Lockout is Here

Well, the NFL lockout has arrived. This happened as predicted by many. There is not much the fans can do at this point. Most fans want an NFL season and hopefully the two sides will reach an agreement.

 Now the schedule change the owners want needs further explaining. Over the last couple of years the NFL has seen record viewership. This is why there is a lot of debate over who should split these profits, hence the lockout. The interesting part of the proposed schedule change is the conversion of two of the four preseason games to regular season games. These preseason games are the worst possible torture to NFL fans, but they are vital to the making of a good season. If you don’t know about these games, they are just like every other game except the starters hardly play. This is why these games are boring to the fans. The owners do sell tickets to these games at the same price as regular season tickets and since these games are boring no one goes to them. From the owners side the conversion of two preseason games to regular games means they can line their pockets a little more by making the games have meaning to the fans. These games do have meaning though, just not to the fans. These games are used by the coaching staffs to evaluate rookies and other less talented players they acquire. Without these games rookies would not be fully exposed to the real NFL until the actual season and they would have less time to learn the playbook. Less talented players would also not get the exposure they need to correctly place them in the rotation. This could mean when injuries arise during the season that the replacements could be inexperienced or ill-prepared. In high school we had similar preseason games and they were a huge help to players to get used to game speed and get to practice new plays or schemes against unfamiliar foes. As a fan I can’t stand these games, but I can respect that these are vital to the success of the team in the long run. These games should not be cut just based on popular opinion and the thought of gaining a quick buck.

Mediation

The possibility of having the expanded schedule lies in this negotiating that is going on as we speak. To try and prevent a lockout both sides the player and the owners have agreed to use a federal mediator to establish sustained negotiations. This process basically entails using the director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. However, these talks will not be binding, but this is allowing both sides to come to the table more regularly. I love watching football, but I also want the safety for the players to be considered too. I would rather see this expansion cut from these negotiations for this reason of player safety. There is a lot of ground to make up between the sides and the schedule expansion is just one thing among many others. If an agreement can’t be reached within the next two weeks there will be a lockout. I think a lockout for any extended period of time would be detrimental to the league. For the sake of all football fans I hope that the two sides can come together in the next few weeks and have formed some agreement. I just hope that there will be some decision made on this disagreement so that we can have an NFL season and evaluate this schedule change if it does occur.

Will there be a Super Bowl XLVI?

The Super Bowl being today has given me inspiration for this new post. The possibility of no football in 2011 is looming. With the collective bargaining agreement expiring in March, there could be a lockout and no Football. In the negotiations of the new collective bargaining agreement there is the idea of the 18 game regular season schedule change. Now some do not know what the collective bargaining agreement is. Well, it is a contract struck between the players union and the owners. This contract contains clauses about salary caps, which is a total amount a team can spend on paying players, how revenue is distributed between players and owners, along with other NFL policies. Now though there is a push for the addition of two regular season games. The sides have just started to meet for the first time with intensity to iron out an agreement. The goal is to get a deal done by March. If this can’t be done the owners will almost certainly lock the players out. The lockout means that games aren’t played and the players are sitting at home on Sundays without pay. The owners would do this to cut their losses and try to get the players, who may not have alternative sources of income, to sign an agreement. The NFL could lose billions if there is a lock out or some other work stoppage. The more time that passes without an agreement the more money that is lost especially if there are lost regular season games. Hopefully, for the sake of all football fans there will be some agreement signed. The addition of the two extra games will be a major source of discourse between the two sides though, especially since the owners are asking the players to play more games for less money. We can all enjoy this Super Bowl, but hopefully there will be more on the horizon.

