Judge Nelson Denies NFL request for stay

via 4.bp.blogspot.com

From Andrew Brandt of the National Football post : http://twitter.com/#!/adbrandt

NFL request for stay DENIED. NFL "has not burden for a stay pending appeal, expedited or otherwise."

Now that the NFL's motion to stay Judge Nelson's previous ruling to lift the lockout has been officially denied, the league will be forced to open the doors to all team facilities; it remains to be seen whether or not the league year will start now, or until after the 8th Circuit rules on the appeal, which could take several more weeks. Brandt believes the league will hold off on opening the league year, but doing so would be skirting very close to ignoring a court order and could very easily be further ammunition for the players in their antitrust suit.

The question, at this point, is what rules will be instituted for free agency and other transactions when the league year officially starts. Most expect the NFL to adopt 2010's cap-free system, but since imposing any unilateral set of rules without a collective bargaining agreement opens the door for further antitrust actions and treble damages, nobody really knows what is going to happen next.

So strap in; the league year could start tomorrow.  It should be very interesting to see what happens next.