A Second Opinion: The Short Lived Arena Football League Strike

From Guest Blogger: Steven G. Folmar


Now that the smoke has cleared (mostly), I wanted to add a little bit to what Dominic had said about the ill-fated strike that severely affected the Pittsburgh Power’s season. Having coached in the Arena Football League and the arena football league 2, I had the unique experience of seeing the locker room drama that unfolds when strike talk comes up.

In 2000, I was in college at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania when I got an internship to work in football operations for the Arena Football League’ Buffalo Destroyers. I remember being on cloud nine after being accepted, sitting on my bed watching ESPN when across the scroll at the bottom of the screen said “Arena Football League Season Cancelled Due to Strike”. I was aghast, and I couldn’t wait to Monday morning to call and find out if it was true.

When I called, the coach told me that a lot of it was just bluster and the season would go as planned, so in the summer of 2000 I got an apartment at the foot of the Peace Bridge to Canada in Buffalo. Throughout the season there were player meetings on the subject, and some became very contentious. I remember once the new deal was ratified, the league said that almost an entire majority had voted for it, which for me was very surprising, since it sure seemed 50/50 in the Destroyers’ locker room. During that time, our quarterback, Browning Nagle, was very much for the Union, other players, not so much. Many felt the union was taking dues and not offering anything in return.

I don’t know what it is about quarterbacks that get themselves into these things. Maybe because they often have to be so vocal of leaders for their teams. But it was no surprise that quarterback Kyle Rowley was at the center of the debate in Orlando. Being out of the loop for a bit, I was totally caught off guard by the strike talk on Friday night. I actually had just gotten home from work 30 or 40 minutes before kickoff and was anxious to see the game on the NFL Network. It was then I took a quick peek at my Facebook and saw the explosion of comments from many of my friends with Arena Football experience. I think the guys at the Network did a great job considering they had no rosters and little forewarning.

In a situation like this, where both sides play the public relations “Spin” game, my opinion is there is more than enough blame to go on both sides. I really don’t have much respect for people that can’t serve out their contracts. If you are working in squalor, or a sweat shop, I can understand complaining and threatening with a union or a strike, but not in professional sports. If you sign your name to a contract, you play it out…period.

Guys complain when they are exceeding expectation, but they see things as being “just the way it goes” when they can’t live up to cushy new contracts (anyone seen Larry Johnson lately). In business, you don’t finish out you contract, you get your butt drug into a courtroom. In professional sports, teams almost always give in. I would really like to see some people stand their ground. Let the guy sit out and save yourself some money. Not that I am against players making their money. I am talking about once you sign a contract, you live buy it.

Try going into McDonalds or Wal-Mart and tell them you want employees like you to be making 50.1% or 29% of all income the company makes. See how long it takes to get thrown out on your butt. Athletes say the leagues are based on their names. Any business is built on the hard work of the people who staff it. That argument doesn’t work either. Or my favorite, “People come to watch me play”. And if you aren’t there, people will come anyway. I love Hines Ward, but you know what, Heinz Field is going to be packed this year without him as well. And these guys who think they can’t be replaced, I will find 10 guys now who would be glad to be out on that field for what you are making. And if you gave them a few years, they would have recognizable names too.

In the AFL, those guys signed contracts knowing there was a good chance they would have to strike at some point. If you don’t like the paying rate, you go elsewhere or you do something else. Rowley, Pittsburgh’s original quarterback, doesn’t seem real apologetic about his role either. You can see his interview here.

But to be fair, I didn’t think that things were handled real well by the League or the Power either. I would think it would be obvious with everyone at pre-game meal the team was at least going to play that night’s game. To walk in and make statements in that environment really raises class questions. That sure comes off to be people playing “mine’s bigger!”

And as for the league and President Jerry Kurz, my personal feelings aside, Jerry Kurz is for Jerry Kurz. I don’t know Mr. Shaner, I love that he helped bring Arena Football back to Pittsburgh, and he had reason to be angry. Obviously there was static between he and Rowley

Instead Shaner really looks like a, well…not so nice guy, forcing the players who stuck with the strike to find their own way home from Orlando. This should have been people sitting down before the flight home and talking like adults. But hey, our congress can’t figure that out, probably a lot to ask our professional sports teams to either. But I think Pittsburgh earned their black eye with how this was handled as well.

One final question I have is how this will affect the Power moving on in 2012? With a proven, championship quarterback at the helm in Rowley, head coach Chris Siegfried’s team was poised to be a legitimate contender. Now, Shaner has declared that Rowley will never play in Pittsburgh so Siegfried has to rally the troops around journeyman QB Andrico Hines. Does Shaner give Siegfried a mulligan if the Power suffers? Needless to say, should be an interesting season.

You can check out Steven G's. blog regularly at the "Religion, Rights, Responsibilities....and a little Football" blogspot at: http://triplerandfootball.blogspot.com/

The Andrew McCutchen Signing: Not So Fast My Friend…

From Guest Blogger: Steven G. Folmar

      On Monday Pirate fans received some well needed good news with the re-signing of All-Star outfielder Andrew McCutchen to a 6-year, $51 Million contract to stay in Pittsburgh. At least that’s what we all hope. But let’s get past the All-Star break just to be safe.

Here's to six more years of seeing this!

     My good friend Dom and I disagree on what this actually means for the Pirates. Trust me, as a teen who once became an Expos fan for half a season because I was so disgusted by Cam Bonifay, it is going to take more than just one signing to get me on the Neal Huntingdon bandwagon. Not that he shouldn’t be given props for this signing, this could be the building of the foundation for a competitive team for years to come, I stress the “could” part. But then again, it is silly to discount the 2 DECADES where Pirates fans have been disappointed, with just a couple deals over the last 2 years.