A Few Words on Injuries

I thought I would bring some clarity on the injury issue from my experience with injuries. Football, as most know, is a contact sport and it is listed as one of the most dangerous sport someone can play. Now one of the major concerns with schedule expansion is that more players will get injured by playing more games. This of course will happen because every game players get hurt or injured. I have either had most of the common injuries or knew friends that did. The worst of the most common injuries are concussions and knee injuries. They are not the top two most common, but they are serious. I have personally had a concussion and it was miserable. The NFL has recently started to do studies on the affects of head trauma on former players. There is not much evidence yet, however in several years there is likely to be enough to draw a conclusion on the affect of football collisions and brain problems later in life. One can see from boxing how head trauma is serious so there probably are ill affects to football head injuries. The other major injury is a knee injury. I have had multiple friends who had serious season ending knee injuries. They sideline a player for months. They work to recover and rehab just hoping to get back to the same abilities they had before. Then there are the less serious injuries. I have experience in these along with everyone else that has played football. These are those just nagging pains or the stiffness that doesn’t go away, but you play through it every single day. These are the injuries that can really come to play in the postseason or late in the year. I remember making the playoffs in high school and the whole team, myself included, looked like zombies during that time. We were bruised, beaten, tired, and we just had lost a little spark in our legs. This is one of the main reasons when we made it to the region title game we ran out of gas. These are the injuries that take their toll. Everyone gets at least one and they play through it each year. This is why the guys want to retire, they mentally want to keep playing, but their bodies are falling apart from all of the hits they have piled up. I oppose the expansion on the basis that the players’ careers will be cut shorter due to more injuries from more contact. I don’t know if the increase in injuries will dull the post season but the best players will play fewer years in the league. I can almost guarantee that. It’s sad to see the greats exit the game, but we definitely don’t want to see them leaving earlier than normal. For the sake of the players’ health this expansion should not be done.

What Others Have to Say

The other groups out there, not including me, in this discussion include the players, owners, other fans, coaches, sports writers, and the NFL executives. From the perspective of the owners, team executives, and NFL executives they say that this schedule change is good for the NFL. They say that by adding two extra games it will increase their revenue and income. They also believe that the fans will love the extra two games. Fans love football and two more games will just make it better in the opinion of the owners and the executives. I know personally once the Super Bowl is over it is a long wait until the start of the next season and the NBA or MLB does not fill that void for me left by the end of football season. This idea that fans would want more games at first seems logical. I just hope they don’t expand it too much so that they end up turning this into the NBA or MLB where their seasons seem to last almost the entire year. The other part that the owners and executives want deals with the collective bargaining agreement. The old collective bargaining agreement expires in May. They want to expand the season to 18 games and get the players to agree to receive less money in the new agreement. This is where the sports writing community sees their argument is fatally flawed. Why would the owners and executives think that players would want to take more risk with the two extra games and receive less money for that? Now most people on all sides say that this change is inevitable as well. They say that the owners just have too much power and the players can not block this agreement. Most of the writers and people in the writing community believe that the fans have little to no impact on this and the players don’t have much more power to stop this schedule change. The players also get a say in this however and almost all of the players have said that for health reasons they would rather not play two extra games. A lot of them have pointed out that the NFL is currently focusing on protecting the players and players’ health but then wants to add two extra games. The players see this as a contradiction to the NFL executives’ new push for better safety and player health. This is where the battle lines are drawn between the owners and the players. They each have different and opposing views but one can hope they can reach an agreement so there will not be a lockout next season.

