No Noose Is Good News; No News Is Bad News

It’s been a little while since my last labor/lockout update, mostly because there’s not much to say. No mediation or negotiation has occurred—or will occur until the 16th. In the meantime, the lockout was lifted, teams reopened their facilities, the first round of the draft was held. Patrick Allen of Arrowhead Addict penned an incredible first-person account of the abuse Roger Goodell took from the NFL Draft audience—and the craven steps he took to get them off his back. Besides the boos, though, it looked as though we were in for a typical draft weekend, full of all the stuff we usually see, and maybe OTAs and free agency afterwards!

Then the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals granted the owners a temporary stay of the injunction awarded by Judge Nelson. The NFL reinstituted the lockout while, incredibly, telling everyone who would listen that “they want football,” too. What a stinking crock.

In the meantime, everyone is waiting on the 8th Circuit Court to rule on a full stay of the injunction—and ProFootballTalk wonders if it will ever happen. The Court may simply not rule on the full stay, instead allowing the temporary stay to remain in place until June 3, when oral arguments will be heard for the appeal.

In the meantime, there will be precious little football, and precious little hope of any change. The players were in an excellent position when the lockout was lifted—but now that the lockout is back in place, both sides are back to waiting on the courts. Sure, Commissioner Goodell will talk about ‘getting back to the table’ until he’s blue in the face, but it’s all nonsense. As NFL Network reporter Albert Breer explained on Twitter, sitting down and bargaining, at this point, is:

"Almost impossible legally, without one side or other compromising legal position. Both sides burned that bridge on March 11."

Besides--and we saw this same effect in between the players decertifying and the injunction hearings, neither side is interested in talking until they know who has the legal upper hand. The owners’ plan, throughout, was to lock the players out,  make the players miss game checks, and wait for the players to knuckle under. The players’ plan, throughout, has been to decertify to avoid the lockout. Why negotiate now, when you might be able to negotiate under far more advantageous conditions soon?

Yes, “BECAUSE IT’S THE RIGHT THING TO DO AND BECAUSE BOTH SIDES OWE IT TO THE FANS WHOSE MONEY THEY’RE ALL ARGUING OVER,” that’s correct—but if the NFL gave two hoots about its fans, they’d have negotiated a new deal back in February.

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NFL & NFLPA Mediation: The Wait for White Smoke

The NFL and NFLPA have agreed to mediation, as I’m sure you’ve probably heard. For four days—and, if all goes according to plan, three more—the two sides have been holed up with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, negotiating with the assistance of FMCS director George H. Cohen. Cohen comes with an impeccable pedigree. A former Georgetown law professor, he taught (during Martin Mayhew’s study there) “The Art of Collective Bargaining,” amongst other courses. Last year at this time, Cohen resolved a seemingly-unresolvable dispute between MLS players and owners. The last negotiation between the two sides had ended “acrimoniously,” and the threat of a lockout hung in the air. Yet, Cohen brought the MLS and its players to an agreement.

Landon Donovan weighed in on Cohen:

The guy is a stud. Hope he can help RT @TaylorTwellman: very interesting to hear MLS CBA facilitator...George Cohen will mediate NFL CBA

An interesting note, one of the NFLPA’s executive committee members—the guys on the players’ side of the table—might look familiar to Lions fans:

In fact, Batch is the only one on either side who’s made anything resembling a substantive remark about the progress of the talks:

"Things are going well," said Batch, a member of the NFL Players Association executive committee. "We'll see how things progress over the coming days."

Yes, thanks to the mutually-agreed-upon media silence during the talks, nobody has any real idea about what is happening in there. Is substantive progress being made? Is a deal realistically reachable in time? Will Patriots owner Bob Kraft’s quote from two weeks ago, “we could do this deal next week,” be proven true? Or, is this all a sham, a circus intended to appease us? Are the owners negotiating in bad faith to make it look like they’re negotiating in good faith, thereby enabling them to declare an impasse and impose their will?

It reminds me of how they elect a new Pope. For those who don’t know, all of the Cardinals sequester themselves in the Sistine Chapel, and they nominate, debate, and vote while the world waits outside. Every time they take a vote, they burn the ballots—and if the vote fails to produce a new pope, they mix straw in with the papers to produce a thick black smoke. So, black smoke means no new pope. White smoke means new pope. Sometimes, the papal election can take a while:

Back in the 13th century it took almost three years to install a new pope. After the death of Pope Clement IV, who died in 1268, church officials became involved in a bitter political struggle and many refused to vote. Finally, in effort to break the stalemate, the cardinals were fed only bread and water. The roof of the building they were staying in was removed. The desperate measures worked, because a new pope was soon elected.

I'm not suggesting we take away the NFL and NFLPA’s sub sandwiches, or the roof off of the FMCS. But this has got to get done—for the good of the league, for the good of the players, for the good of the fans, and for the good of all the local economies that depend on the NFL. Meanwhile, good reporters like NFL.com’s Albert Breer are stationed outside the FMCS offices, reporting even the faintest wisp of smoke on Twitter for the millions waiting on the good news.

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