It was contentious. You could sense a little bit of hostility but it was a productive meeting. I'm hoping it de-escalated the situation.

I didn't get a sense of what the temperature is on that. I tried to allay the fears, and there are significant fears.

What we're trying to do is set the bar a little bit higher. This has been a very contentious, very emotional (issue).

I'm not the least bit shy about suggesting things to my players that make a lot of sense. I don't think it's overstepping my bounds to talk to guys about thinking about that big gold trophy that they give out at the end of the year. It's OK to win some of those. They look really nice on a mantelpiece.

He went really, really well and I was hoping he would go a little bit slower, but he was pulling him right along and doing it easily.

It didn't go smoothly; it was the most contentious thing I've ever done.