You want to find just the right one; one that not too many people have, but a jersey that people will see and recognize that player as a good one. You want someone who is under contract for a while, so you don't have to run out and buy another one. You want a jersey of someone who is going to play hard.
I had picked Dallas' Jay Ratliff. He fits all the parameters. I was pumped to get his jersey.
It looks like I'll be waiting at least a year to buy that jersey now. As it stands , I really don't think there's going to be an NFL season.
NFL owners want the players to give up $800 million annually because the league is operating an unsustainable business model. The players don't want to play 18 games and they want better benefits after they're done playing football.
The current deadline for a new deal is today. There has to be some kind of progress by this evening, whether it's an extension to the deadline, a new collective bargaining agreement or decertification of the players union, which allow players to sue their teams as individuals and effectively cancel the 2011 NFL season.
Instead of growing closer, the two sides are growing further apart according to this article.
It's all phony. The owners want more money than what they're already making, which is ridiculous. They've already denied making their books public (except the Green Bay Packers, who have always made their books public) which makes me think that there's some shady stuff going on in those books. Major League Baseball teams opened up their books and there was some shady business going on according to the Washington Post.
After money comes player safety, both in the league and in these discussions. Despite Roger Goodell's attempt to make the league safer--while also pushing for more games, which mean more chances for a player to get injured--the average number of injuries per team per game went up from 3.2 in 2009 to 3.7 in 2010. In any other year, that number might not be as significant. Still, Goodell was pushing to make the league safer but ultimately made it more dangerous. Also, if those numbers stand true, you're going to have seven more player injuries if the league goes to 18 games. That's a significant point of contention because if players are going to subject themselves to more injuries, they're going to demand more money for their increased health risk and they're going to demand better benefits after they leave the NFL.
There's just no risk for the owners right now. They signed an absurd TV deal that guarantees them $4 billion for the 2011 season even if game one isn't played. That could potentially cripple FOX, CBS, ESPN, NBC and any other network that depends on the NFL for its viewership. Vegas is going to take a major hit and websites will lose thousands and thousands of site views.
Either the owners realize that they're going to make a little less money in this whole thing and sign a new collective bargaining agreement or the 2011 NFL season isn't going to happen.
That's why my Jay Ratliff jersey will probably have to wait. I'm not wearing a Jay Ratliff jersey when there's no NFL season.
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