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Post by Gene on Oct 18, 2007 8:18:09 GMT -5
2008 SEASON CANCELLED
Players' Association rejects league proposal
10/16/2007
The National Lacrosse League has announced the cancellation of its 2008 season. The cancellation was triggered by the Professional Lacrosse Players Association's executive committee rejecting the league's last Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) proposal.
"I would like to apologize to our fans, first and foremost", said NLL Commissioner Jim Jennings. "We are deeply disappointed that the PLPA's executive committee rejected our proposal without permitting all of the players to vote on the league's final offer. The offer included annual raises for all players in each year of the contract. Our owners made the best offer they could make while maintaining a
sound business model".
Jennings continued, "This marked the fourth time we have had to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement in the past seven years. Professional sports leagues cannot do business without the stability of a long-term collective bargaining agreement. We will use this year to improve not only our relationship with our players but to improve our overall business model."
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Post by Gene on Oct 18, 2007 8:21:10 GMT -5
PLAYERS MISJUDGED OWNERS
Calgary Roughnecks owner speaks from the heart on labor dispute
10/17/2007
Following the season cancellation announcement on Tuesday, Calgary Herald sports columnist George Johnson interviewed Calgary Roughnecks team owner Brad Banister.
NLL season up in smoke
Players misjudged owners, says Banister
George Johnson
Calgary Herald
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Amidst suddenly pointless preparations for a season run aground on the rocks, Brad Banister numbly picked his way through the wreckage.
"You can sit there,'' he said, motioning to a chair in his cubicle of the Calgary Roughnecks office space on 11th Ave. S.E.
He leaned on it to test.
"But, maybe not. It's a little unsteady.''
Just like his league.
The National Lacrosse League shut its doors for a year Monday, as threatened. The 10 p.m. MDT deadline imposed by owners to have a new collective bargaining agreement passed quietly. With neither side willing to budge.
The league officially announced cancellation early Tuesday morning.
Players continue to hold fast to the belief that with 2 1/2 months between now and the scheduled opening night there remains the chance to negotiate; that the deadline was just a power ploy by ownership to force the PA's hand.
That they'll be playing lacrosse come January.
Brad Banister says: Don't delude yourselves.
"Already, a couple of players phoned today, saying, 'Hey, we can still negotiate.' And I told them: 'Don't you get it?! It's over.'
"Maybe the PA thought we were bluffing.
"If they did, they were wrong.''
If the league stands by its shut-down mandate, the players fatally, and arrogantly, misread the warning signs.
If the players are right, and the deadline was just politicking; if there are further talks towards an agreement between now and January, ownership credibility will be non-existent.
What's left for the moment is a periphery league backed by a comparatively small, but rabid fan base thrown into chaos. It's difficult enough for proven leagues of long-standing and far more considerable financial wherewithal to entice back angry or disillusioned patrons, not to mention corporate sponsors and television providers.
Much less the NLL.
"We're seven years into this, and we were finally seeing some light,'' grumbled Banister. "Nearing a break-even point, or maybe even a little ahead of the game. The Canadian dollar has strengthened, improving our position. And now, this.
"It hurts, all the way around. Fans. Players. Sponsors. You name it.
"You don't think we want to be playing this year? Why would any of us be in this business if we didn't want the business to be running? That doesn't make sense. But the business has to make sense, too.''
A few arenas around the loop are going to be minus some dates, but most of those will be quickly filled. More significantly, players who count on the added, if not wildly substantial, income derived from their part-time NLL careers are going to miss the cash.
And one rather outspoken, maverick owner is beginning to be worn down by the grind.
"Of course, I take it personally,'' said Banister. "It bothers me that some of these guys think I'm a cheap (let your imagination run riot; fill in the blank). All we've had over the seven years of this league's existence is labour unrest.
"Three years ago, the negotiations were hostile. This time, they didn't even bother coming to the table until it was too late.
"Frankly, you wonder sometimes: Why bother? Negotiations went on far too late three years ago. We got it done hours before we were supposed to play. That's why we set the deadline this time.''
Banister says after the initial jolt of bitterness subsides, he'll be back. And so will the Roughnecks. But not in 2008. And not until a long-term collective bargaining agreement has been hammered out with the Professional Lacrosse Players' Association.
At issue is the players' desire for a no-cap salary system. The league offered a three per cent increase per year over five seasons.
"We want them to grow with us,'' said Banister. "I'd bet you 95 per cent of the players want to play. But the (PA) executive didn't ask for a vote. Why didn't they ask the players to vote if they were so certain of the outcome? And if they were so keen to get a deal done, why didn't they come to the table before two days prior to a deadline we set a long time ago?
"It's a shame when a few egos have to get in the way.''
He paused.
"This isn't the NHL or the NFL. Pigs get fat. Hogs get slaughtered.''
Banister says the union membership should look to its executive committee for answers, not the franchise owners.
"I've had e-mails already from players saying things like: 'The owners don't care about us.' I mean, come on.
"We take these guys out of fringe lacrosse leagues, pay them $2,000 American, or more, a night, fly them in and out, put them up. That's a little better than the summer leagues they're used to playing in for $100 a game. In this league, they play where the Iginlas do, where the Michael Jordans used to. They practice once a week. This league put them on TV. Made them local celebrities. On weekends, they come in from their real jobs and they're treated like rock stars. Kids ask for their autographs. Girls chase them around bars.
"And they're willing to jeopardize that?
"I know many of our players understand how much people have sacrificed around here for us to get to this point. But they're getting poor advice. These guys come in here for a couple days a week for four months and then they're gone. We're here every day, trying to make this franchise better.
"I don't get it.
"It's just . . . sad."
