The players and owners had their first post-NFL Lockout court meeting yesterday in the hallowed recesses of Minnesota District Court. Judge Susan Nelson, who heard the case, delivered quite a few zingers to the owners that may make them more eager to get a settlement going.
Regarding the issue of financial harm, Nelson was quoted as saying that the players seemed to have a good case, and she then asked both sides why they were not still in discussions.
Nelson did say that no matter the circumstances, she's having a difficult time with the concept of a lockout being legal after a decertification, which may mean that she's attending to the issues at hand more than the "sham decertification" argument. Nelson specifically asked the NFL's counsel why they're not in negotiations instead of, as Bedard put it, in the courtroom "not paying the players."
Boom! Roasted. NFL lead counsel David Boies spent most of the day in the crosshairs of Nelson, who admonished him on quite a few occasions.
The main takeaway from all of this? That this likely won't be ending any time soon. Judge Nelson said she would likely need two weeks to hear the case, a date that could be chaotic for the NFL. Should she deliver an injunction that would block the lockout, free agency could start just before the draft on April 28th.