Go! ‘Necks! Go!

Well, that was fun. It seems the NLL and the PLPA could not reach an agreement over the weekend.

According to NLL.com the PLPA rejected the proposal “without permitting all of the players to vote on the league’s final offer.” The website does not disclose the terms of the final offer.

Unfortunately the PLPA has chosen to not update their website in the past few years. They’ve also avoided using the media as a weapon during these negotiations — unlike the league this year and the PLPA during the previous CBA negotiation 3 years ago.

Some teams have posted in their respective fan forums stating they’ll be releasing the arena dates over the next couple days. Other teams are continuing the silent treatment. The rumor mill is saying that Jim Jennings, league commissioner, has sent out an email to all players telling them the season is over.

Who Do I Blame?

Both sides. There was clearly a major attitude problem with the entire negotiation process this time around. In the year that both sides have had to clear up the CBA neither one has given an inch (at least that’s how I’m interpreting it until terms are released).

Here’s what I consider the biggest kick in the pants, an arbitrator was never brought in! Yes, you read that correctly. Both sides were so confident that the other would flinch, that even in the final seconds before the deadline an arbitrator wasn’t even considered.

Now What?

Everyone needs to go and vote on this frustrated fan poll. Immediately. Hopefully, by getting enough responses we can actually show the league and players what we think as a group.

Also, anyone with season tickets needs to be patient. It’s extremely annoying having put the money down for season tickets that you’re not going to use, but each team still has to decide how they want to handle this. Some teams will most likely be offering additional incentives for letting them keep your deposit. Others might simply just need time to process the returns.

Keep your ears to the ground people, there is always a tiny, miniscule, infinitesimal chance that something might still happen this year. Otherwise, we’ll see what’s being offered for 2009.