Jerry Jones is back up to his old tricks.  After putting my 3-month old down after her 1 AM feeding I flipped on HBO.  Joe Buck Live (very boring show) had Jerry Jones and Mark Cuban on as guests.  And Jerry couldn’t resist preaching his newest cause: blowing up the NFL’s revenue sharing plan.

Now, as I’ve mentioned several times, I’m a conservative states’ rights kind of guy.  When I hear revenue sharing my mind starts racing.  Screw Jerry Jones. Revenue sharing is what has elevated the NFL to more money and more success than some countries.  Wait, isn’t revenue sharing just another way to say redistribution of wealth?  Well, if a person makes their money they should keep a majority of it.  If a team’s not making enough money maybe they deserve to fail.  But that would mean that my Jaguars would definitely fail…  I break into a cold sweat and spend the rest of the night questioning everything I stand for in this life.

Jerry’s goal in all of this is just that; play on the heart strings of people (“Well, if he made the money he shouldn’t have to give it to the incompetent Mike Brown and the Bengals.”)  I did a few Google searches with the goal of finding out what revenue is shared, and why Jerry has such a problem with it.

Revenue Sharing: Fairness or Socialism in Sheep’s Clothing?
The big 3 of sharing is TV Contracts, gate sales, and general merchandise sales. 

TV Contracts (and other “generic” sponsorships): Dallas, Green Bay, Jacksonville, et al… receive the same check from the TV contracts.  Seems appropriate as the NFL ensures that all teams have their games televised despite popularity (or lack thereof).  As a conservative I find no fault in this.  Every team is 1/32nd of the NFL and deserves equal share of general contracts, whether it is Gatorade or a National TV contract from CBS, FOX, NBC, and ESPN.

So what’s Jerry’s beef with that?  The fact that Jerry went behind the NFL’s back and made deals with non-NFL sponsors Nike, Pepsi, AmEx, and Dr Pepper.  The NFL, in retaliation, sued Jones.  Jones countersued, and in the end they “settling”, though Jones was allowed to keep his stadium’s sponsors.  My view as a conservative is that is fine: sell your stadium’s soul, if you wish, and have the urinals sponsored by “Bearnie Madoff Ponzi Schemes: Make Money the Easy Way”.

Gate Sales:  Jacksonville’s ticket sale issues run even deeper than what some think.  You see, the Jaguars do not keep their gate receipts, only 60%.  The other 40% goes into a generic pot that is split between the teams (some Jag fans have cried “Why doesn’t Mr. Weaver just ‘buy’ up the seats so we can see the game on TV?  That is why.  Not only would the Jaguars be out that lost revenue, but they would also have to shell out an additional 40% to the league). 

Jerry’s beef: I’ve invested almost $1 billion of my money plus another $900 million in tax payer money in my state of the art monument to myself, and I have to share 40% of my gate revenue with the Jaguars, Bengals, and Vikings?  So what if I have to play those teams every 4 years, it’s my money and I should keep it.  Maybe Mr. Jones has a point, I thought originally.  However, as Lee Corso would say, NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND.  Dallas’ stadium drives up league revenue and consequently drives up player costs (they get 60% gross of the NFL’s profits).  Jerry, if you drive up mandatory player costs, and there’s still a minimum salary cap, then you sir need to pony up the cash.  Maybe I’d be more sympathetic if there was no minimum cap, but as long as the cap is in place, and teams are required to spend a certain amount then sharing 40% of the gate revenue is needed.

Merchandise: If you go out to NFL.com and buy a MJD jersey, guess what?  That money isn’t going directly to the Jaguars.  It goes to the league, and it divides the proceeds among the 32 teams.

Jerry’s beef: I see girls in Dallas running around in those pink Romo jerseys yet Jacksonville is making bank off of that.  BULLSHIT!  Not only did I have to put up with his f$*#()$# Jessica Simpson induced breakdown in December, but I’m not profiting as much as I should.  Maybe Jerry has a point.  But once again, the players get 60% of the gross revenue, and as long as its mandated that teams must spend a certain amount then it’s fair.

So what is Jerry's vision then: It's every man for himself.  If a team wants to compete they'd better build themselves a new, $2 billion stadium to drive up revenue.  Charge fans $30 for the right to stand around and watch the game from a foyer.  Charge fans $1500 for the right to buy season tickets in the nosebleed sections.

Kids, dangerous days are ahead for the NFL.

-Further Affiant Sayeth Naught-

Harperslaw

On offense, I fear I've been closed minded...

I suppose, being a conservative guy, that this has carried over to my football ideology.  Run the ball, convert 3rd down, throw the ball effectively, win 17-13 and everyone is happy.  I like big, physical wide receivers, a running back committee consisting of a balanced “every down” guy, a scat back that with good hands, and a physical pounder to get the tough yards.  I like massive, physical offensive linemen that will, in the 4th quarter, physically dominate a tired, demoralized defense.

