Horse Tracks 3/14/08

by mdierk on Mar 14, 2008 9:12 AM MDT in Horse Tracks

Here's a Friday edition of Horse Tracks. I will be making a pilgrimage to the Broncos' Mecca (Denver) this weekend so I will return for Monday's edition of Horse Tracks. Have a good weekend!

The Broncos are still working with Jason Elam, but no contract yet. See here

OL Chris Myers visited Houston. See here

AL Wilson has filed an injury grievance with the Broncos. See here and here

Denver is now talking with the Jets in trading for Robertson. See here

Mike Kils discusses the power shift that Shanny has done. See here

Mark Kiszla is grinding the ax again. Here's another piece by him. See here

The Rocky Mountain News performed an analysis about the GM firing. See here

Good ol' Bernie Lincicome had to join Kiszla in ax grinding too. See here

Jeff Legwold gives some suggestions on who to draft for a kick returner. See here

Real Football 365 discussed the Broncos' red zone problems. See here

AFC West

We need to give some prayers to Chargers' chaplain who is recovering from a brain hemorrhage. See here

No other news from the other AFC West teams.

NFL News

Dan Pompei would love to see some fiscal sanity return to the NFL. See here

Could we see another NFL Lockout or players' strike? It's possible. See here

Wow, went from a light news day this week to a hefty load. Have a good one folks! See you Monday!

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So....

I know in the big picture our opinions don't count as to a lock out. but don't both sides feel that a lock out could jeopardize their fan base and in turn hurt the profit margin and whatever salaries these guys feel they are "entitled to" I mean good lord, who in their right mind actually feels "entitled" to more than 1 million a year? seriously CEO's and other top level people make that kind of money after years in the business and lots of schooling. most guys outside of sports who make that kind of cash have 6-10 years of school. these guys skip out on their degree or get a bachelor's in something like sports medicine or leisure studies and they feel entitled to over 1 million a year? I say lock em out . force them to get real jobs. Shoot there are plenty of guys (myself included) that would play for league minimum (230k i think which is 200k more than my salary now) and be grateful.

Davis to the Hall! "A leader, once convinced that a particular course of action is the right one, must be undaunted when the going gets tough." Ronald Reagan

by Jon Tollerud on Mar 14, 2008 12:05 PM MDT reply actions

Unfortunately the players association has a good

argument in that they feel they need to make as much money as possible before retirement or career ending injury.

This all stems from, I think, the history of the NFL and how many guys from the past have died penniless even though they were the John Elways and Peyton Mannings of their day.

I don't think high salaries really came around until the 1990's, before then players were not paid very much more than the league minimums of today. I believe John Elway signed the richest contract in league history in 1983, at a now laughable amount of $5 million dollars. lol

Personally I think 60% of revenues to players is far too much. At the very most, I'd say 50% is fair enough for both sides...unfortunately, labor unions(the powerful ones anyway) are notorious for not being flexible. They don't care what is best for the league, the only care about how much more money they get from the owners. I can almost say with 100% certainty that if the Owners don't give into the NFLPA once again there will be a players strike and it will devestate the league and its fan base. Freakin' morons, that's all I gotta say. I lost interest in basketball for all-time back in the 90's because of strikes...same with baseball. I won't tolerate this crap anymore..not when players are raking in 60% of all revenues from the NFL. That's just BS.

Disillusioned Rants Blog

by Tim Lynch on Mar 14, 2008 12:54 PM MDT up reply actions

I am not saying

they don't have a valid argument and I am all for a guy earning his way to the top. Let's look at Jay Cutler. If I rememebr right he got a 5 year 20 million dollar contract with a 5 million dollar signing bonus. Here is what he can do. take the bonus and put it away in savings or some investment portfolio and live off the approx 4 million per year. Now I don't know what Cutler did with his money I am just using his numbers as an example. These guys get their hands on more money than they know what to do with and don't spend wisely and thus end up penniless. Maybe the NFLPA should focus more on what the players do with their moeny more than how much the players make. Truth be said I am okay with a guy getting a 5 year 35 or 40 million contract with a 10 -15 million signing bonus. I would prefer they do incentive contract but hey I am a soccer guy who sees guys only get paid by the matches tey are on the squad. If we went to that type of system teams like oakland or miami wouldnt exist everyone woudl be closer to the .500 mark because you only get paid if you play or are on the list. So I realize I have said two different things so let me clear it all up. I believe in a paid to play system but with the NFL what it is I firmly stand by the idea that the NFLPA should teach these guys how to invest so that IF the career ending injury were to occur they can walk off into the sunset set to go (i.e. Rod Smith).

Davis to the Hall! "A leader, once convinced that a particular course of action is the right one, must be undaunted when the going gets tough." Ronald Reagan

by Jon Tollerud on Mar 14, 2008 2:13 PM MDT up reply actions