The column appears on the Calgary Herald at the following link:
www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/sports/story.html?id=c740db53-95a1-4965-8b92-45b9b837cd42&p=2
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Post by Gene on Oct 18, 2007 8:23:13 GMT -5
REPORT: NLL WON'T CHANGE MIND
Reports on announcement of season cancellation
10/17/2007
"We've been able to grow in a slow and steady way for a number of years," said George Daniel. "(The players' association's) proposals, which we didn't get until a few weeks ago, wanted to lift those limits, and basically have an uncapped system."Canada's CanWest news service reported on the cancellation of the 2008 NLL season on Tuesday.
Published: Tuesday, October 16, 2007
The National Lacrosse League cancelled its 2008 season Tuesday, with no hopes of a late reprieve.
Calling it a "very dark day," NLL commissioner Jim Jennings announced Tuesday that the Professional Lacrosse Players Association's executive committee has rejected the league's last contract proposal, and the 14-league team will be mothballed until the 2009 season.
"It's not a good thing, but it would have been more harmful to continue playing if we would have adopted their proposals," Jennings said Tuesday in a conference call.
"Our franchises would be out of business in a few years, possibly. We've got teams already, in a lot of those U.S. markets ... like Phoenix, San Jose and Portland, Ore., where the sport is playing there and they are experiencing financial losses.
"And that's with the proposal that we have under the current system. For us to shift to what they were suggesting would have accelerated those losses."
Talks between the league and the players' association on a new collective agreement broke down Sunday, and the league had set a deadline for midnight ET Monday, saying if a new agreement isn't reached, the 2008 season would be cancelled.
The league, which includes three Canadian franchises - the Toronto Rock, Edmonton Rush and Calgary Roughnecks, was slated to open on Dec. 27.
Jennings said there will be no eleventh-hour decision to save the season, which is something the players have to realize, especially after team owners were instructed Tuesday morning to release holds on facilities.
"There's no hope due to the fact that we've released our dates. It's very difficult to get dates in places like (New York's) Madison Square Garden and (Toronto's) ACC Centre and places like that.
"To try to restart this thing up on a moment's notice is an impossibility."
The president of the players' association, Peter Schmitz, couldn't be reached for comment.
The NLL's deputy commissioner, George Daniel, said that the union wanted to remove the cap on individual player salaries.
www.canada.com/topics/sports/story.html?id=238b72cb-6afa-425e-8bb6-af5df18b44a3&k=34627
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Post by Gene on Oct 18, 2007 8:24:26 GMT -5
This sucks. I am a huge Indoor Lacrosse fan. 
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Post by UnoBomber on Oct 18, 2007 8:58:21 GMT -5
Lacrosse has a players union?? Sheesh
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Post by frostbite on Oct 18, 2007 11:03:07 GMT -5
indoor football has needed one for years maybe then they stop screwing over the players and we get legit owners ya think?
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Post by UnoBomber on Oct 18, 2007 12:18:26 GMT -5
Won't happen until teams start sharing revenue. Which will never happen.
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Post by Gene on Oct 18, 2007 14:37:54 GMT -5
A players union in Indoor football could be a good thing but as we see here for the NLL players it didnt work out at all. These players are all losing $2,000 per week. Personally, i hate unions and refuse to work a unionized job. Back in 1992 i worked for Teamsters Local 429 and the place i worked went on strike and after 6 weeks of no work/no pay all they got out of it was an extra nickle over the course of a 5 year contract. That was enough buffonery for me and i left in the middle of the strike for another job. I bet they are still trying to make up those lost wages..........
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Post by frostbite on Oct 18, 2007 15:59:54 GMT -5
i like that theres someone standing up for the players rights though theres noone doing that in the indoor leagues and look at how often we hear reports of players not gettin gpaid or no health insurance and stuff like that its a shame the game needs the very best players but their treated like crap. the afl has a players union.
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Post by Gene on Oct 18, 2007 16:11:14 GMT -5
i like that theres someone standing up for the players rights though theres noone doing that in the indoor leagues and look at how often we hear reports of players not gettin gpaid or no health insurance and stuff like that its a shame the game needs the very best players but their treated like crap. the afl has a players union. |
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Post by frostbite on Oct 18, 2007 16:19:05 GMT -5
this league says it already has revenue sharing so whats the problem? i've read waay to many of your posts to think you dont want to see the best for the players. a union representing the players only strengthens the league in the long run providing for better salaries and benefits for the players. more payroll and healthcare shenanigans will lead to the death of the sport not help it grow. a league that doesn't want the best for the players is only in it to line their own pockets with cash and i cant support a league like that.
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Post by Gene on Oct 18, 2007 16:28:03 GMT -5
this league says it already has revenue sharing so whats the problem? i've read waay to many of your posts to think you dont want to see the best for the players. a union representing the players only strengthens the league in the long run providing for better salaries and benefits for the players. more payroll and healthcare shenanigans will lead to the death of the sport not help it grow. a league that doesn't want the best for the players is only in it to line their own pockets with cash and i cant support a league like that. |
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Post by frostbite on Oct 18, 2007 17:00:55 GMT -5
this league says it already has revenue sharing so whats the problem? i've read waay to many of your posts to think you dont want to see the best for the players. a union representing the players only strengthens the league in the long run providing for better salaries and benefits for the players. more payroll and healthcare shenanigans will lead to the death of the sport not help it grow. a league that doesn't want the best for the players is only in it to line their own pockets with cash and i cant support a league like that. read it again gene i said from your posts i know better than to think that you dont care about the players. imo if the league is doing the job it says it is when screening new owners getting the bad apples like hodas out then paying the players shouldnt be a problem yes? im sure a union would understand the position the league and teams are in but for the love of god someone needs to represent the players intrests and take care of them. |
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