In this continuing cycle of non-news that is the labor dispute, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals did not make a decision whether or not to grant a permanent stay of Judge Nelson's lockout-lifting injunction ruling.
What this means is that for now, the temporary stay is still in effect, and the lockout rolls on.
According to Andrew Brandt, the NFL filed it's brief on Monday with the same arguments it always has had: The District Court of Minnesota doesn't have jurisdiction, shouldn't have ruled before the National Labor Review Board had opined on the NFL's unfair labor practice charge, and also shouldn't have ruled as to whether or not the labor exemption continues to apply after decertification.
In short, they still believe the NFLPA is a union and pointing to Mike Vrabel's comments and DeMaurice Smith's leadership as evidence of this union.
Also among their arguments is that the NFL, not the players, suffer irreparable harm by being denied its right to lock out the players. They also point to players holding out of training camp.
The NFL's brief was due May 9th. The players' uni-- er, trade association, is to reply by May 20, and the NFL rebuttal is due the 26th. The oral arguments will happen in St. Louis on June 3.
See, normally this time of year we'd be bringing you news of rookie minicamps, free agent transactions, trades, signing of draft picks, contract extensions... But thanks to the lockout, that's on hold, of course.