We’re getting closer and closer to March 3rd, when the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement expires and all hell breaks loose on the NFL labor front. There’s going to be federal mediators now, so hopefully they’ll help keep things from spiraling out of control, but still.
The Players Association’s Silent Enemy In The NFL Lockout: The Media?
We have no idea what’ll happen, and the only thing we know for certain is that Roger Goodell and the NFL owners are pushing for some serious concessions on the player’s part. As in, “We’d like you to work more and earn less shares of the profits.”
...Yeah, those kind of concessions.
All of which makes the media even more important than usual. It’s the media’s job to keep the owners honest through all this. And if someone like Peter King won’t do it, then it’s simple. Deadspin’s Tommy Craggs will just take it upon himself to go postal on Peter King:
I know it’s CBA season, and I can only imagine how difficult and disorienting it must be for football writers to watch mommy and daddy fight this way. But we’re talking about Peter King here. And it says a lot about NFL journalism — both past and present — that its most influential exponent is covering the sport from a crease in Roger Goodell’s khakis.
Let’s start with the profile, which was so transparent a piece of spin that it’s a wonder it wasn’t written on NFL letterhead. The story was revelatory in a way — not because it showed Goodell as he really is, but because it showed him as he desperately wants to be seen. (The whole thing is basically a long way of Goodell saying, “Who’s stupid now, huh?” to the kids who used to call him “Retard.”) If you haven’t read it already, well, don’t bother.
First off, it’s an epic rant that gets better from there. But second, it’s an important reminder that in a battle where the media will play a key role, the media’s overwhelmingly beholden to Roger Goodell and the NFL owners. As if the players didn’t have the deck stacked against them already...
Anyway, more links!
-- Vikings tackle Bryant McKinnie is getting ready for the work stoppage by... spending $100,000 at a bar, naturally. That story reminded me of Dan Le Batard’s story a few years ago, when he spent a weekend partying with Mount McKinnie and Lil Kim the same week that McKinnie just went AWOL at the Pro Bowl.
For some reason, it’s hard to track down the story online, but I found a full reprint on this message board, and it’s just as good as I remembered. Immerse yourself in the insanity of it all:
McKinnie and LIL’ Kim are starting their evening now at 3 a.m. -- going to P. Diddy’s party at Cameo nightclub, or did that go without saying? -- and yet I’m somehow disappointed, even though they’ve invited me along to partake in what will be, by night’s end, 36 bottles of champagne.
Making matters more difficult, about the only time someone as anonymous as an offensive lineman can ever make national news is the way McKinnie has -- negatively. That’ll make a man hate us very quickly, or at the very least distrust us, and with good reason. McKinnie has made national headlines three times -- with this Pro Bowl incident, with a sex scandal on a boat that involved actual Vikings and with a four-game suspension after a bar fight described thusly by one newspaper:
“McKinnie went to another club across the street, but returned to Club Space at 6:30 a.m., when he struck the bouncer in the face before hitting him in the back of the head with an isle pole. Police responding to a report of the fight arrived to see McKinnie screaming obscenities and throwing punches at the bouncer. Police ordered McKinnie to stop beating the man, but McKinnie refused to comply. McKinnie then made a failed attempt at escaping on a charter bus.”
And never forget. Other NFL players may get more headlines, but you’d be hard pressed to find an NFL player who fits the “larger than life” cliche any better than Bryant McKinnie.
-- Real Mikhail Prokhorov described his meeting with Carmelo Anthony like this:
“It was a fantastic meeting, trust me,” Prokhorov said, smiling. “No words, live music, excellent atmosphere. We looked into each other’s eyes. Just real man talk.”
And don’t get me wrong; “Real man talk” is a pretty awesome way to describe anything. ... But Spencer’s Mikhail Fake Prokhorov is even better than the man himself:
The Prokhorov knows he could destroy Isyayah but some men do it to self and he is one. Then you like Martin come back to The Prokhorov. Mistakes every man makes. The Prokhorov forgives. Life is beach party and surf is up. Crying fills ocean. You ride wave. This is why ocean is salty and women are necessary and cry all the times. The Prokhorov understands much, Myelo.
-- This is a week old, but Bill Murray’s awesomeness at Pebble Beach demands mention.
-- The best part of a protest in a place like Madison, Wisconsin is obviously all the witty signs. (Note: if you click, you’ll waste at least ten minutes here)
-- Did you know it’s been 21 years since Martin Lawrence has made a good movie?
-- Surprise! You’re Swimming in a Blood Cloud with a Huge Shark (HT: Spencer)
Finally, apropos of absolutely nothing, remember when Floyd Mayweather fought Ricky Hatton and entered the ring to “Born in the U.S.A.”? There’s never a bad time to relive something like that.
I can’t decided whether I like that, or his sombrero entrance better, but either way, it’s time Floyd stopped collecting ridiculous watches and got back in the ring again. For his country, ya know?
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