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Posted By: TBob

The owners put arbitrators in place thinking they would be lackeys who would goose step to their tune. Surprise, surprise, they didn't. The owners had a chance to avoid this whole mess by giving in to the players on a few piddly requests but decided to be reminiscent of the owners of the 20's and 30's and not bend an inch. The result was arbitration, spiralling contracts and free agency. Most of the players could care less about anything but their pocketbooks but it was the owners who refused to bend and thus the whole game has broken.
By agreeing to arbitration, the players and owners circumvented the court process.