     Where is a Derrick Lee? Many thought him a key cog and aged leadership the Pirates could use. Instead the Pirates get…Nate McClouth? And here again, being a good fan, I used to love Nate, his hair flopping as he was running around the outfield during his first stay. And I really do hope Nate can return to form in the Three Rivers confluence. But let’s be honest, Nate’s best season is .228 since leaving the Burgh. My dear friend also pointed out Jose Tabata, and all Pirate fans have high hopes for Jose. But injuries limited him to just 4 home runs last year against 61 strikeouts. He will have to hit better than .266 and stay healthy to make those numbers work. I see little there to dispel the “blind haters” anytime soon.

      The talk in Pittsburgh in the offseason was the trade for A.J. Burnett. But I think that begs the question would the Pirates REALLY have picked him up if the Yankee’s weren’t footing the majority of the bill? And Burnett has been less than dominating, even with one of the most feared line-ups in baseball and the most dominant closer of our time behind him, he still could only manage an 21-26 record over the last two years. Now he goes from a lineup with pop to one with more of an intermittent sizzle and I believe you have a recipe for failure. Not to mention a broken eye orbit he got while bunting (the Yankee’s haven’t had to do much of THAT over their history!) will keep him out 8-12 weeks.

     I will be there to support my Buccos in 2012. And I hope they can mimic their first half success of 2010 without the late season demise. I am also still hoping that the first jersey (Jason Hanrahan) I have bought since Jason Kendall, I can actually wear for a couple years while he is still there! But I am far less optimistic that we will be comparing Neal Huntingdon to the movies version of Billy Beane or the real life Theo Epstein anytime soon. On this subject Dom, we’ll have to agree to disagree.

You can check out Steven G's. blog regularly at the "Religion, Rights, Responsibilities....and a little Football" blogspot at: http://triplerandfootball.blogspot.com/

Guest Blog - Hines Ward, A Second Look

This is a first for this blog.  A guest blogger!  Please welcome Steve Folmar to the fold.  He operates a blog dedicated to politics and some sports.  He is the former head coach of the Erie RiverRats indoor football team, and an all around cool cat. 

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First of all I want to think Dom Errico for giving me this great opportunity to cross over and hopefully, the first of many opportunities, to share my blogs with the “The Voice Says…”

This is a sad day in Pittsburgh, akin to when the great Casey struck out. Hines Ward has been released by the Pittsburgh Steelers. The four-time All-Pro, All-Time Steeler Leader in receptions (1000), receiving yards (12,083), and receiving touchdowns (85), is the victim of an opponent none of us gets to beat forever, time. His diminished skills over the past season, along with the emergence of a young receiver corps that is quickly proving itself to be among the league’s most talented has left no room at the inn for the hall-of-famer. Sad, but no one can stay in their prime forever.

I guess what I find sad is all the negative responses to the Pittsburgh Steeler organization for the way he has been treated. I think this has been about as good as it can get for both sides. You look at the Montana’s, the Rice’s, even the Emmitt Smith’s. C’mon folks, have you all forgotten Franco Harris’ stint with the Seahawks already?  Is there a better way that this can go? No, I don’t think so. 

The Steelers are doing everything they can to hold onto Mike Wallace, probably the present and future for the Steelers. No team can hold on long to the past, something you are going to see proven again soon with Peyton Manning. It is arguable if Hines is even the 4^th best receiver on the team, a position that usually is kept for a special-teamer as well. This is a business decision pure and simple. 

I see a lot of people complaining about what life will be like without Hines. But I also no darn well that if the resigned him, the first time the Steelers got behind or have a special teams gaff, the excuse “well, we had to keep Hines in so we are short a guy” isn’t gonna cut it. Many don’t remember the sad parting of Terry Bradshaw, when he was boo’d off the field in the early 80’s. This from a guy who had won 4 Super Bowls for the team just a few years before. It was actually a decade or more before he would even return to Pittsburgh. Now he is as close to a Saint as you can probably become in Pittsburgh, deservedly so for what he did over his career.

Lastly, there was a lot of opinions concerning what the Steeler organization “let slip”. I don’t know if I believe that. In this day and age our media will do ANYTHING to outscoop the next guy. I believe that some clown though he was gonna get his name on the tagline about being able to “hear it here first” for something that anyone with a good balance of sentimentality and football sense already knew was inevitable. Don’t expect the truth until it comes from the horses mouth. And even then, consider the horse. And let’s be honest, the Steelers have made Hines a very rich man for his services.

This is what I believe happens. Hines goes on to play two more years with a team as a locker room leader and maybe 3^rd to 4^th wide receiver. Something he has certainly earned the right to do. He then signs a one day contract so that he can retire a Steeler, be given the hero’s welcome he deserves, takes an in-house position with the Steeler organization (if he so chooses) or on to television and goes in the Hall of Fame on the 2^nd ballot in a Steelers uniform. (“2nd ballot you say?!” Yes, there are a lot of people out there that love hating on the Steeler’s success, and Jerome Bettis didn’t get in on the first ballot and at one time he was the 3^rd leading rusher in NFL history!)

I will keep my memories of Hines Ward as the greatest Steeler receiver of all time, team leader, and Dancing with the Stars Champion (though I must admit I didn’t really watch that much.) But I also understand it’s a business, and I don’t blame either side, the Steelers from wanting to place Ward’s salary on a little more talent, or Hines for wanting to play a few more years. Retirement is all too often (unless you are Brett Farve), final. Thanks for the memories Hines and good luck in the future! (Just not against the Steelers….)