My friend said, “This NBA strike is ridiculous. The players are already making tons. Why don’t they just quit whining and play?” I can’t say I disagreed. Only one problem. The NBA players never struck. Instead, the owners created and publicly defined the issues in...
The negotiation lasted almost 20 years. The buyer had a clear goal: ownership. But in 1968, when the negotiation started, he admitted he didn’t have “two nickels” in his pocket. In 1987, he had more, but not nearly enough. The cost? $44.5 million. The sale item? The...
Thousands of fans sat on pins and needles as negotiators met late into the night trying to avert the ninth work stoppage in baseball history. And they succeeded. “Who succeeded?” you ask. The owners? The players? Neither? Or both? In my opinion, there were only two...
The deadline to complete a new deal is Sept. 15. That’s when the National Hockey League’s Collective Bargaining Agreement expires. It’s also when, absent a deal, the NHL appears willing to institute a season-threatening lockout of its players. The...
Few could have predicted the Green Bay Packers would lose on a bungled call by an NFL replacement official. And few could have predicted the fans’, players’, and coaches’ increasing uproar due to consistently inconsistent calls from those replacement officials. In...
I recently sat on a plane next to former NBA All Star player, head coach and long-time TV analyst Doug Collins, who has spent over 40 years negotiating with almost everyone in the NBA world. Given his unique perspective and excellent reputation, I asked him to share...
The insurance adjuster practically laughed out loud. My 1981 Datsun 280ZX had seen better days. Born in Minnesota, she had rust around her wheel rims and even had a rust hole where the rear bumper once attached to her right rear quarter. And she had two deep,...
A law student of mine several years ago asked me for help in negotiating a salary with a law firm for whom he had worked the previous summer. He told me he loved the firm and wanted to accept its offer, but thought its starting salary was low. So he asked – should he...
“The price is the price in retail, right?” The answer might surprise you — sometimes “yes” and sometimes “no.” In fact, there might be significant room in which to negotiate. So how do you know, and how can you get your best possible deal? 1. Do your...
