Boycotting the NFL!

[MiddTennTaco]

LMFAO

[xRUSTYx]

The play wasn't reviewable, so they didn't see anything. LOL

What amuses me, is what leagues were these guys blowing calls in before they became replacement refs?

The Lingerie League...that's not a joke.

I believe they are actually DIV III ref's. I also heard some had reffed the lingerie league as well as atlas has already mentioned.

[mcurrier]

[Guest dfsixstring]

I don't think that's a very honest comparison. NFL refs are the elite in their jobs.

Regardless, I don't like the idea that any union decides to flex its muscles to extort perks like these from the owners - regardless of how wealthy they (owners) are. The tactics are no different than the NEA or UAW when you get down to it. A union is attempting to force/extort an employer to give perks to employees - perks that are unavailable to the rest of the workforce. Why do we shake our conservative (assumption here) fists at the NEA/UAW but the players union gets a pass - because they are elite. Our core principles should not change only because we enjoy the entertainment they provide.

Dfsixstring

SR9c

LCP

RST4S

[peejman]

Saw on Sportcenter this morning that they've lifted the lock-out and the ref's are reviewing a new deal. Supposed to be "real" ref's in the game tonite with the full crews back for the weekend, if they agree to the deal.

[BryanP]

Regardless, I don't like the idea that any union decides to flex its muscles to extort perks like these from the owners - regardless of how wealthy they (owners) are.

I don't see the problem. If the owners don't like it they are free to replace the refs with new employees.

Oh, wait. They tried that. They couldn't recruit equivalent talent. If you want the best qualified to do a job you're going to pay for it.

[monkeylizard]

This is an example of a union working the way a union is supposed to work. The employees are contributing to the success of the business in a way they don't think is reflected in their compensation. The owners disagreed. They underestimated the value provided by the union workers. Once that became clear, changes were made to better reflect the value the employees are adding. Had the new refs done a good job, the league would have been proven right and the old refs would be out.

With teachers unions, it's a more nuanced situation. It's not a profit making business so it's hard to say the teachers add unrecognized value to the bottom line and should get a bigger taste of the profits. The refs create a measurable product. Through tape reviews it can be made more or less known if they are making good or bad calls, helping or hindering the flow of the game, and watching out for player safety. The closest we have for measuring most teachers are tests like TCAP. That can be manipulated to reflect poorly on a teacher. You can do parent/student surveys but those are hardly objective.

I'm not generally a fan of unions. They do have their place and can still be an effective tool for employee safety and quality of life. The big unions are rarely so magnanimous. There's simply too much pocket lining corruption in them. They generally seem to promote mediocrity. There are good workers in unions. But there are bad ones too.The nflpa does not discourage individual achievement like many unions do. Each player gets their own contracts and pay, but the contract has general rules that the nflpa has made the league include for things like continued medical care, safety, team workouts, etc.

To the contrary, the NEA encourages mediocrity. Even bad teachers are hard to dismiss. Good and bad are paid the same. No nflpa member gets to do a poor job and keep his spot on the roster.

Comparing the two unions just isn't a like-like setup.

ETA: There are many many many good teachers in our schools who work hard despite there being no additional reward. They spend their own time and money on their classrooms to be better at their jobs. It's by their own personal desire to do a job and to do it well that some teachers do this. My point is that the NEA/TEA does nothing to encourage this behavior. Hardworking teachers get paid the same as the teacher who works to the clock. Some people take pride in their work while others don't. That's true in all professions. The NFLPA has found a way to bargain together for common/shared items while rewarding the dilligent and firing the rest. The NEA bargains together while failing to reward the diligent and protecting the rest.

I don't begrudge teachers being unionized. Without some form of collective effort, it wouldn't take long before cash-strapped districts started increasing class sizes and extending school days while freezing or even cutting teacher pay. I think unionized teachers should bargain for those shared elements (fixed class size limits, fixed # of instructional days, fixed # of continuing education days, fixed # of hours in a school day, minimum salary, health benefits, etc.) and for a fair evaluation process. Then allow that evaluation process to reward good ones and fire bad ones.

Edited September 27, 2012 by monkeylizard

[Smith]

How bout this. Quit spending the huge bucks for tickets, so these guys can stop quiblling over how many millions they all get to "make" and return it to a time when every family could afford to go see a game every now and then and players, coaches, refs, did it for the love of the game instead of the "Brand".

[bubbiesdad]

[Guest dfsixstring]

How bout this. Quit spending the huge bucks for tickets, so these guys can stop quiblling over how many millions they all get to "make" and return it to a time when every family could afford to go see a game every now and then and players, coaches, refs, did it for the love of the game instead of the "Brand".

Amen brother! Amen!

Dfsixstring

SR9c

LCP

RST4S