Professional football is back in action after the resolution of a labor standoff that brought the National Football League to a halt for 18 weeks. The NFL players’ union has voted to unanimously approve an agreement with team owners that makes several changes to promote player health and safety, including limiting of on-field practice time and contact, and increasing the number of off-days for players. Players will also have the opportunity to maintain their healthcare plan for life. These changes came about after a greater awareness of the toll football takes on players’ bodies, one of many issues tackled in "Not Just a Game," a new documentary featuring Dave Zirin, sports columnist for The Nation magazine. Zirin talks about the film, the NFL deal, and the ongoing lockout threatening to derail the NBA’s upcoming season. "The owners in these leagues are getting less public subsidies than they thought they would get, because of the economic crisis in 2008 and the trillion-dollar bailouts of the banks," Zirin says. "They’re saying, 'We need to restore profitability and get more salary back from players, because we're getting less tax dollars than we thought we would get. And we will lock the doors and end the games, unless we get more money back.’ And that makes it, to me, a much more broader political and social issue, like, oh, we don’t even get our sports now, because Goldman Sachs needed a bailout?" [includes rush transcript]
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Guest: Dave Zirin, sports columnist for The Nation magazine and host of Edge of Sports Radio on Sirius/XM. His latest book is Bad Sports: How Owners Are Ruining the Games We Love. He is featured in the new documentary, Not Just a Game: Power, Politics & American Sports, based on his bestselling book, A People’s History of Sports in the United States.
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Dave Zirin is the best sports columnist in nation... hands down... !!!
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