SideLion Report » NFL Lockout

Lions Restore Pay to Furloughed Workers

Nathan VanNorwick — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 19:00:36 +0000

One of the perks of being an amateur blogger (other than meeting babes and scoring free Subway gift cards) is being able to occasionally stand on a soapbox and point out the failings of the organization we have come to love. I did so with an article on Lions employees in May, when it was announced that the Lions had cut pay to the regular rank-and-file workers in Allen Park once the lockout had commenced.

These were not professional football players I was talking about, but “regular people” like you and I – the administrative assistants, office workers, etc These were people who probably didn’t have a million dollars in the bank and a vacation house Miami. I berated the Lions for the move – the Lions had lost no money yet – because it seemed to me it was an obvious PR attempt to make it seem like things were worse than they actually were. The workers were minimum wage pawns caught in chess game between millionaires and billionaires.
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When Will the NFL Lockout End? I’m Not Sure But I’ll Guess For Prizes

Zac Snyder — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 14:06:29 +0000

When will the NFL lockout end? I honestly have no idea but seatgeek is running a contest in which they ask football bloggers to make a guess with $200 in free tickets on the line.

Today is day number 115 of the lockout and while report of optimism have surfaced, challenges remain in coming to a resolution. I want to believe that the progress made over the past couple weeks will lead to a resolution before the league will need to think about widespread changes to their 2011 season calendar. It has been widely speculated that July 15 marks the date at which the start of training camp and preseason games could be at risk so I will choose July 14 as the date a resolution is reached to end the lockout at 124 days.

Read more about the SeatGeek NFL Ticket Giveaway.

The Fine Line DeMaurice Smith is Walking

Nathan VanNorwick — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 19:00:33 +0000

With news of the labor talks taking an optimistic turn, and the owners huddled together today discussing the issues with a proposed CBA, I started to wonder about the role of one of the main men involved. Needless to say DeMaurice Smith has staked his reputation (and perhaps, more importantly, his current job) on the outcome of these negotiations. When news came out that he had booted the lawyers from the negotiations last week, my first thought was not that he was showing his strong leadership skills, nor was it that Smith had finally decided the time had come for a deal.

My first thought was that DeMaurice Smith was a genius, with a well thought out plan to maintain his job. I know it sounds cynical, but after seeing everyone involved in this whole CBA debacle preaching one thing while practicing another (mainly greed), I realized what a fine line DeMaurice Smith is walking. (more…)