Kin
New member
Corn Flake said:I don't think they would attempt to do that.. at least not in any direct kind of way... I think the owners feel their message isn't being relayed properly by Fehr and this is their chance to have it heard first hand. Who knows if they are right or wrong in that.
Well, just fundamentally they're wrong. Players have been at every meeting where they've heard everything Gary Bettman has said first hand. The idea that Fehr's mere presence in the room somehow filters what players hear doesn't really ring true. While I'm sympathetic to the idea that the owners might do a better job making their case than Bettman has, this certainly won't be the first time that players have heard someone make the owners case besides Fehr.
Corn Flake said:I think the meeting is a chance to mend some fences, and maybe after a lot of that warm and fuzzy stuff, drop a nice shiny counter proposal on the table near the closing, or a piece of one that speaks to a few specific points that the players are fighting for. I doubt they expect to get actual negotiations going in the meeting itself but if they did say "please take this back to your membership.. we are willing to drop this point X if you guys are willing to drop point Y and Z, so let us know, ok dudes?"
Like I said, I think the idea that the owners want to make their own case or mend fences is one that has genuine potential. Actually discussing specific points of the various proposals, however, even in the best case will just be a game of telephone where the players leave the meeting and bring it to Fehr and the owners leave the meeting and bring it to the rest of the BOG.
Anyways...this all depends on the assumption that there's significant movement to be had anyway. So while I'd love for this meeting to yield results...I hear TPC Sawgrass is a heck of a course.