In America, the winner takes all.

Chapter 320 Thunder

"I'm glad you're interested in this issue, but I can't disclose anything related to the meeting. This is not in compliance with the league's charter. If you really want to know, you can ask Charlotte in person." Wearing glasses Paul Tagliabue smiled and said to Ethan.

He is thin and has a slender face. When he appears in public, he always wears a suit and tie, with his hair meticulously combed. He looks gentle and elegant. He graduated from New York University School of Law and worked as a lawyer for twenty years before becoming the NFL commissioner.

If Ethan could know the answer from Charlotte, he wouldn't ask him.

Considering Charlotte's unusual luck on the phone, Ethan thought it might have something to do with yesterday's meeting.

"You are planning to weaken the rights of the Cowboys, right? Although I am a player of the Cowboys, I did not swear allegiance to the old Jones family. If you need allies, maybe I can help." When facing the camera, Ethan said to the old man beside him in a low voice while showing a smile.

The NFL has three clear officials: commissioner, secretary and treasurer. In addition to this there is a series of sub-conference chairpersons, these are just fictitious positions.

The commissioner is elected by voting among the league members, that is, each NFL club, and at least two-thirds of the clubs need to agree.

In other words, Paul Tagliabue represents the interests of most teams in the league.

The Cowboys have the largest number of fans and are far ahead in attracting money. Product sales account for 16% of the entire league, including 28% of IP licensed product sales. In terms of ratings, the Cowboys game also performed well.

However, these additional revenues are shared equally among the thirty teams in the league.

From the Cowboys' perspective, that's certainly unfair. Only then did Jones go to court with the NFL over the stadium sponsorship. This was just the beginning. There will be a series of subsequent negotiations. The Cowboys will gradually demand more revenue sharing than other teams.

Other teams obviously will not let old Jones succeed. In their view, without the platform of the NFL, the Cowboys' success will be impossible.

In essence, this is a conflict caused by uneven distribution of interests. Such conflicts of interest will never stop under the existing organizational framework.

Not only the NFL, but also the entire sports industry in the United States, all labor unions, parliaments, and industry associations, from New York to Los Angeles, from Silicon Valley to Washington, negotiation and compromise are like air and are the basis for the operation of this country.

Back to the NFL, the owners of other teams, in order to hold on to their own interests, are bound to launch a counterattack against the Cowboys. In addition to teaching Jones a lesson in a short period of time, they will also continue to weaken the Cowboys' commercial value in the future.

"Young man, this is not an area you should be involved in." Paul said as he shook hands with Ethan after the photo was taken.

"No matter what, my communication channels remain open at all times." Ethan also wanted to try.

"That's not necessary." Paul adjusted the collar of his suit.

Then he raised his hand, straightened the peaked cap on Ethan's head, and then patted Ethan's arm, as if it was an encouragement: "You should stay more focused on the game."

Ethan looked at his leaving back and finally said: "But some things can never be obtained on the court."

Paul seemed to hear it, and his steps paused, but he did not choose to look back, but left straight away.

It seems that Ethan's wish has come true. Paul, as the highest authority representative of the sport, is like a huge high wall, unreachable and like a chasm.

After all, you can't pray for it. Ethan shook his head.

Give up your fantasies...

As the quarterback skills competition ended, the TV broadcast also came to an end, and the players and several cheerleaders in the field also gathered around Ethan.

"Ethan, I think there is obviously some kind of program, or Turing machine, in your brain to help you perform muscle calculations. You only need to press the button called pass in your brain, and the program will run automatically." Larry said Allen, who apparently studied engineering in college.

"I originally thought you wouldn't win." Kelsey laughed and shook her head.

Ethan looked at Mark Brunel not far away at this time.

Mark seemed a little guilty. Thinking back to what he had just said, he felt like a clown.

"If you think you are more worthy of this thing..." Ethan weighed the metal trophy in his hand.

"I welcome your private challenge at any time."

"Let's skip this topic." Mark laughed dryly.

What else is there to challenge? I don't want to be nailed to the pillar of shame all the time.

In the end, Mark could only find a few excuses and leave in despair.

Belinda in the crowd looked at Ethan and thought this scene was so handsome. She couldn't help but whisper: "So cool!"

At this time, Ethan saw Christine in the crowd and took the initiative to greet her.

"Didn't I see you at the party last night?"

In New Orleans, Kristen will be welcomed by some fans, but in front of so many cheerleaders, she is the most inconspicuous little transparent. At this time, being named by Ethan, she was a little flattered, and quickly explained: "Yesterday I was always Stay in the room."

