Judge Susan Nelson in Minnesota has ordered both the NFL and NFLPA to reenter mediated negotiations starting this week. The details of the mediation (where, when, and who will be conducting) remain to be determined, but with this order, the judge in the case is adamantly stating that she does NOT want to rule on the players' request for an injunction if she can avoid it. You see, though, both sides will never admit it, but a ruling on the injunction is EXACTLY what both sides want to have happen before negotiations resume. Obviously, the two sides want different outcomes, but one thing is certain. Nothing will get done until the injunction is ruled upon one way or the other. This "forced mediation" as it is being called really will accomplilsh nothing. This is just the judge's way of trying to avoid making a decision that will be scrutinized for a long time. Eventually she will realize this.
Now, I could be wrong. Perhaps forcing mediation will accomplish something, but there is a fundamental road block here. The union is demanding full financial disclosure from the league. The league claims that they have done that, but the union has not. The league is demanding that the "trade association" reforms as a union (or at least calls itself one) before they engage in collective bargaining (something the league says it really wants to do instead of litigate). So until that difference is resolved, mediated negotiation will accomplish nothing. This judge will have to rule on the injunction eventually. Hopefully she's prepared to live with herself when she does.
Let 'em play.
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