NFL: Lock It Down
55The NFL should lock out the players and pronto. The fans will scream, "We must have our football!!!!!" I say so what. Of course, we all know the owners will cave in a colossal way when the smoke clears. It seems that the moment an intelligent businessman buys an NFL franchise he becomes a complete idiot.
I don't care if you run a snowball stand, you don't give 60% of all the proceeds to your employees. If you do, what's the point of being an owner? Do people really think that NFL owners exist for the sole purpose of paying obscene salaries to half literate, heavily muscled blockheads so they can pound their chests after every play? I don't think so.
Let's examine what the individual responsibilities of the parties actually are. The owners have to make payroll for a large corporation. This involves handling all tax responsibilities, insurance concerns and the like. Also, a trainload of lawyers is required for all the liabilities involved. The owners are responsible for the orderly operation of all the stadiums, or player playpens. In addition, the owners must oversee efficient day to day businesses in order to try to make a profit at year's end. Not to be forgotten in all this is the fact that the owners orchestrate the draft which makes "student athletes" instant millionaires and do all those things , like trading, etc., that combine to make a popular and lucrative business and league.
Now, what do the players do? They collect tattoos, accumulate earrings and play a boy's game. Whoa.....sounds like the players really deserve mega millions......not. People say the players do what nobody else can do!!!! That's absurd. Anybody can play football. Even women play football. Maybe not everyone can play as expertly as NFL players, but they can still play. Can the average NFL player run a multimillion dollar franchise? Most of them can't even balance a checkbook. Dexter Manley, who played for the Redskins, went to Oklahoma State and ,by his own admission, could not read.
The owners provide the venue for athletes to show their talent and make millions as a result. This should be enough. If the players want more, let them get real jobs, like the rest of us. The owners, as a result of unparalleled stupidity, agreed to the last CBA which gave away the store to the chisled nimrods of the gridiron. Now they want to right the ship by running the league in a way which benefits them. People go into business to make a profit and not to bleed to death by being a doormat for employees. All this being said does not ensure that the owners will do the right thing and stand firm.
They will undoubtedly give the players everything that they want. They always do. After all, the fans, or league customers, have elevated players to near divine status. In a normal world the owners would tell the players this is the way it is, and if you don't like it.....tough, get a real job. But, alas, we all know the owners are far too weak to do that. These spineless wonders will huff and puff and blow themselves down.
After the players endlessly tell us how they can't feed their families on $3,000.000 per year and repeat the mantra detailing their slave status, the owners will say they want to give football to the fans and roll over dead. The fans will have their heroes back and the owners will try to find ways to pay the bills. What a country. I say if you want to bring some sanity to the sports world, LOCK EM OUT.