Reaction to an Article

The other day I read an article by Dave Wischnowsky titled “Wisch: 18 Game Schedule Puts Postseason in Jeopardy.” The author, Dave Wischnowsky, is very upfront with his own views on this topic of the debate over the proposed 18 game schedule change for the NFL. He says at the end of the article “I’d vote for maintaining status quo.” This is his pitch to the public to keep the schedule as it is. He is entering this larger argument that I myself have entered with this blog about the NFL’s proposed schedule change to 18 games. This proposed schedule change is what people are debating and evaluating to see whether it is worth the costs. There is lots of discussion from all sides including the owners, the NFL executives, players, fans, and the sports writing community. Most people except the owners and NFL executives are highly opposed to this addition of two extra games. To make his point Dave Wischnowsky brings up facts on injuries to give his argument some credibility as why he disagrees with the change. Dave Wischnowsky states as evidence that according to the NFL on average almost three players are injured every game and that by adding two more games if you do the math there would be approximately 190 new injuries created by the two extra games combined. These are compelling facts. I do wonder about the validity of these facts though do they just mean when play is stopped for an injury timeout or if the player is hurt and cannot participate in either practices, games, or just can’t return to the game. I also wonder what the average lengths of these injuries are because being injured for two days is a lot different than two months. The answers to these questions could really either support this figure or undermine it. He makes the point that these injuries could be to top players and that this would lead to games being less interesting and the postseason could be effected greatly by the best players’ inability to play. I also question Dave Wischnowsky statement of “I don’t have a vote.” This is where I feel he has gone in the wrong direction he does indirectly have a vote. This vote is in monetary form however. In economics you learn that companies produce the items we want without us telling them. We indirectly tell them what to produce by signaling with our willingness to pay for things. With ticket sales along with viewers at home we control the amount of money the NFL receives. Money is the hinge on what this proposal swings. The owners are expecting more money by gaining more ticket sales and more money from the advertising revenue through network deals. If less people watch because these injuries sideline the best players we can signal the addition of two more games is not profitable. If it’s not profitable the league will not be willing to expand the games or continue this expansion if it is done. Now I discussed this in the past tense as if this change had occurred. If we do like Dave Wischnowsky suggests and we wine about it then this 18 game schedule is inevitable. On the other hand we can signal now that we as fans will not be willing to spend our money on extra watered down games. We are in the moment that this change is being discussed the next few months are critical with the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement coming shortly in May. This is why we need to voice our opinions with our wallets to which side of this debate we subscribe to because the sole motivation for this schedule expansion is money. Below I have attached the link to this article if anyone would like to read it and voice your own thought or opinions on it feel free to do so.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/01/09/wisch-18-game-schedule-puts-nfl-postseason-in-jeopardy/

Why Just Another Sports Blog?

Like I said in my background, I love sports especially football. I am really interested in things that are being discussed concerning the sport I love the most. Experience wise I personally have no NFL experience, but a lot of people who write about topics don’t always have experience in their subject either. I don’t feel that my lack of personal experience with the NFL will greatly affect my ability to learn and analyze this subject. I do have a desire to know more concerning the recent discussion to an expansion to an 18 game regular season NFL schedule. I will use my investigative powers and some personal experiences to gain perspective on this discussion to try and draw my own conclusions about this topic of discourse. Now I know this subject may bore some readers and others might say why would you spend your time on this issue rather than a serious subject. To them I say football can be a release from the hectic life for some people along with the fact that the business of football is a several billion dollar business annually. That’s a lot of money and that means to someone out there it’s very important. Initially on the subject I tend to side with the players that this expansion would hurt the NFL. However, I want to learn the advantages and disadvantages from all the concerned parties’ not just from the players or the owners. To everyone who will read this I hope I can inform people on the pros and cons of this impending decision. Through this blog I want to achieve a better understanding on the schedule expansion and hopefully I myself will reach a more defined opinion along with influencing others to pick a side as well. There are millions of football fans across the globe and we get an opportunity to influence this decision since the fans control the money that comes from tickets sales and indirectly the advertising during games. Ultimately the fans are the reason the players are out there on Sundays that makes the fans a critical factor in this decision.

Me, Myself, and I

My name is Josh Winks and I am from just outside Lynchburg, Virginia. I played high school football all four years at Jefferson Forest High School. I was never the star player on the team but I played with some talented guys and talented coaches. I have a passion for almost all sports but my favorite has to be football. I have watched football ever since I was a little kid. Even though I am attending college to receive a degree in management and hopefully continue on to law school I would like to one day coach some kind of football team. Other types of hobbies I enjoy doing are hiking, fishing, kayaking, and camping. I really enjoy the outdoors especially the area that I call home boasts the Blue Ridge Mountains that are just about 30 minutes away from my home. Other basic stuff about me my favorite color is red, I was born in the July, my favorite NFL team is the Philadelphia Eagles, and my new favorite player is the embattled Michael Vick. Just a fun fact about me is I hate watermelon with a passion, it completely repulses me and you will never hear me mention it ever again.