NBA/NFL Lockout
By Paul Jordan
Here at Wildcat Blue Nation we try and stay on topic and rarely get out of the topic of Kentucky athletics, but today I bring to you the reader something a little more important. The work stoppages in the NFL and NBA has taken some major turns in the last couple of weeks for those of you who haven’t really followed the developing stories, and while it may not effect Kentucky directly, there is some possibilities that the work stoppages could prevent players we have now to declare for the draft.
I’ll start by talking about the NBA because it’s a bit further away to the end of work stoppage than the NFL. First off I want to throw this out there, just because there would be a lock out in the NBA doesn’t really mean that Brandon Knight, Doron Lamb and Terrence Jones will automatically stay at Kentucky. People that hear about the draft automatically assume we are getting these three players back for next year but that is in no way shape or form the case. The deadline to declare for the draft is going to be quite a bit before the lock out would be announced.
That being said, by that time there should be a pretty good percentage chance on if a lockout in the NBA is possible. I still think Jones goes on the chance that there will not be a lock out but I think Lamb and Knight stick around for another year. But there is always that chance that these players get advised otherwise.
Sal Galatioto, president of Galatioto Sports Partners appeared on a show called “The Strategy Session” and talked off air about the possibility of an NBA lockout. He had this to say:
“I think there will be a lock-out in the NBA…it will be a very tough one and that’s because the economic conditions of the league [aren’t] like the NFL,” Galatioto said.
The problem?
“They just pay out too much. The real bulk of the revenues are locally driven, unlike the NFL where you have a national media contract. Now the NBA has a national media contract but really the local cable contracts and pricing power and venue revenues are much more key in the NBA. So you have a hugh disparity between teams like the Bulls, Knicks and the Lakers and the second tier team—they just don’t generate enough,” he said
Turning out attention to the other possible lockout in the NFL, things actually heated up TODAY about the potential work stoppages when the NFL players Union canceled the second day of talks in DC today. This move is looked at as a bad turn for the NFL lock out because canceling this is canceling the negations that has been taking place between the players union and the players association the last two days.
Time isn’t on the sides of either association as the collective bargaining agreement expires on March 3rd. Nobody is talking on either side why the meetings were called off but it looks as if the negotiations have taken a turn for the worst.
This bit is taken from the website: (http://home.myhughesnet.com/news/read.php?ps=1013&rip_id=%3CD9LA18P81%40news.ap.org%3E&_LT=HOME_LARSDCCLM_UNEWS) and it says says:
“The union sent a memo Thursday to player agents updating the status of discussions on a rookie wage scale. A union proposal to decrease the maximum length of rookie contracts to four years for players selected in the first three rounds, and three years for players chosen after that, also included a limit on financial incentives and salary escalators that could be included in rookie deals.
Those limits would, the NFLPA claims, provide the cost certainty the league is seeking for its rookie salary pool.
According to the memo seen by The Associated Press, the NFL’s response was a five-year wage scale with base salary escalators. That would virtually eliminate individual negotiation of rookie contracts.
Owners opted out of the current CBA in 2008 and are seeking a bigger cut of the league’s revenues, which are roughly $9 billion, as well as the rookie wage scale. They also want to increase the regular season by two games to 18, while dropping two preseason games.
The players are happy with the status quo.
The NFL has had labor peace since a 1987 players’ strike that led to three games with replacement players, but some sort of labor stoppage appears a genuine possibility this year because of the slow pace of negotiations. The talks at the Super Bowl were the first formal discussions since November.”
Alright if November was the last time that they talked since the SUPER BOWL who really thinks that this will come to an agreement in the next three weeks?
For my prediction, I think they both lock out and they lose a lot of fans in the process, I mean this is just pathetic and someone should have given in by now and worked something out.
I even declared to pick my favorite NFL team based on where Randall Cobb was going pro…Guess I’m going to have to wait a whole season to cheer for that team…Oh well.
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