After the quarterback skills competition, there were skill competitions at other positions. Ethan watched the whole process from the sidelines.

In terms of wide receivers, Randy Moss unexpectedly defeated Jerry Rice, which surprised many people.

This may indicate that the replacement of old and new wide receivers will be completed.

As for the running back competition, Emmitt was not present anyway, so the results were not representative, and Ethan was not very interested in the remaining players.

After several skills competitions, there were some interactive entertainment sessions with local Hawaiian audiences. During the process, Ethan accepted interviews from several TV stations.

When Ethan appeared in the interview area, the staff of several major TV stations jumped on the news. The photographer carried the camera, and the female reporter dragged the microphone cord and ran quickly with her high heels clicking. Ethan was quickly surrounded.

Standing in front of Ethan at this time were Leslie Weiser from ABC, Rachel Nichols from CNN, Penny Weber from FOX, Michelle Besner from ESPN, and Bonnie from CBS · Bernstein, in addition to two old acquaintances, the other three are also leading sports reporters of various TV stations. They are all dressed up exquisitely and look beautiful in each game.

"The Pro Bowl deserves higher ratings, doesn't it? I think in addition to the exciting competition, there should be more entertainment aspects, just like the All-Star Weekend in other leagues, so I put on blinders." Ethan explained to the reporters of several major TV stations.

"So, you're doing your own thing to save Pro Bowl ratings?" CNN's Rachel Nichols asked.

"Something has to be done. Just like our neighbor the CFL..."

Halfway through Ethan's words, he saw the expressions of several female reporters change.

Obviously, Ethan's words violated a taboo. He should not have mentioned the NFL's direct competitor, the CFL from the north, in the live interview.

"Do you think the CFL does some things better than the NFL?" Penny then asked.

"Of course I don't think so, but I don't rule out the possibility of entering other sports leagues in the future." Ethan said.

As soon as these words came out, several female reporters looked a little shocked. This was considered breaking news.

Of course, Ethan is not really planning to go to the CFL. This is just talking from a distance.

Then Michelle asked similar questions again, and Ethan's answer remained unchanged.

Several female reporters looked at each other after finishing the interview. As clips of Ethan's interview began to circulate, who knew what kind of storm would arise.

Eason's words quickly fell on the ears of league commissioner Paul Tagliabue.

At this time, he was in a spacious conference room of a high-end hotel in Hawaii. Several NFL officials were sitting next to him. Opposite the team, there was also a group of men in suits and ties lined up. In the middle was a middle-aged and elderly man with a square face. He wore retro black-rimmed glasses and his skin was slightly saggy.

Unlike the nervous men around him, he seemed more relaxed. He was constantly stirring the coffee in the cup with a spoon, and casually put in three more sugar cubes.

"Sorry, where did I go from here..." Paul Tagliabue said apologetically.

"The investment plan of the Los Angeles local GOV." The middle-aged man picked up the coffee cup and motioned to the men beside him with his eyes.

The person immediately began to introduce: "Including Los Angeles local GOV and multiple private investors will jointly raise more than 4.5 million US dollars to build a comprehensive commercial entity called The Hacienda, including a hotel with no less than 60000 seats and 250 boxes. The stadium, a commercial center with seven floors above and below ground, is only the first phase of the project. We believe that this is far more attractive than Ed Roski Jr.’s renovation plan, and we hope that your league can carefully consider our bidding plan.”

"Of course, the NFL welcomes famous people like Michael Ovitz to join the league's family." Different from the warmth when he faced Ethan just now, league commissioner Paul said to the middle-aged man opposite with a flattering face.

Michael Ovitz is indeed a famous person.

After all, he was the president of Disney before.

And even earlier, he was the most powerful man in Hollywood, the chairman of CAA, according to Premiere magazine.

However, at this time, he did not hold any position in the two well-known companies mentioned above. The two-year struggle among Disney's top executives finally ended with his resignation.

Just last month, he once again entered the field of artist management and founded a new company from scratch.

In addition, he has also shown an unusually strong interest in NFL expansion.

Los Angeles has been in a dilemma without an NFL team since the Rams moved away four years ago. Considering that Los Angeles is the second largest city in the United States, Michael Olds feels that this is undoubtedly a huge gold mine.

He immediately mobilized his vast network to raise funds and greeted the local GOV in Los Angeles. After receiving the support of the other party, he immediately began to prepare a bidding plan in order to obtain the franchise rights in the NFL plan.

The NFL's expansion has always been very conservative, and this time the extra team quota is due to the fact that Arthur Modell, the owner of the Cleveland Browns, ran away overnight and moved the entire team to Baltimore overnight.

