BASEBALL.....MEET THE FOOTBALL DILEMMA

March 15, 2011

Let's make this story as simple as possible...even without the humor... because what's happening in the world of Football can easily filter down to Baseball.

I've said this before.  There is no country like the United States, with all its faults, like pure greed. Owners make the same mistake.  THEY create unions, not the working class.  It happened very clearly in baseball.  Why did so many stars, in all their greatness, still need a second job?  So....the Players Association not only become alive, they eventually dominated.

There is a lockout of the National Football League.  Everywhere you read you see that it's LABOR. From meager salaries, the players have grown wealthy and legally decertified themselves. That move allows the Players Association to file an antitrust suit and request an injunction against the owners.

Morally, the union really dissolved itself years ago by negotiating unbelievable individual contracts.  It has reached a level where the argument between the owners and players is over how to split $8 billion dollars.  The players have been lead into rich bucks.  They expect it, not really knowing the issues, except for their leaders. 

Here's the crux of the matter.  The Association is DEMANDING  that the owners reveal ALL their financial statements. Are they stockholders???

My question is:  Who has put up ALL the money to make football possible?  The Association, in their fight for total financial equality, has NEVER put up a dime.  They take NO risks.  Has the Association ever legally guaranteed profits? 

As profitable as Football is, the owners must be in a position to control their equity.  Could Football be finished for one....two years, or more?  It's possible. If the "employees" can walk away, then the owners can do the same thing.  The Association is no longer a Union.  Every original reason for this Union to exist has disappeared.  Remember when minimum wages, working conditions, and shorter hours were meaningful? There are no wages.  They are individual contracts.

Now......let's segue into the Baseball world.  In 1994, when the Players Association struck, there was NO world series, no pennant.  Nothing.  The Montreal Expos probably could have won their only championship.  That year surely had a lasting effect on the game in Montreal.  Nothing there has been the same.......including their move to Washington.

In 1995, the Players Association, in their same endeavor to remain in monetary control, relied on a little known judge, Sonia Sotomayor, to lead the deciding vote against owners which forced them to relent and legally give in.  In the history of ALL professional sports, there never was a post-season cut out like in 1994.

TIMES are changing.  In order for Baseball to survive down the road, the dilemma must end quickly.

The word "Union" actually dissolved long ago, but that word is still recognized in any court of law.  It's really billionaires vs. millionaires.  The billions rightfully belong to the investors.  And.........who among us who aren't billionaires wouldn't just love to be mere millionaires? 

In two weeks, PLAY BALL!!!  Yeah!

Graphics by Eddie Resner