Good morning Chiefs fans (or is it mourning?). It's a sad day in Mudville as the lockout has begun. We have the latest on that and the rest of your Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy.
Late Friday afternoon the negotiations between the NFL and its players came to an end.
Next stop is U.S. District Court in Minneapolis.
The NFL Players Association filed for decertification just before the 4 p.m. CST deadline, kicking off what could be called the legal end of this dispute.
Here's where things get ugly and will require the intervention of the court and Judge David Doty to push these two parties towards a new labor agreement. It was not an unexpected outcome; in fact the NFL says the decertification is what the players planned to do from the start.
NFL Labor War Moves to Courtroom from Bob Gretz
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones remained optimistic about the season starting in September.
"I think the answer is we'll get it done," he said. "And getting it done means we won't miss any football. Certainly that's our goal. . . . Their route of litigation will ultimately result in negotiating (with the NFL again) in our view."
The Friday afternoon news followed a contentious Thursday of verbal salvos between both sides during heated negotiations. Nine NFL owners on the league's executive committee as well as a slew of NFLPA executives and player representatives were among those who attended Friday's session at Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service headquarters in Washington.
Several legal proceedings are now set to follow, which could continue the impasse into the scheduled start of the regular season.
NFL Owners Lock Out PlayersAfter Union Decertifies from Fox Sports
Now that the players have decertified as a sports union, setting into place the real possibility that games will be lost in the 2011 season, the biggest question fans across America must have is this: How in the world did it come to this? It's complicated, of course, but then again, it's not. The die was cast in the dispute that led to the NFL's version of nuclear winter here Friday on March 1, when the judge overseeing the league's labor scene slapped the league down harshly. And the players' union never felt a need to come off its core negotiating tenet for the past two years: full and unfettered access to the league's audited financial statements.Full Access to Financial Statements at Core of NFL Laobr Issues from Sports Illustrated
Cassel will work closely with new quarterbacks coach Jim Zorn, a former NFL quarterback and head coach. He has a strong reputation for working with quarterbacks.
Cassel and Zorn need time to work together. The two won't be able to communicate during the labor impasse. It will be troublesome for the two to miss months of study time. This would put Cassel behind. He'd have to cram to learn Zorn's ways. That could hurt the entire offense.AFC West Labor Impact from ESPN
In the assessment of Kansas City general manager Scott Pioli, "the ability to avoid the [pass] rush" was second only to "accuracy" when the Chiefs architect was asked during a media session at the combine last month about the attributes quarterbacks must possess to play well at the NFL level.
Notice, please, Pioli didn't suggest that being able to escape the rush and then gain yards with one's legs -- preferring instead "pocket presence" and "pocket sense" to pure running skills -- were especially paramount to a successful career.
Pasquarelli's Friday Tip Sheet from CBS Sports
For companies that would like to do more with online video, content delivery network (CDN) Limelight led a one-hour webinar on StreamingMedia.com this week. Alex Catro, a vice president and general manager with Limelight and Jonathan Cobb, a CTO and general manger with the company, ran the presentation. Attendees also heard from Lance Brown, manager of digital media for the Kansas City Chiefs, while StreamingMedia.com's Dan Rayburn moderated.Limelight Helps CompaniesGet Started With Online Video from StreamingMedia.com
Mitch Holthus, radio voice of the Chiefs and a member of the Big 12 broadcasting stable, was taking in the semifinal round with his wife, Tami, when he received a text message with about 90 seconds elapsed in the Kansas-Colorado game.
Get the throat warmed up. You're going in.
Announcer Bill Rosinski came down with a throat issue, and Holthus filled in with Reid Gettys on the ESPN broadcast.
Big 12 Buzz for Friday's Semifinals from KC Star