However, after watching the first 2 weeks of this season I don’t know if my “dream team”, in today’s game, is really possible.  Oh sure, the Ravens and the Vikings have made it work for them.  In fact, up until last year it had worked in Jacksonville.  But I fear that these teams are on the verge of being antiquated in today’s basketball on grass.  Don’t get me wrong; these teams, like past-Jacksonville teams, will be the teams everyone hates to play.  They’re hard hitting, physical teams, but in the end they’ll fall short of the ultimate goal of the Super Bowl.

Jerry Jones slithered in to an interview the opening night of his monstrosity of a stadium.  NBC asked Jerry about the collective bargaining agreement and revenue sharing.  Jerry never came out and said it, but he intimated his super stadium was the future; teams will either have to drive up revenues to “survive” or perish.  They asked Jones about football in danger of becoming baseball (i.e. high revenues succeed where low revenues fail), and Jones simply stated the owners should be concerned with maximizing revenues for themselves and players, and the players would then only have to worry about playing. 

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Showtime has debuted a 5 part documentary series called "Full Color Football: The History of the American Football League." 

http://sports.sho.com/full-color-football.html

It's a little bit slow moving, but some of the stories and commentary provided by former players and former interviews are worth the 60 minutes each week.  I especially loved West Texas' own Sammy Baugh talking about the old Polo Grounds and why he is anti-cities ("That's why I'm a country boy...I can go outside and take a leak whenever I want").

2 other quick interesting stories:
Abner Haynes ("We kick to the clock") was originally drafted by Pittsburgh.  Haynes told the story of Bobby Layne and Buddy Parker showing up at his house at 5:30 in the morning, both so drunk they could hardly stand.  They cheerfully informed Haynes the Steelers we drafting him.  Haynes' father, a minister, immediately let his son know that he would not be playing for the Steelers.  After meeting Lamar Hunt Haynes ended up with the Dallas Texans.

The Dallas Texans and Dallas Cowboys were both fighting for supremacy for fans (you were either one or the other).  The Cowboys often played on Friday nights (as did all the high schools), so Lamar Hunt and the Texans ran a promotion if a fan would bring a ticket stub from a high school game they'd get into Texan games for free.

Also, for those that are impatient and want to know everything immediately you can visit http://www.remembertheafl.com/AFL.htm.

The Jags have released Todd Bouman.

http://jaguars.com/news/article.aspx?id=8176

I thought Bouman would hang around until McCown learned the offense.  I was wrong.  Gene the Destroyer is serious about the youth movement.  Can't say I'm upset or torn up about this decision; Bouman was a decent backup a few years ago, but he's definately hit a wall.

I'm still thinking they're not done adding; I can see them adding one more young qb when this is all said and done.

How Darwin Walker Enabled the Texans Steve Slaton and Duane Brown

Welcome to the crazy world of trades.  Just as one pebble can start an avalanche one trade can trigger an explosion of activity.

Darwin Walker, in 2007, was coming off a solid season playing for the Eagles.  He had 36 tackles and 6 sacks in 15 starts.  He added 2 more sacks for the Eagles in their 27-24 NFC Divisional playoff loss to New Orleans.  However, times were changing.  Walker had 2 years left on his contract, but he wanted more paper.  After failed contract negotiations Walker wanted out.  And the Eagles complied.

The Eagles traded Walker and a conditional 2008 draft pick to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for linebacker Takeo Spikes and journeyman quarterback Kelly Holcomb.  The pick was contingent upon Walker showing up to Bills training camp; Walker never did.  Walker, still wanting his payday, held out of Bills’ camp.  Had the Bills done nothing Walker would have returned to the Eagles, and they would have the Eagles 6th round pick as a parting gift. 

However, the Bills made a different move.  A Chicago defensive tackle, Tank Johnson, had just been cut due to his many legal problems, and Chicago badly needed a defensive tackle.  Buffalo traded Walker’s rights to the Chicago Bears for their 5th round 2008 draft pick.

Enter the Jacksonville Jaguars.  After missing much of the 2007 season, the management in Jacksonville felt that Marcus Stroud had more value in the form of draft picks.  The Jaguars traded Marcus Stroud to Buffalo in exchange for the Bears’ 5th round pick and Buffalo’s 3rd round pick.  Leading up to the 2008 draft many people were worried about the defensive line, but it wasn’t the tackle position they were most worried about; it was defensive end.  Jacksonville traded their 1st, two 3rds (including Buffalo’s), and a 4th round pick in exchange for Baltimore’s 8th pick in the 2008 draft.  Enter Derrick Harvey.

