NFL Owners Opt Out of CBA

It's long been understood that of all professional athletes in America's major sports, none get screwed more than NFL players. They're at a higher risk for injury, and not just the two week kind. The kind that can have a dramatic effect on the rest of their lives.

Their contracts aren't guaranteed, unlike other sports, so they're always one play away from losing everything they thought they had. They have it rough.

Of course, a lot of this is because the head of their union is a puppet of the NFL's commissioner's office. Paul Tagliabue just beat up on Gene Upshaw for years as he helped make the NFL the most popular and profitable sport in the country. Now, it looks as though Roger Goodell and the rest of the owners don't plan on changing that.

Which is why the owners voted unanimously to opt out of the leagues current collective bargaining agreement.

The NFL owners voted unanimously Tuesday to end their agreement with the players' union in 2011, two years before the deal was to expire.

The league, however, emphasized that it will keep negotiating with the NFL Players Association and said games will be played "without threat of interruption for at least the next three seasons."

The owners had until Nov. 8 to opt out of the agreement, a provision written into the deal when it was signed in March 2006. They decided to act early, partly because they didn't want to do so while the 2008 season had begun.

Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFLPA, said on Sirius NFL Radio he learned of the owners' decision by e-mail from commissioner Roger Goodell.

"My response to his e-mail was very simple: 'What a surprise,'" Upshaw said sarcastically.

Upshaw has been predicting this the last few months and last weekend referred to the owners as "greedy."

Basically the two sides have until March of 2009 to come up with a new agreement, or 2010 is going to be a really fun season. You see, if the players and owners don't come up with a new deal before then there will be no salary cap in 2010.

That means teams will be free to spend money like the New York Yankees, and things could get crazy. Of course, knowing full well how cheap the Bears are, this means nothing to us but a likely 2-14 season.

The owners main reason for opting out of the deal is, wait for it, MONEY. Yes, even though the league is more profitable than ever, and there's a ton of money to go around, the owners want more of the money to go to them. Currently, players receive about 60% of the league's revenue, and the owners just can't have that.

No doubt they'd like to get that number a lot closer to 50%.

Get Ready For The Shock of Your Lifetime

You're never going to believe this, but a certain NFL quarterback that's currently suspended and about to go to jail for dog-fighting tested positive for marijuana.

I know. Shocking.

Mike Vick has tested positive for marijuana.

A urine sample submitted by Michael Vick has tested positive for marijuana, and as a result he'll have tighter restrictions on his freedom.

The test was taken on Sept. 13. Because of the positive test, federal court probation officer Patricia Locket-Ross, who is assigned to Vick, asked Judge Henry Hudson to place special conditions on Vick's release, which include refraining from use or unlawful possession of a narcotic drug or other controlled substance.

Also, Vick must submit to any method of testing at any time.

I'm sure nobody saw this coming, I mean, it's not like Vick and marijuana have been linked before.

In other shocking news today, Rex Grossman still sucks, and I'm gorgeous.

(Thanks to Kissing Suzy Kolber for the photo. Which of course they took from The Onion.)

Tom Brady To Be Hung In Effigy

I don't care how many Super Bowl rings you're wearing or how many hot chicks you've slept with, there's only one thing that you cannot do in the city of Boston, and Tom Brady done did it.

Tom and his galpal... Gisele Bundchen were strolling hand-in-hand in the West Village when he was snapped committing the horrid topper transgression. Red Sox Nation was shocked and appalled and - as is our way - making excuses for the Bronx Bombers blasphemy.

“We know that Tom has an array of Red Sox caps from which to choose,” said team spokesguy Dr. Charles Steinberg. “But we fully respect that he needed to wear a suitable disguise for his own health and protection. We don’t doubt that he’s a card-carrying member of Red Sox Nation.”

Oh. My. God.

Bill Simmons' head just exploded. Ben Affleck kicked Jennifer Garner. Paul Revere just rolled over in his grave. A few Boston men stopped fighting at the bar this morning to gaze at the paper before resuming their fights.

First it was Big Papi, and now The Dreamboat. There's mass hysteria in Boston right now, steer clear folks.

(via With Leather)

Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before

While Kerry Wood has done everything in his power to keep himself from slipping out of any more hot tubs, his old partner in pain is up to his old tricks again.

Mark Prior will not be pitching in the Cubs first five or six spring training games, but don't worry, Cubby faithful, he says he's fine.

''Don't jump to any conclusions on this,'' manager Lou Piniella said after telling reporters that Prior won't be scheduled to pitch in any of the Cubs' first five or six Cactus League games. ''This is a precaution and nothing more.''

The Cubs said the same thing about Prior last spring, backing him up in increments -- a slow pace designed to avoid the kinds of injury problems he had in the past, they said -- until finally acknowledging more serious problems around mid-March. Then he opened the season on the disabled list with a strained rotator cuff and spent most of the season sidelined.

Piniella wasn't around last year, but he's sensitive to the perceptions back in Chicago regarding Prior.

''We want to keep it positive, and we want to see small but steady progress,'' he said. ''You [can] rush something and all of a sudden you have to stop it or set it back, and now you lose double the time.''

Who knows what's wrong with the world's most fragile arm. Maybe he's got a really deep papercut on one of his fingers and the pain is just unbearable. I'm not trying to make fun of him, I had a papercut last week that was killing me. It was right there on the knuckle, and everytime I bent my finger....

Um, anyway, so the Piniella and Soriano appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated, Kerry Wood falls out of a hot tub, and now Prior is on the shelf again.

The Cubs are so screwed it's not even funny, but don't worry.

The Bears open training camp in only 6 months.