Re: To season ticket holders

[Joe Hironaka <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

Whew, IMO good post Douglas!

Personally, I'm a huge fan of both Bird and the Bird exception, and I
would think NBA owners ought to be too. There's nothing like the wrath
of fans when a franchise player is lost via free agency to the Fakers or
Knicks, no matter what the owner's "small market" excuses. What follows
may not be your own view, but  I actually wish that other pro leagues
(MLB, NFL) had a "Bird exception" combined with 5-year rookie contracts
and other fiscally responsible measures to help save owners from
themselves.

Joe

****
Douglas342@aol.com wrote:

>     Noah, I detected some humor there.  Better watch out for your
> reputation!
>      As for you, techbook, please tell me one instance where "fan
> outrage"
> produced any result at all.  Every single time there is a labor
> dispute in pro
> sports, the cry goes up for a fan boycott.  Sometimes attendance goes
> down a
> bit, but it never amounts to anything.  Thus, if you send in a "token
> amount"
> of money, I would betcha you kiss your season tickets goodbye.  A
> good,
> principled stand.  Can I get the tickets you lose?
>     And finally a question/query:  if we assume that the Bird
> exception is the
> biggest sticking point, what compromise can you see on that point?
> Clearly
> the players won't take a hard cap, unless it is sky-high, and even
> then it's
> doubtful because it brings in a hard cap, and we can quibble numbers
> later.
> (I had thought of double the regular cap, for no particular reason.
> Fill your
> cap and you have the same amount for Bird money.)  Perhaps some
> multiple of
> the player's last salary?  Any other suggestions?
>      My own bet is that the union sells out the rookies and the
> journeymen to
> fatten the stars.  Rookie contracts get longer, Bird stays, more and
> more
> players play for minimum.  Isn't Ewing the President of the union?
> Mr. "I
> want the average of the three richest players" or some such silly
> deal?  Oh
> yeah, he's going to work to protect Bruce Bowen and Tyus Edney.  You
> betcha.
> I have this land in Arizona...