JasonB over at Bleeding Green Nation has a nice recap of the key quotes from today's ruling on the NFL Owners and players labor dispute. Though the end result went as expected I'm going to quote the key passage at the end of the piece from JasonB that gives me some hope for a speedy resolution:

There's no doubt that this is a fairly strong rebuke of the NFL's position. Unless the 8th circuit court has a significantly different interpretation of federal law governing "primary jurisdiction" it would seem unlikely that they will say she ruled incorrectly upon appeal.

It doesn't necessarily mean they won't hear an appeal on the matter.... But her arguments seem to be on very solid legal ground

But the judges's comments do give the chance that the 8th Circuit Court would reject to hear the appeal by seeing no fault in Nelson's ruling and reject the primary jurisdiction argument. That would actually represent the quickest resolution to this impasse. I think there is a real chance this could happen and here is why...after the jump. 

Let me first say I'm not an attorney so there might be some obscure rule that negates this opinion but I don't think so. What the owners can't get away from that is this:

The owners need a CBA more than the players...

A salary cap protects frugal owners from the big spenders, allows owners to predict their biggest costs and allows them to seal huge TV contracts by guaranteeing the best talent hits the field. 

The owners are for some reason gambling that a court will rule the NFLPA must stay a whole union yet there appears to be precedent with the 8th Circuit Court that a union can de-certify for whatever reason they want, even if it is to gain advantage at the negotiating table. 

I can assure you this...the Panthers will not sign their #1 pick (if they don't trade the pick) until their is a signed CBA in place. If the 8th Circuit rejects to hear the case then the owners will be forced back to the table. Do the owners actually trust each other enough to be sure another owner won't go rouge and start signing draft picks and/or restricted free agents under the 2010 rules. 

All I can think of as to why the owners want to continue with the appeal at this point is to try and prolong the delay to break the players will. Yet that is a classic ploy that the NLR Board would probably rule against so its not real clear what the owners are truly seeking by calling the decertification a sham. I hope to get some clarity tomorrow.