After this running incident, Arthur Model was involved in a long dispute with the NFL and Cleveland. The final result was that Arthur Model retired unscathed and the NFL promised to rebuild the Browns in Cleveland, which led to the league's The number of teams becomes odd, and in order for the league to remain balanced, an additional team must be added.

Only then did Michael Ovitz join the bidding.

He currently has only two direct competitors left, including fellow Los Angeles real estate tycoon Ed Roski, part owner of the Los Angeles Kings and Los Angeles Lakers.

and Bob McNair, an energy tycoon from Texas who owns several power plants that provide electricity to New York City and throughout Virginia. He hopes to rebuild an NFL team in Houston and fill the void left by the Oilers' move to Tennessee.

As for last night's meeting, it was actually a temporary expansion meeting of the NFL. All three parties sent teams to represent the league teams to present their investment plans. Among them, Michael Ovitz even came to the scene in person, which is enough to show that he attaches great importance to this matter.

Although the final vote will not be held until next month, at last night's meeting, many teams have clearly supported Houston's reconstruction plan.

They need a team to carve up the market in the home of the Cowboys so much that Ovitz met with Paul Tagliabue today, hoping to further strive for it.

Paul changed the topic: "Of course we will fully consider the plans of many companies, but Houston has committed at least US$7.5 million in investment, and there is a lot of talk within the league about rebuilding the team in Houston. Unless Los Angeles can Come up with a more complete plan, otherwise the chance of winning is not great.”

He saw Ovitz's urgency and simply told the truth.

$7.5 million?

Michael Ovitz was stunned. He didn't expect Bob McNair to be so generous. This all makes sense when you consider that he recently sold his thermoelectric company, Cogen Technologies, to Enron.

The other party is obviously determined to win the Houston franchise.

Ovitz originally thought that he would be able to win by proposing a plan that was more competitive than his city rival Ed Roski Jr., but he didn't expect that another obstacle would appear halfway through.

When it comes to public reputation and connections, Ovitz is more than one step ahead of the power plant boss, but in terms of funding, he has to concede.

The management of the team also involves real estate, and it cannot be started without large investments.

"I know." Michael Ovitz exhaled.

He just felt that he was really unlucky in the past two years. When he left CAA, he never expected that he would be in this situation now.

If I had known earlier, I might as well not have joined Disney. Damn Eisner!

He cursed in his mind.

At this time, league commissioner Paul had already stood up and started buttoning his suit: "I have to leave first. Anyway, thank you for your attention and investment in football."

After Michael Ovitz shook hands with Paul, he sat slumped in his chair.

"Boss, do we still need to continue preparing?" a subordinate asked.

Ovitz thought for a while, and finally made a move to put it down.

The bid failed.

So the subordinates began to sort out the remaining information. The two-month preparation came to an end at this moment, and it was time to disband the team.

At this moment, Olds heard the voice of Ethan being interviewed from the TV.

Michael Ovitz couldn't help but laugh when he heard Ethan indicate that he might leave the NFL.

I just think Ethan, a young player, is quite interesting.

That's all, just treat it as a special trip to watch the Pro Bowl game. he consoled himself.

As a former workaholic, Michael Ovitz did not pay attention to football at all, but after being squeezed out of Disney, he was forced to enter retirement. This kind of idle life made it somewhat difficult for him to adapt. In order to find something for himself With the mentality of doing something, he started to pay attention to football.

Since then, he has been out of control, and he has become more and more aware of the charm of football. As a new fan who has not been watching football for a long time, Michael Ovitz is particularly fond of this year's rookie quarterback Ethan O'Connor. His game is almost He never missed a game and even went to Texas Stadium to watch Ethan play.

He felt that Ethan had a fierceness that no other quarterback had, and his offense was gorgeous and decisive, and he often showed a cunning side.

He even had the idea of ​​signing Ethan to his own team in the future, of course, provided the price was not too expensive.

Now it seems that all plans will come to nothing.

·

The next day, the Pro Bowl game was on site.

Randy Moss jumped high, and as the audience screamed, he held down the American League corner wearing the red uniform and got the spinning football. His jump height was much higher than that of the American League corner who was wearing the red uniform. The position is a full 30cm higher, showing extremely excellent physical fitness.

Without any extra movement, Randy Moss deftly started to accelerate after receiving the ball. Under the no-contact rules, it is difficult for defenders to defend closely, which gives the wide receiver more room to play.

As the crowd marveled, Randy Moss sauntered in and easily completed the touchdown.

National League All-Star players high-fived Randy Moss.

After Ethan arrived, Randy Moss took the initiative to step forward and hug Ethan.

