Donald Fehr is coming to town

[Chip R]

http://nkuconnections.nku.edu/detail.asp?id=1503

[George Foster]

Donald Fehr is what is wrong with MLB. Fehr and his union is the reason why the NFL is a lot more successful. Do you think a MLB team could last in Green Bay Wis.? Why can a NFL team thrive there? Revenue sharing, and salary caps. EVERY NFL team is equal. Your success is dependent upon the draft, management,coaching,injuries,and a little luck. There are 6-8 MLB teams that have no chance without salary caps, and revenue sharing. They can have the best management and coaching in the world but if you can't go after free agents, or keep and sign your good players, you have no chance. Sad situation.

[IslandRed]

Originally Posted by George Foster

Donald Fehr is what is wrong with MLB. Fehr and his union is the reason why the NFL is a lot more successful. Do you think a MLB team could last in Green Bay Wis.? Why can a NFL team thrive there? Revenue sharing, and salary caps. EVERY NFL team is equal. Your success is dependent upon the draft, management,coaching,injuries,and a little luck. There are 6-8 MLB teams that have no chance without salary caps, and revenue sharing. They can have the best management and coaching in the world but if you can't go after free agents, or keep and sign your good players, you have no chance. Sad situation.

The NFL's been more successful for a long, long time. For that matter, the NFL was kicking baseball's tail long before the NFL itself had a salary cap. That was revenue sharing's doing, something baseball could have been doing too, except that the big-market owners had none of the all-for-one spirit their NFL counterparts did. In the 1950s, Kansas City was often referred to as a Yankees farm club. Sound familiar?

Nonetheless, the union is what's in the way of a cap today. But you want to know why the union is the way it is? Because owners were the way they were. They created the monster, now they have to deal with it.

[Heath]

With apologies to Fred Astaire, & the old Christmas Carol, "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town"...here's a modified version of the old song for Donnie Baby.



You better watch out
You better not cry.
You better not pout,
I'm telling you why
Donald Fehr is coming to town.........

He's making a list,
Checking it twice;
Gonna find out who's naughty or nice.
Donald Fehr is coming to town.

He sees you when you're stealin' third
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been served a paternity suit
So be good for goodness sake

ohhhhhhhhhh
You better watch out
You better not cry.
You better not pout,
I'm telling you why
Donald Fehr is coming to town.........

With big union lawyers
And steroids going down
Stealing Pension funds
and kicking Richie Phillips to the ground
Donald Fehr is coming to town.

The boys in Big League Baseball Land
Will a having a jubilee
As Barry Bonds breaks down
as they remember when the drugs were free.

OHHHHHH...
You better watch out
You better not cry.
You better not pout,
I'm telling you why
Donald Fehr is coming to town.........
Donald Fehr is coming to town.........

[GAC]

Originally Posted by Heath

With apologies to Fred Astaire, & the old Christmas Carol, "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town"...here's a modified version of the old song for Donnie Baby.



You better watch out
You better not cry.
You better not pout,
I'm telling you why
Donald Fehr is coming to town.........

He's making a list,
Checking it twice;
Gonna find out who's naughty or nice.
Donald Fehr is coming to town.

He sees you when you're stealin' third
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been served a paternity suit
So be good for goodness sake

ohhhhhhhhhh
You better watch out
You better not cry.
You better not pout,
I'm telling you why
Donald Fehr is coming to town.........

With big union lawyers
And steroids going down
Stealing Pension funds
and kicking Richie Phillips to the ground
Donald Fehr is coming to town.

The boys in Big League Baseball Land
Will a having a jubilee
As Barry Bonds breaks down
as they remember when the drugs were free.

OHHHHHH...
You better watch out
You better not cry.
You better not pout,
I'm telling you why
Donald Fehr is coming to town.........
Donald Fehr is coming to town.........

And people think us Brown fans can't read and write.

If you are a union member.... you love guys like a Donald Fehr.

[Heath]

Originally Posted by GAC

And people think us Brown fans can't read and write.

If you are a union member.... you love guys like a Donald Fehr.

[KronoRed]

[redsmetz]

While I don't agree with everything Fehr does, let's not forget "the good old days" of the reserve clause when a player was bound to a club until they decided you weren't of any use to them. Where your salary was determined and you could have a great year and they'd tell you here's a $5,000 paycut. Let's remember terrific minor league players who could never make it up to the big league club because the star was ahead of them and there was nothing they could do about. In many ways, the owners' recalcitrance is as much to blame about the messy state of affairs. They're the ones that resisted Free Agency and couldn't arrive at a reasonable solution back in the 70's. And its been the big clubs which have resisted revenue sharing which would bring greater balance to the majors.

The collective bargaining agreement has brought some order to resolve these things. Look at the rules governing minor league players freeing them up if they've been in the minors for a long time. The Rule V draft alone is a credit to the negotiations of the union.

Could you they budge some too? Sure, there should always be give and take. It's not so black and white in this world that Donald Fehr is the lone villian. There's plenty of places to point the finger.

[westofyou]

Complaining about Don Fehr in a world of George Steinbrenners is a useless task, Don just protects the rights of the players through contract negotiations.

Furthermore comparing a day in and day out sport with a once a week sport is a useless task, they are black and white.

Furthermore the NFL union is weak compared to the baseball union.

[Heath]

Originally Posted by westofyou

Furthermore the NFL union is weak compared to the baseball union.

That's like the local grocery store union compared to the Teamsters.

Let's NOT guarantee contracts!

[GAC]

Originally Posted by westofyou

Complaining about Don Fehr in a world of George Steinbrenners is a useless task, Don just protects the rights of the players through contract negotiations.

Exactly.

And look at what he is going up against? Selig is scared of his own shadow.

And when it comes to the owners?.... divide and conquer.

[Chip R]

Originally Posted by GAC

And when it comes to the owners?.... divide and conquer.

It's been a great strategy for the players association so far. Before, the owners were united and had all the power. With the advent of big time cable money, there has been a rift amongst the haves and have nots. Fehr and Co. know that and they use it to their advantage every time. It's funny how the owners could have used the steroid issue as a bargaining chip but didn't follow through on it.

[Reds4Life]

I think a big part of the reason big market owners don't want revenue sharing is due to the fact the small market owners want no requirement the payments must be spent on player payroll, etc. You could have owners like Lindner getting checks from the other teams and just pocketing the cash while the team goes down the toilet.

[redsmetz]

Originally Posted by Reds4Life

I think a big part of the reason big market owners don't want revenue sharing is due to the fact the small market owners want no requirement the payments must be spent on player payroll, etc. You could have owners like Lindner getting checks from the other teams and just pocketing the cash while the team goes down the toilet.

Isn't a minimum payroll one of the linchpins of the NFL's salary cap system?

[Reds4Life]

Originally Posted by redsmetz

Isn't a minimum payroll one of the linchpins of the NFL's salary cap system?

I'm not expert on the NFL, but I believe they do have a salary floor.