Tuesday, July 26, 2011

The Most Poorly Written Front-Page Article About the NFL Lockout You'll Read Today

From "A win for owners, players -- and lawyers" by Ashley Fox at ESPN.com:

It has been an arduous path the NFL and its players have traveled these past four months. It has been at times ugly, unnerving, nasty and unsettling. Labor disputes always are, and this one has been no exception.

Both sides took hits and neither will walk away unscathed now that they have finally agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement.

That the NFL Players Association had to decertify, that the owners had to lock out the players, that there had to be a halt to league business was just silly when everyone was making money hand over fist.

The league was healthy, not broken. This dispute was about greed, plain and simple. It was not about putting the best product on the field or playing for the love of the game. It was about money, and how much everyone got.

Of course, the answer is that the players and the owners will continue to print money. The television contracts will only get larger. The fan interest will only grow. The stadiums will continue to be packed (most of them), and the merchandise will continue to fly off the shelves.

The NFL is a $9.3 billion business today. Who knows what it will be in 2020, but it will not be less. It will be more, potentially much more. So there had to be a way the two sides could come to an agreement. There had to be football in 2011. And ultimately, now, there will be.

As we prepare to finally discuss football, free agency, trades and training camps, it is worth a look at the winners and losers of the past four months.

That article made the front page of ESPN.com? Here's a quick re-edit:

It has been an arduous path the NFL and its players have traveled these past four months. It has been at times ugly, unnerving, nasty and unsettling. Labor disputes always are., and this one has been no exception.

Both sides took hits and nNeither side will walk away unscathed now that they have finally agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement.

That the NFL Players Association had to decertify, that the owners had to lock out the players, that there had to be a halt to league business was just silly needless when everyone was making money hand over fist.

The league was healthy, not broken. This dispute was about greed, plain and simple. It was not about putting the best product on the field or playing for the love of the game. It was about money, and how much everyone got.

Of course, the answer is that the players and the owners will continue to print money. The Television contracts will only get larger. The Fan interest will only grow. The Stadiums will continue to be packed (most of them), and the merchandise will continue to fly off the shelves.

The NFL is a $9.3 billion business today. Who knows what it will be in 2020, but it will not be less. It will be even more profitable in 2020, potentially much more. So there had to be a way the two sides could come to an agreement. There had to be football in 2011. And ultimately, now, there will be.

As we prepare to finally discuss football, free agency, trades and training camps, it is worth a Here's a look at the winners and losers of the past four months.:

37 comments:

Steve Sax said...

(continuing the article)

LOSERS: Ashley Fox, ESPN hack

Steve Sax said...

WINNERS: SoSG Orel

Steve Sax said...

WINNERS: Charlie Sheen

Eric Karros said...

My favorite misreadable line is: "This dispute was about greed, plain and simple."

I knew it was about greed, suspected it was also about simple, but had no idea it was about plain as well.

Fernie V said...

Damn Orel, my post must drive you nuts.

Steve Sax said...

Orel is a mean editor wielding a red marker / line; you should see him running around the staff room

Fernie V said...

Show us her photo, that could be the reason for rise in ESPN.

Fernie V said...

^her

Eric Karros said...

I did a little research. This is not the first time Ashley Fox has churned out poorly-written articles.

She has a hot-sounding name, though.

Steve Sax said...

It has been an arduous path the Sons of Steve Garvey and their readers have traveled trying to read this article. It has been at times ugly, unnerving, nasty and unsettling. Poorly-written articles always are, and this one has been no exception.

Ashley Fox took thesaurus usage and now will not walk away unscathed since she has finally received an overdue red-lining from SoSG Orel.

That SoSG Orel had to resort to grade-school journalism editing conventions, that the SoSG readers had to poison their minds with unnecessary words and verbose language, that ESPN had to resort to what must be a case of nepotism was just silly, when there are plenty of available writers out there.

Eric Karros said...