"Ethan, you are so fucking great!" Randy Moss swore from the bottom of his heart.

He has been defeated by Ethan twice this year, and only after becoming teammates with Ethan can he truly feel how comfortable Ethan's passing is.

It was a comfort that could not be expressed in words, as if the two of them had been training together since childhood, wearing the same pair of pants and sleeping on the same bed.

Although it was only his first time as a teammate, Ethan understood himself better than the Vikings quarterbacks.

Jerry Rice, standing aside at this moment, could even feel the same way.

Half a month ago, the Cowboys just defeated the 49ers. In Jerry Rice's opinion, it was all because of luck.

After completing several connections with Ethan, he had to admit that although there was a certain amount of luck, Ethan O'Connor did have two skills.

In addition to wide receiver, other offensive positions have a somewhat similar feeling.

After three quarters of the game, the National League team wearing blue jerseys was extremely harmonious under Ethan's teamwork, and everyone had a relaxed smile on their face.

It can be seen from this reaction alone that the National League team is in the lead, and the lead is not small.

At this time, American League quarterback Peyton Manning, who was standing off the field, looked at the scoreboard and shook his head speechlessly. Then he looked at Ethan with eyes full of jealousy, envy, and a little helplessness.

At the same time, league commissioner Paul also received the latest ratings information.

The Pro Bowl's main game ratings have reversed their downward trend in recent years and drawn a steep upward curve.

Who else could it be because of?

Paul looked at Ethan appearing on the big screen, and then thought of what he had said in front of reporters before.

This brat... is so annoying.

Last night, Paul added an article to the revised draft of the league's charter: Club employees talking about other sports leagues will be regarded as harming the interests of the NFL, and violators will be punished accordingly.

But the charter can shut up Ethan, but it can't stop his heart from changing.

After thinking about it again, Paul decided to meet Ethan in person.

By the fourth quarter, this year's Pro Bowl game could be said to be decided.

The audience kept cheering and shouting "Leaf Pass", hoping that Ethan could perform it live.

Although there were many calls, Ethan did not listen to the opinions of the audience. This is the only regret of this year's Pro Bowl.

After the game, Ethan met Paul again.

"Ethan, whether it was in the Pro Bowl, or in the previous playoffs, or earlier in the regular season, your performance was perfect. The NFL has a series of protection measures for club employees. What do you have? If you are dissatisfied, you can tell me directly now, and as the league commissioner, I will definitely uphold justice for you."

Paul changed his previous perfunctory attitude and this time he put his words into practice.

"It's nothing, I just want to know what was related to the Cowboys in the meeting the day before yesterday." Ethan asked.

"Well... this is all public information for the club anyway."

Paul related the contents of the meeting.

Ethan was astonished. He only knew that the Texans would be established in Houston in the future, but he did not expect that even the top bosses in Hollywood would participate in the bidding.

But these are not what Ethan cares about.

"What about other than that?" Ethan asked.

Paul waved.

"This meeting is only about alliance expansion and does not contain any other agenda."

This makes no sense. It is other teams in the league that want to create trouble for the Cowboys. Rebuilding a team in Houston has nothing to do with them.

Ethan, who couldn't figure it out, finally dialed Charlotte's number.

Before Ethan could speak, Charlotte took the initiative to ask: "Ethan, have you taken any illegal drugs?"

"of course not."

"What about prescription drugs? Any prescription drug counts...including over-the-counter drugs."

"Charlotte, what happened?"

"Boom!"

Ethan saw that the sky in the distance was covered with clouds, thick black clouds oppressing everything, and a bad storm was about to land.

"Is it related to your father?" Lightning flashed across the sky reflected in Ethan's pupils, and he suddenly thought of another person.

Before Charlotte could answer, Ethan saw two NFL officials in suits walking towards him.

"We need to give you a random urine test before the Super Bowl," one said.

"Next, please be sure to stay within our sight until the sampling is over. This is the sampling equipment." The other party showed the disposable sealed bag in front of Ethan, and then left handwritten names on bottles A and B respectively. and time.

The NFL's policy on urine testing is random time, random place, maybe even at home in the early morning, so it's not surprising that the two showed up in Hawaii.

"I need a third person to be present for monitoring to ensure that my samples will not be replaced." Ethan said.

"Of course, this is within the scope of sampling rules." The other party nodded.

"Will every athlete participating in the Super Bowl undergo this type of testing?" Ethan asked.

"No, this is part of the random inspection during the season. We have recently received a contraband report about you. According to relevant regulations, we need to take special care of you." Another person said.

Report? Ethan found the whole thing more and more bizarre.

(End of this chapter)