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The NFL gets more interesting and more greedy all the time. There's a story coming out of San Francisco about new 49ers head coach Mike Nolan.
It seems Nolan wants to increase the class factor around the league, planning to wear a suit and tie on the sidelines when he's coaching but the league has stepped in and said Nolan will not be allowed to do that, since it would be a violation of their contract with the Reebok people.
Money talks. The NFL currently is enjoying a $250 million dollar bonanza from the shoe gods that stretches out over 10 years. In the contract, the rules require the players and coaches on the field to be wearing Reebok gear at all times, lest someone get the impression that the NFL can't be bought.
Nolan has taken the ruling in stride though. Even though he wants to wear a suit, he mentioned the fact that he could appear on the sidelines in only his underwear and not be in violation of the rules, since the Reebok people do have a line of men's undergarments. It's pretty sad to think that a guy who wants to wear a suit can't do it, since there are some real slobs standing on the sidelines these days, wearing what amounts to pretty much gangster clothes, and Reebok is having fits about one guy who won't wear the overpriced stuff they pawn off on an increasingly gullible America.
Moving across the country to Green Bay, it seems the people of the bay are pretty upset with a guy named Drew Rosenhaus, who is the agent representing Devon walker in his contract negotiations with the Packers.
Drew showed up at Walkers charity event and was soundly booed by the people attending when he stepped up to the plate. I think the pressure must have gotten to him because Drew promptly grounded out. The agent is quickly getting the rep of a hard guy to deal with, with several of his players, including Walker, involved in potential holdouts that may adversely affect the performance of the teams for which they play. Anyway, the people of Green Bay are not happy with Drew and I think he should take his bat somewhere else next time.
The New Orleans Saints are involved in their own set of tense contract negotiations with the state of Louisiana. With Benson threatening to move the team to LA, one of the new owners of the Vikings said something that Benson apparently hasn't believed in a long time. After being asked about the chance of the Vikings going to LA, the new owner said that it was not a possibility, that "This isn't about economics. It's about passion." Too bad for New Orleans that Tom Benson doesn't believe that the passion the people have had for his sorry performing football team over the years is enough to line his pockets with.
Benson is waffling over statements he made earlier that he would be happy with a renovated Superdome. Since making that statement, the owner of the New Orleans franchise has said that he's not sure now that a renovated Superdome would allow him to be competitive with the rest of the league despite the fact that his team is in the upper half of the league because of the fact that he has no major financial commitment or debt associated with the construction of a new stadium.
The fact is, when the Houston franchise was awarded, the new owners committed vast sums of money to bringing a team to their city. Benson gas made no such commitment. In fact, he has been handed the keys to a world famous stadium in a great town, and studies have shown, that with a minimal amount of investment, the Superdome could be one of the top stadiums in the country, and still be a major revenue producer as it is now. What we are seeing here is nothing but pure greed.
All the hoopla is playing into Benson's hands though, as season ticket sales have been affected by the fact that nobody wants to buy tickets to a team season that may be moving anyway. In fairness to Benson, season tickets to the saints are cheap in relationship to the rest of the league. In fairness to the fans, the Saints have been an inferior product for most of their existence in New Orleans and probably aren't worth the price of NFL teams that have actually had some good years and championships to their record.