Normal person version:

"There's a market on the way to my brother's house so I'm picking up milk before I visit him today."

Ashley Fox version:

"That there's a store on the way to my brother's house is why I will pick up milk before my visit to him."

Steve Sax said...

thanks for the link, EK

Here's another Ashley Fox article, titled "DeSean Jackson to hold out?", when in fact the article says nothing that would indicate he has made that decision--in fact, the lead quotes a teammate who indicates Jackson has NOT made any decision:

PHILADELPHIA -- Michael Vick said Tuesday that he was unsure whether his No. 1 target, fourth-year wide receiver DeSean Jackson, will report on time to the Philadelphia Eagles' training camp, scheduled to open Wednesday.


"I spoke to DeSean yesterday, and we're trying to figure out what's going to happen," Vick said. "Hopefully he'll be here tomorrow. DeSean just has to think about it and has some decisions to make that only himself can make."

Steve Sax said...

Ms. Fox. Ugh.

Eric Karros said...

Sax, given that it's a fact how you and I both, within a minute of each other - perhaps a little more, perhaps a little less, but either way not by much - wrote posts mocking the style in which writing is done by Ms Fox is quite funny, or at least that's how I found it to be.

Nostradamus said...

Couldn't write her way out of a paper bag, but we'd all prefer she kept it on, thank you.

*goes to hell*

Mr. LA Sports Czar said...

WINNERS: MLASC

(dances jig)

spank said...

Ashley Fox looks way better than Ramona Shelburne. That's fo' sho'.

Jason said...

Dead horse alert: grantland.com has not one but two articles up on MLB trade-deadline fleecing. Both prominently feature a certain Dodgers 3B and Indians C.

Steve Sax said...

@EK: That your comment was thinking exactly what I was thinking, plain and simple, hand over fist (more fist, potentially much more), ultimately, now, yes, finally, I agree, was very cool, not lame.

Mr. LA Sports Czar said...

OT: I think Colin Cowherd pulled a Big Lead on Awful Announcing.

Look it up.

Steve Sax said...

@Jason 2:25p: I read an article today recapping the top trade deadline moves of the Indians over the last decade or so.

And guess which one they mentioned as one of their finest?

BEARD MODE

Steve Sax said...

@Mr LA SC: exactly how do I look that up?

Mr. LA Sports Czar said...

@Sax - Google.

Steve Sax said...

what is this thing you call "google"?

(seriously, I can't find it)

Mr. LA Sports Czar said...

Google "Colin Cowherd Big Lead."

Steve Sax said...

Hmm. Okay, I think I get it.

Cowherd is such a punk. I guess that's what people with failed sitcom pilot ideas do, they go after blogs which have original content. Unlike the plagiarist.

Mr. LA Sports Czar said...

Remember, I said "I think." I have no idea if Cowturd pulled such a massively idiotic stunt (again); it's just my gut feeling.

I never underestimate his idiocy.

Fernie V said...

My mom called google, goggle the first time. Hey mijo, what is this goggle on the computer you downloaded?

Steve Sax said...

@Mr LA SC, if Cowherd did do it, how come Deadspin hasn't covered it yet?

Fernie V said...

Speaking of google, I use it for my iphone cause safari shuts down on SOSG. Anyone have any suggestions. I do you Chrome for the iPad.

Mr. LA Sports Czar said...

That's why I called it a gut feeling.

Fernie V said...

I use chrome for the Ipad. Sorry fellow I don't edit. Just type and publish A Fox style.

Steve Sax said...

yeah, Fernie V, safari for the iPhone and iPad crashes our site constantly, we don't know why and we had to fire our IT department last year, so we're stuck. At some point, we might go through and try and take crap out of the sidebar, but for now we're still trying to debug...

Fernie V said...

Anyone else.... Anyone ... Anyone

spank said...

I use an Apple II

Steve Sax said...

Commodore 64 over here

Fernie V said...

Does internet explorer give you any trouble.