This does not look good: Atlanta Falcons cheerleaders are flying to Bermuda while the franchise is slightly lowering the pay of some office staff according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Jeff Schultz. Several other teams are also cutting payroll costs, so it's not like the Falcons are alone in that part.
But if the franchise is affected by the lockout in such a way that it needs to trim payroll, it should be looking to express that consistently throughout its organization. Sending people to a beach, even though they're going there to work and to generate revenue, sends a complicated message.
To be fair, the two have very little to do with each other, as the Bermuda thing was likely approved months ago, has nothing to do with the lockout and the team has to have something to put on its annual calendars. And it has to come up with content for its website during the lull of all lulls, too. It's an unfavorable coincidence that likely doesn't even involve the same two decision-makers, but still one to which the organization should've been more sensitive.
The Falcons under Arthur Blank have done an outstanding job of doing the right thing and running a tight ship, which is an amazing thing to say considering the depths of 2007. Even if it's only a few office staff members losing a little bit of pay, seeing these two stories side-by-side was disappointing.
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