NFL CBA Situation

Hey guys I'm back.
I couldn't wait until tomorrow to talk about my favorite subject of the sports world. So, I had to do it tonight. It is about the NFL, more specifically the CBA that has the NFL in lockout. ESPN revealed the full details of the CBA that was proposed from the NFL to the NFLPA. In other words the deal was proposed from the Owners and Roger Goodell to the players and DeMaurice Smith.

In this new agreement the players will get 48 percent of all revenue, all revenue being the total money the NFL makes. In the previous CBA, owners would take 1 billion dollars off the top, After that has been taken off the top, the remaining 8 billion dollars would be split 60/40: 60 percent for the players and 40 percent for the owners. Now it will be split 52/48, owners with 52 percent and players with 48. The players share will never drop below 46.5 percent. But on top of the 52 percent for the owners, they will also get expense funds for new staium contruction, sources tell ESPN. This seems like a very fair deal to me.

Players think they will be able to cope with the 48 percent of the revenue because of the projected revenue growth by 2016. Another reason is the devices in the agreement that require a team to spend close to 100 percent of their salary cap, this accourding to ESPN's John Clayton. The mandatory minimum spending increase is a factor that worries alot of lower-revenue teams. This means that if the salary cap was set at $100 million then a team's payroll would have to total up to be at, or close to $100 million. In the previous agreement the payroll floor was less than 90 percent of the salary cap. This is a good thing for high-revenue clubs, but not for the low-revenue teams. With the revenue increase the players will be making plenty of money so this deal might just work out. But there are lots of other details that have to be just right.

The next addition is the rookie wage scale which alot of people have been wanting for quite some time now. If you did not already know, the rookie wage scale will keep teams from paying rookies too much, making sure they don't get more than the veterans who have been in the league for years. This came into place because of the salaries of young players like Matthew Stafford, San Bradford, and Jamarcus Russell. This has to be put in place, and most people understand that. This will now become part of the deal but according to sources it is still being "tweaked".

Next up is the 18-game schedule that has been very much discussed around the league. Although it has been much discussed, at this point in negotiations the 18-game schedule is jsut a negotiable item and is not part of the deal.

The next thing that has been very rarely talked about but was a very important puzzle-piece to the deal is the retirees plan. They have a good plan as it is right now. In the beginning of negotiations, retired players were not part of the deal and they got no benefits. In the new deal offered to the players, retired players will benefit from improved health care. Penison benefits will come as the revenue is expected to double to $18 Billion by 2016.

Another small detail is the Thursday Night Football deal. The new 16-game Thursday night TV package will begin in 2012, and this would be included in the new CBA.

If all these factors are right, then this could be a done deal no later than mid-July. The meeting that ended today lasted 5 hours according to Roger Goodell. Things are certrainly moving in the right direction which is good new for everybody. The deal is most likely to be sealed in one to three weeks, and the new league year is expected to begin in mid-July. The silver lining to all of this in my opinion? The players are ready to commit to a 10-year deal if the sides can agree on all of the terms, according to John Clayton. Any disagreement in talks could lead to loss of preseason games and it could even threaten the season opener. Tuesday is day 98 of this dreadfulk lockout, which makes this the longest work stoppage in NFL History.

Thanks for reading
Christian

Soruces: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=6687485

6/20/11 Blog

Hey guys!
I went to the Rays game, just like I said I was going to, and my seat was right next to the Rays dugout. I always go early for a couple autographs, and I got three in this game. 2 at the beginning, which was Sam Fuld and Elliot Johnson who are two rising players; then after the game I met and talked with Ben Zobrist. This game was more of a pitchers battle rather than hitters. James Shields pitched yet another complete game; which gives him a league-leading 5 complete games before the All-Star break. If that alone doesn't get him into the All-Star game I don't know what will. Another thing I want to point about about the Marlins is what a terrible year Hanley Ramirez is having. Expected to be great once again this year, and once again he is sub-par. Batting an ugly .201 average. This game he didn't even see the field, playing the DH spot. The Rays really hit well throughout this series, while the Marlins did not at all, obviously this leads to their 1-17 free fall to the bottom of the NL East. The Rays once again swept the Marlins although it was not a pretty game 3 in this series. Rays would get a couple of hits in some innings but no one could step up and knock a run in. In the 8th inning, the score was 1-1, when Casey Kotchman knocked in Matt Joyce (who started the inning off with a single) giving the Rays a 2-1 lead. It was a very good game to watch. The thing I really did not like was Longo, which you may refer to as Evan Longoria, had 2 errors, and it wasn't just 2 errors- it was stupid errors that professional baseball players shouldn't even be making. That is not a gold glove performance. I'm sure he will rebound from this performance but it was just so odd to see from a guy like Longo.

It was hard to believe my eyes yesterday when I saw McIlroy with a -16 final score at the US Open. Leading the rest of the pack by 8 strokes. Many said it would of been a good tournament without McIlroy in it. But thats not how most will remember it. It will be remembered as the major that McIlroy doubled everyone's score. And with that young rising talent, comes comparisons to Tiger Woods, one of the greatest golfers of all time.I think it is possible, but very unlikely. Watching Tiger was incredible, and don't get me wrong, Rory's performance was awe inspiring too, but this is a one time things. I don't see this happening multiple times like Tiger. I don't think Rory will even come close to the amount of majors that Tiger will have won at the end of his career.

Shifting back to baseball now, where Albert Pujols, Cardinals 1st baseman, hs fractured his arm and will be out for 4-6 weeks. At this point he hasn't been put on the DL, but probably will once the Cardinals will find someone to call up and take his spot on the roster. This is a huge hit for the Cardinals, who are tied atop the NL Central with the Milwaukee Brewers. Both of these teams have a 40-33 record. They might be able to stay in playoff contention, and I think they still can. 4-6 weeks is not much of the season in Baseball, and if they can just stay even, or just under .500, then they can stay in playoff contention.Could this injury possibly lower Albert Pujols value when he is on the market next year? I guess only time can tell.

One last story for today, that I am adding on to this blog. The Dodger TV Deal that was going to save the franchise was rejected by the Major League Baseball, more specifically Bud Selig, today. The ruling invalidates a divorce settlement between Frank McCourt (the Owner of the franchise) and his ex-wife. If McCourt does not make payroll on June 30th, MLB could take over the Dodgers franchise and put the team up for sale. The MLB issued this statement today
"This decision was reached after a full and careful consideration of the terms of the proposed transaction and the club's current circumstances," commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement. "It is my conclusion that this proposed transaction with FOX would not be in the best interests of the Los Angeles Dodgers franchise, the game of Baseball and the millions of loyal fans of this historic club."
I think the end result will keep the Dodgers in Los Angeles, but it is likely that the team could move.

That's about all for today, Thanks for reading.
Christian