Finally!
July 26th 2011 14:53
I was one of the ones who, in my opinion, never thought that the season was in any real jeopardy but also thought that finding a solution would take some time. After all, $9.3 billion dollars does not get divided up fairly in a weekend!
Despite the hand-wrangling and the whining, the back-biting and sound bites (a la James Harrison's recent idiocy), I have maintained all along a couple of things. First, that DeMaurice Smith and Roger Goddell had to find ways to "talk" to one another. Not talk like you and I talk, but talk the same language, and with enough trust and understanding in there that one could say something challenging and not have the other explode. That's the thing with negotiations, that they create very bad feelings but if two point men or women can exchange ideas freely and with a minimum of bad feelings, the job will get done. That took some doing. Neither Goddell or Smith had gone through this before, so the lockout approach was going to be the only thing to drag them to the table.
Next, you always need a couple of worker bees to get on board and work with the boss to low-level exchange ideas (so that the brass can present it as their own). This is common I understand in diplomatic exchanges where the worker bees discuss options with opposite table worker bees, and then present the ideas to the bosses for the "formal" discussion. So it was that Robert Kraft and Dominique Foxworth were those guys, to whom Roger and Dee turned to respectively and said "go find out what they're really thinking."
Coming to the realization that the lawyers were useless, that the courts were both useless and dangerously unpredictable, and that the only way to get it done was to sit and do it took some time to arrive. But that was the key realization. Lawyers are paid to delay, to argue, harangue and question. Deal-makers are paid to get the deal done. I don't think the lawyers in this were ever the deal-maker types; they clearly impeded the process.
Interestingly, a 10-year deal and presumably a better working relationship between the two real power brokers resumes the NFL's old standard that they are in a "partnership" with their players. When the first "partnership" standards were unleashed, the NFL's popularity (and therefore revenue) skyrocketed. I think that both players and owners realize that being smart about a partnership means that there's enough flexibility to grow the game as a partnership again. I'm sure that this is really all the players want. They want to get their fair share. The owners not only get their fair share, but now they also get the ability to grow their business in other key ways.
The next few weeks will be rife with intrigue and player movement - some good, some bad. It's a relief that we have the game back. But think carefully before dismissing the power brokers here too much. Some have been complaining that it took too long. It took exactly as long as it needed to take. The running to the press bit got a little old, but it has its place, like it or not. But what was really lost? Cleveland and Tennessee didn't get to have new coaches install new schemes. Jim Harbaugh didn't get to coach his players. Some teams are facing competitive disadvantages...but being realistic, most of the teams we're discussing here won't be contenders anyway. But football lost its "silly season," and who cares? One game - a fifth preseason game at that - was lost. So the NFL just gives the Hall of Fame their $1.5 million in lost revenue from the missing game. Who cares? It's not like we lost an entire season (NHL) or blew the World Series (baseball)? It's not like an entire sport cast aside the first real positive momentum its had in years by initiating a lockout for reasons more murky than the NFL's (basketball)!
I for one am glad football is back. I now have to put up with the silly season like the rest of us, but at least we're talking the game of football, and not the business!
Despite the hand-wrangling and the whining, the back-biting and sound bites (a la James Harrison's recent idiocy), I have maintained all along a couple of things. First, that DeMaurice Smith and Roger Goddell had to find ways to "talk" to one another. Not talk like you and I talk, but talk the same language, and with enough trust and understanding in there that one could say something challenging and not have the other explode. That's the thing with negotiations, that they create very bad feelings but if two point men or women can exchange ideas freely and with a minimum of bad feelings, the job will get done. That took some doing. Neither Goddell or Smith had gone through this before, so the lockout approach was going to be the only thing to drag them to the table.
Next, you always need a couple of worker bees to get on board and work with the boss to low-level exchange ideas (so that the brass can present it as their own). This is common I understand in diplomatic exchanges where the worker bees discuss options with opposite table worker bees, and then present the ideas to the bosses for the "formal" discussion. So it was that Robert Kraft and Dominique Foxworth were those guys, to whom Roger and Dee turned to respectively and said "go find out what they're really thinking."
Coming to the realization that the lawyers were useless, that the courts were both useless and dangerously unpredictable, and that the only way to get it done was to sit and do it took some time to arrive. But that was the key realization. Lawyers are paid to delay, to argue, harangue and question. Deal-makers are paid to get the deal done. I don't think the lawyers in this were ever the deal-maker types; they clearly impeded the process.
Interestingly, a 10-year deal and presumably a better working relationship between the two real power brokers resumes the NFL's old standard that they are in a "partnership" with their players. When the first "partnership" standards were unleashed, the NFL's popularity (and therefore revenue) skyrocketed. I think that both players and owners realize that being smart about a partnership means that there's enough flexibility to grow the game as a partnership again. I'm sure that this is really all the players want. They want to get their fair share. The owners not only get their fair share, but now they also get the ability to grow their business in other key ways.
The next few weeks will be rife with intrigue and player movement - some good, some bad. It's a relief that we have the game back. But think carefully before dismissing the power brokers here too much. Some have been complaining that it took too long. It took exactly as long as it needed to take. The running to the press bit got a little old, but it has its place, like it or not. But what was really lost? Cleveland and Tennessee didn't get to have new coaches install new schemes. Jim Harbaugh didn't get to coach his players. Some teams are facing competitive disadvantages...but being realistic, most of the teams we're discussing here won't be contenders anyway. But football lost its "silly season," and who cares? One game - a fifth preseason game at that - was lost. So the NFL just gives the Hall of Fame their $1.5 million in lost revenue from the missing game. Who cares? It's not like we lost an entire season (NHL) or blew the World Series (baseball)? It's not like an entire sport cast aside the first real positive momentum its had in years by initiating a lockout for reasons more murky than the NFL's (basketball)!
I for one am glad football is back. I now have to put up with the silly season like the rest of us, but at least we're talking the game of football, and not the business!
| 18 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
