Draft comments

The Brown Log is staying locked out too in solidarity with NFL players, but since the owners opened their doors for a few short days after losing a court ruling a few days ago, we will unlock a short comment on the draft.

Most would agree the Browns had a very good draft. The absolutely one sided trade with the Falcons should go down in history as one of the most lopsided draft day trades in NFL history. 5 good players for one, another coup for Holmgren and team.

The only pick I would disagree with is using the 102nd pick to select USC back up tight end Jordan Cameron. I guess his athletic ability was too hard to resist but this guy could not even start for USC, how the hell is he supposed to play in the NFL?????????? Yes he can dunk a basketball but there aren't any rims in the end zone folks. As the Brown log has said a million times, football is a game, not a track meet.

Here is a short write up on Jordan Cameron

Moving on to the lock out, it's now back on after a court ruled that pending their review of the original decision the owners could in fact lock out the players. This week will be huge, if the courts rule in the players favor on Monday May 2, we will likely have a season in 2011. If the courts rule in the owners favor, it's very hard to imagine the 2011 season taking place in full.

The bitter irony is that conservative judges favor the owners and liberal judges are siding with the players. This in spite of the fact that the owners seek socialist solutions and the players seek only to let the free market rule.

Free market principals are the foundation of the laws that guide a judge's decisions yet conservative judges still side with owners, it's pure politics.

Interview with Colt

Interesting interview with Colt McCoy in which he reveals that he played hurt during the entire 2010 season. That's certainly a surprise

also interesting is the following McCoy quote:

"I'm just excited about getting up there and learning our system," he said. "I need to get up there before the lockout 'cause once the lockout comes we can't talk."

what i find most interesting is "once the lockout comes". it shows that players believe the lockout is a certainty. Will we have a 2011 season?

A solution to the NFL labor woes: Capitalism

There is a benchmark solution out there that the NFL should look to in order to solve it's labor woes: Professional soccer in Europe. Ironically, in professional soccer, our normally socialist friends in Europe actually utilize a nearly pure capitalist system.

Among the most important highlights of the European pro sports system are:

- Soccer leagues in Europe do not have a player draft, players are free to sign with any club they wish to sign up with.

- Salary caps do not exist.

- There is not a single nation in Europe that has athletic teams at the university level. If an 18 year is worthy of a professional career he gets a paying job on a pro team.

- The revenue stream associated with European soccer is every bit if not more lucrative than the NFL. Fans pay top prices for seats and for games on pay TV. Advertisers are tripping over themselves to pay millions to get in front of Europe's soccer fan base.

- Finally, far more pro teams exist per capita in Europe. There are more leagues and many more jobs for pro athletes. There is a population of about 857,000,000 in Europe compared to about 300,000,000 in the United States. But if you only count the top ten European soccer nations (Italy, England, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Scotland, Holland, Russia, Sweden and France) there are nearly 200 top flight professional teams in Europe. That compares to 32 in the USA. You do the math. The comps get even more obvious if you look at all of Europe and itìs entire minor league system. There are over 1000 professional soccer teams in Europe in which players earn somewhere between a decent to an extraordinary salary. The fact that there are fewer than 100 professional football teams in America bares witness to just how successful the NFL Politburo are at exterminating any and all competition. Start a professional league such as the USFL, off to the gulag for you!

Capitalism is the greatest economic system ever invented. I do not envision that the NFL Politburo will ever implement a capitalist system in the NFL but have no doubt if they did, that the league would thrive, hundreds of new teams would be created along with thousands of good paying jobs for athletes, and fans would rush to buy seats just as they do today.

The signing spree continues

The Browns continued their March signing spree by picking up veteran QB Jake Delhomme. Interesting to note that 3 of the 4 free agent players the Browns have signed this month have Super Bowl experience. Could it be that Randy Lerner has decided that the non salary cap year of 2010, pending the 2011 work stoppage, might be his best chance to win a Super Bowl for Cleveland? Consider that most NFL teams right now are sitting tight and not spending, while Mike Holmgren has been extraordinarily active. It's a very good sign.

It's probably a bit early but I'm starting to get excited about 2010. The signings made to date at a minimum are going to make the Browns very competitive in 2010, furthermore they will free Holmgren to draft players in the upcoming draft, who can contribute immediately. We all know that a QB drafted in round 1 almost always needs a year or two to develop but a linebacker, DB, WR or RB can almost always hit the ground running from day one.