Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Meltdown in Miami

DISCLAIMER: IF YOU DO NOT APPRECIATE CRITICISM OF THE MIAMI HEAT...THIS MAY HURT A LITTLE BIT.

However, if it's the truth you're looking for, then you've come to the right spot!!

The Miami Heats recent meltdown after yet another loss comes to me as, how do I put it, not a shock. For a team that has arguably the three best players at their respective position on their team, they should not be losing at all. LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh are not the big three that anyone anticipated. Turns out, LeBron "King" James never "took [his] talents to South Beach" after all. He brought his emotions, however.

The fact that players were crying after their loss to the Chicago Bulls disgusts me. They could have beaten the Bulls. They missed two shots in the last 10 seconds of the game. They have nobody to blame but themselves. I know everyone on ESPN says that its great that they cried because it means that they care. Well, yes, that is true. But they have also realized that they are not the best team in the league. As a matter of fact, they may have even gotten worse as the year has gone on.

In the beginning of the season, you could expect a meltdown like this (without the crying) as the team still had not gelled. But after blowing a 20+ point lead to the Magic and self-destructing to the Bulls, there is definite reason for panic in South Beach.

To be completely honest, even thinking about the Heat in the playoffs makes me sick. Sure, they will end the regular season with enough wins to make the playoffs, but they won't make it out of the first round. Erik Spoelstra has lost control of his team. He has lost control of the media. He may have even lost his job. You can have the talent, but if you can't coach the talent then the talent is worthless.

So my message to the Miami Heat: nobody is going to show you any sympathy. You get paid millions of dollars to play basketball. You have nothing to cry about. Suck it up, man up, and go play basketball.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Allow Me To Explain...

I understand that the looming NFL lockout and negotiations can be a little confusing. So let me try to break it down for you.

First off, the fact that the deadline was extended by 24 hours last night means very little. The only thing that it could mean is that the owners have finally budged and are willing to talk. The two sides (players and owners) are still very far apart in terms of money distribution. In fact, that figure is approximately $25,000,000 (million) apart.

The owners and the NFLPA are trying to figure out how to evenly distribute $9 billion across three groups:
  1. Owners
  2. Players
  3. Retired Players

Here is where they stand right now:

The players have asked the owners to extend the negotiation period by 7 to 10 days. We are currently still waiting for the owners to either except or decline that offer. The players could also decertify the current union. Doing so would seemingly bring the NFL apart at the seams. That would allow every player in the NFL to bring law suits against their owners.

Having that type of power provides great leverage for the players. The owners desperately do not want that to happen. Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, and Tom Brady are at the forefront when it comes to saying that they will be bringing law suits to the ownership. This is most likely nothing more than a ploy to scare the owners. It seems to be working.

What does this mean for the future of the NFL?

Nothing can happen until a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) has been reached. There will be no signing of any players until there is a new (CBA). The future of the NFL is in a conference room in a high rise in Washington DC. No free agency, no trades, no player moves what so ever until a new CBA has been reached.

I hope that makes things a little easier to understand. If not, just comment and leave a question.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Let Them Play!!

This is getting ridiculous. Is there or has there ever been a more selfish group of people on this earth?

The answer to that question is no. The NFL owners are by far the most greedy people on the face of the planet!! They are worth a whopping $40,000,000,000 (that's $40 billion) and, by the way, they want more. They are asking for $1,000,000,000 more (that's $1 billion). But lets take a look at this.

Most owners in the NFL own MULTIPLE homes, yachts, (some) vineyards, and ranches. What do they do? Oh that's right!! They sit on their thrones in their stadiums and count their money while that team that they own plays on the field down below. When we look at NFL players we see men that go to battle every Sunday. When NFL owners see an NFL player they see dollar signs...haha "dollar signs".

This lockout would greatly affect the economy. I know I know...you don't understand how. Let me throw some numbers at you:

$160 Million-Amount that it would cost each NFL City
3,000-Number of jobs that it would cost each NFL City
93,000-Number of job that it would cost NATIONWIDE!!!

In a country where we are looking anywhere and everywhere for jobs, this could be a huge step back.

If the owners feel like bullying the players, the joke is on them. They are the ones that need the money the most. They have millions and millions of dollars invested in the things other than their "beloved" NFL franchise. If they want to be greedy, that's fine. As long as they know where they put their money, it's all up to them.

Currently, the owners have submitted an offer that would extend the period so the players and owners could talk about the collective bargaining agreement (CBA). This could potentially avoid a lockout.

At the end of the day, it all revolves around the dollar sign. The NFL owners want more of them and the players aren't willing to budge just yet. The only way that the players could pull everything apart is if the NFLPA decides to decertify the current agreement. The world will most certainly shift if that occurs. The odds that the owners and NFL Players Association (NFLPA) reach an agreement in the future are slim. The odds that their is no NFL football this fall, not sure.

Everything that I just said probably got mixed up in your head. It got mixed up in mine, too. Basically the owners and the NFLPA need to figure out how to evenly distribute 9 billion dollars to...
  • The Owners
  • The Players
  • Retired Players

There! Does that make any sense?

So tomorrow morning when you wake up it's gonna feel like any other Friday. You're going to get up and go to work or go to school and carrying on with your daily life. If the lockout occurred, 93,000 people will be out of work, owners will still be billionaires, and players will be filing law suits against the NFL.