granted special dispensation for years to allow for a level playing field. That will all be gone soon thanks to this ruling. Football will be no better than baseball soon thanks to our girl here. Glad you like it, because I sure am not looking foward to the Packers, Bills, and Steelers being marginlized to historic footnotes.

[Vis]

If we allow her to be the final arbiter team sports as we know it will be confined to only major markets within two decades. Because by the letter of the law the draft is illegal, as is any form of exclusive rights to a player by a team.

Sports have been granted special dispensation for years to allow for a level playing field. That will all be gone soon thanks to this ruling. Football will be no better than baseball soon thanks to our girl here. Glad you like it, because I sure am not looking foward to the Packers, Bills, and Steelers being marginlized to historic footnotes.

Wrong. The two sides can always agree to restrictions of free market forces through collective bargaining for the good of the NFL as a whole. The owners know they can afford stoppages better than the players can so had the lockout to strong arm them. The players know they have the law but they also know that going total free market will kill the golden goose. The law is the threat to prevent being starved into a bad deal. For the fans, legal victories by the players speeds up the agreement. Remember the players would keep the deal that's been in place for years. The owners wanted a better deal for themselves. this fight is all about how much of a better deal the owners get. the players will get less. I don't care one tiny bit that the owners get as big of a bonus as they hoped for, I just want it done.

[Devilsdancefloor]

So since ther eis no lock out which owner blinks first and signs a FA? IKKKKKKKKKEEEEEEEEE sign sign now!!! lol

[Vis]

So since ther eis no lock out which owner blinks first and signs a FA? IKKKKKKKKKEEEEEEEEE sign sign now!!! lol

Al Davis....

[43Hitman]

Wrong. The two sides can always agree to restrictions of free market forces through collective bargaining for the good of the NFL as a whole. The owners know they can afford stoppages better than the players can so had the lockout to strong arm them. The players know they have the law but they also know that going total free market will kill the golden goose. The law is the threat to prevent being starved into a bad deal. For the fans, legal victories by the players speeds up the agreement. Remember the players would keep the deal that's been in place for years. The owners wanted a better deal for themselves. this fight is all about how much of a better deal the owners get. the players will get less. I don't care one tiny bit that the owners get as big of a bonus as they hoped for, I just want it done.

This. Very good post my friend.

[zulater]

Wrong. The two sides can always agree to restrictions of free market forces through collective bargaining for the good of the NFL as a whole. The owners know they can afford stoppages better than the players can so had the lockout to strong arm them. The players know they have the law but they also know that going total free market will kill the golden goose. The law is the threat to prevent being starved into a bad deal. For the fans, legal victories by the players speeds up the agreement. Remember the players would keep the deal that's been in place for years. The owners wanted a better deal for themselves. this fight is all about how much of a better deal the owners get. the players will get less. I don't care one tiny bit that the owners get as big of a bonus as they hoped for, I just want it done.

Even most of the "legal experts" covering this were surprised by how strong this ruling was in favor of the players, that despite acknowledging that the Judge betrayed her leanings with how she questioned the lawyer's from both sides during the hearing.


I understand how the law is written and I also understand there can be different interpretations of of the same set of facts. Some Judges are strongly pro labor, some are more inclined to side with the cooperations.(in this case the owners) Clearly this Judge brought her bias to the ruling, and in my opinion though short term we as fans win because football will be restored by this decision, long term there's going to be repurcusions from this ruling that will hurt the long term viability of the game as we know it.

The best sort of ruling is generally one that leaves both parties grumbling and somewhat discontent.( this one clearly wasn't) I can see this ruling leading to the players having too much of an upper hand to make any sort of concession to the league now. Which as of now might not be crippling, but if you heard Demaurice Smith today, you can see he's already set his sights to bigger and better things. The CBA that comes out of this hearing might not kill the NFL, ( as we know it) but I genuinely fear it's leading to the slippery slope of the one that eventually will.

[zulater]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=6451701

A federal appeals court threw the NFL back into chaos late Friday, putting a judge's order lifting the lockout on hold.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis granted the league's request for a temporary stay of the injunction issued Monday that ended the 45-day lockout. Now arguments will be heard on whether that order should be overturned altogether.

Looks like the 8th court might not see it the same way as Susan Richard Nelson. While ,many may see this as a bad thing, potentially I could see this leading to meaningfull negotiations between the sides. With the players winning every court case there was no way there were about to make any meaningfull concessions, concessions which I think are essential to the continued growth of the league. In order for a fair CBA to be reached I think both sides need to be fearfull that they could lose more in court than through negotiations. I'm pretty sure the owners have finally come to that realization. Now hopefully the 8th circuit court will humble Demaurice Smith and the union enough to get back to the table and engage in meaningfull talks.

[fansince'76]

End of April....the clock is ticking....

[silver & black]

Al Davis....
Yep... that would be my guess, too.:chuckle:

[SMR]

End of April....the clock is ticking....

Yep. Patience is running thin...

[tube517]

Humble and Demaurice Smith in the same sentence......:rofl2:



Looks like the 8th court might not see it the same way as Susan Richard Nelson. While ,many may see this as a bad thing, potentially I could see this leading to meaningfull negotiations between the sides. With the players winning every court case there was no way there were about to make any meaningfull concessions, concessions which I think are essential to the continued growth of the league. In order for a fair CBA to be reached I think both sides need to be fearfull that they could lose more in court than through negotiations. I'm pretty sure the owners have finally come to that realization. Now hopefully the 8th circuit court will humble Demaurice Smith and the union enough to get back to the table and engage in meaningfull talks.

[BigNastyDefense]

Here is my view on it:

The courts in Minnesota have almost always favored the players. Demaurice Smith knew this. His background is litigation, he had no intention of agreeing to a new CBA. He figured he could rely on his litigation expertise and the fact that the courts that this would be in favored the players. And that happened, with Judge Nelson lifting the lockout and denying the stay.

But now the tables have turned, this case has gone to the 8th District Court of Appeals in St. Louis, and they have granted the temporary stay of Judge Nelson's ruling. Now I think Demaurice Smith is sitting back telling the players everything will be okay, that when the St. Louis courts make their final ruling....they will rule on the side of the players and end the lockout permanently.

I don't think that is going to happen. I think the St. Louis courts are going to take into consideration the following things.

1. This is a labor dispute, and in the end the courts don't have jurisdiction to lift the lockout, which the owners legally have the right to do without a current CBA.

2. The owners have filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) stating that the desertification of the NFLPA is a "sham" because they never intended to collectively bargain with the owners in the first place.

3. That the guy leading the NFLPA is Demaurice Smith, a man who has absolutely no experience in labor law and has a background exclusively in Washington, DC litigation.

4. The owners were willing to open their books to a point (something like the last 5 years), but Smith wouldn't budge on his demands for 10 years worth of audited books. Then when he didn't get what he wanted, the NFLPA walked away from negotiations to file for desertification.

I honestly think that in the end, this will be a bigger mess for the players than they originally thought. It's a give and take relationship when trying to hammer out a new CBA, and that's something Gene Upshaw knew. He wasn't the lapdog some thought him to be, but he knew what he had to do to keep labor peace.

I hope the players can fire Smith after this entire fiasco is over, because he is going to hurt them more than help them in the end.