Baltimore, feeling a crunch at the quarterback position, traded back into the 1st round.  They traded the Jaguar’s 1st (26th overall) and the Jaguar’s 3rd (89th) overall to the Houston Texans.  With Houston’s 18th pick the Ravens selected quarterback Joe Flacco.

And the Texans?  They used the Jaguar’s 1st and 3rd round picks to select Offensive Tackle Duane Brown and phenom runningback Steve Slaton in the 3rd.

So there you have it…The NFL version of the Kevin Bacon game.  Darwin Walker’s hold out and trade demands ultimately ended up turning into:

Philadelphia
Takeo Spikes, LB
Kelly Holcomb, QB

Chicago
Darwin Walker, DT

Buffalo
Marcus Stroud, DT
Steve Johnson, WR

Jacksonville
Derrick Harvey, DE
Thomas Williams, LB (from Dallas)
Chauncey Washington, RB (from Dallas)

Baltimore
Joe Flacco, QB
Fabien Washington, CB (from Oakland for Baltimore’s 4th rounder)
Tavares Gooden, LB

Oakland
Arman Shields, WR (from Baltimore’s 4th round pick)

Houston
Duane Brown, LT
Steve Slaton, RB
Dominique Barber, S

Dallas
Orlando Scandrick, CB (from Buffalo through Jacksonville – 5th rounder)

If you feel I've omitted anything, or made any errors, please let me know.  I find chain reactions like this interesting, and thought you all might find it interesting too.

Unrelated to the Jags, but the Vikings have reportedly signed with the Vikings.  Chris Mortensen estimates the deal is worth between $10 to $12 million.  There is a news conference scheduled for 6 PM EST.

I know most of us are disappointed about the exhibition last night by the Jags, but remember, it could always be worse.  The Brett Favre drama continues. 

Why do I think that Brad Childress is gone at the end of this year?

I post this out of frustration, because I am sick of stupid fans saying stupid things.

"jarnette77 (6/2/2009 at 7:19 PM)

Report Violation the jags will get the qb thing right next year when the prodigal son will return; timmy tebow will soon be trucking afc south linebackers. tickt sales problems? a thing of the past. anyone who actually lives in jax knows exactly what i'm talking about. the problem is not the number of football fans in jax, its the number of jaguar fans. if the jags can tap into the huge gator fan base filling the stadium won't be a problem. and SILENCE all you tebow haters, he will be much better than david garrard. i remember garrard at east carolina, do you? not half the player tebow is now, but a comparable skill set. i'm just sayin... " It made my head hurt.  Draft a player because he'll sell out the stadium because he's a local guy?  That has to be, without a doubt, one of the stupidest posts I've ever read.

UPDATE: Fanaticism isn't always a good thing.

jarnette77 (6/4/2009 at 3:12 PM)

i repeat: if you think its "idiotic" to draft a player who will sell tickets, you're either extremely naive or extremely stupid. you sound like you read too much "ask vic". hey buddy: vic ketchman gets paid the same no matter what city the jags are playing in. he doesn't care about keeping the team here. spare me with all your geeky "bap" garbage.

winning alone is not enough to sell tickets in jax. that was proven last year, when we were among the conference favorites and only sold out 1 game. I DON'T CARE WHAT THAT SAYS ABOUT THE FANS IN JAX. I DON'T CARE WHETHER WE "DESERVE" A TEAM OR NOT. I JUST LIKE HAVING ONE AND I WANT TO KEEP IT.

and enough with all your fla/tebow hating. of course a huge percentage of jaguar fans are also gator fans, the campus is 60 miles from jacksonville municipal. you don't like it? tough. pick a new team to root for. if you think tebow is merely a "good...overhyped college football player" then you have let your hate cloud your rational thought. he is a GREAT, HISTORIC college football player who has the SAME SKILL SET as garrard, except he THROWS IT MUCH BETTER THAN GARRARD DID AT EAST CAROLINA.

"best available" or not, the jags should draft tebow for what he will do for the franchise ON and OFF the field. he'll be the 1st great one from fla, just like p manning was for tenn, favre was for so miss, etc.

The American Revolution was fought from 1775 till 1781 (approximately 6 years).

America declared independence on July 4, 1776.  In 1777, the founding fathers' decided that the country would run best using the Articles of Confederation.  That experiment lasted until 1789 (approximately 12 years). 

In 1812 those pesky Brits were back, and after 3 years they went back over the pond in 1815.

Fast forward to today, and it seems we've lost all patience.  Can you imagine America fighting the same enemy on and off for 40 years?  We want our news now, we want our sports scores now, and if we wait longer than 90 seconds for our food at McDonald's we start to get impatient.

So what does my rambling mean?

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