I Dislike Your Favorite Team

Back in January, I predicted that the NFL had committed some overreach in trying to get super powerful anti-trust exemptions from this American Needle case.


The Supreme Court backed up the impression they gave when they were hearing the case, ruling conclusively 9-0 (seriously, getting this court to agree unanimously is a serious accomplishment) against the NFL.


Here's the best summary I've found locating the importance of this case in the greater context of the NFL and the looming labor lockout in 2011.  It's from ESPNNewYork's Jane McManus, and while it focusing on New York City based players for quotes, it also gets reaction from some pretty savvy sounding folks, like Stanford sports economist Roger Noll.


Also, we've talked about players who seem to get it, and I'm ready to add Bart Scott to that list.  He's a goldmine of great quotes about the importance of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and I think this is worth remembering--the next time someone asks why they should care about millionaires fighting with billionaires, you can say that Bart Scott said, "It's just part of my history.  Would I like a work stoppage? No, but if its the right thing to do for the betterment of the game for the players, the people who have to deal with arthritis, deal with the injuries, deal with the dementia, whatever you want to want to talk about, why not?"