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[The Sacramento Bee]
Mark Kreidler: NBA's bigwigs just can't sit still
(Published Aug. 8, 1998)
You know, it isn't every day the leaders of
the NBA all realize they have to go to the
bathroom at the same time. Serendipity?
"They got up and walked out. It seemed
more feigned than anything else. It looked like a
charade." -- Players union chief Billy Hunter,
after watching David Stern and the boys high-tail
it out of a Manhattan meeting ostensibly called
to search for common ground in the NBA's labor
dispute. Stern, in turn, said his side sure
didn't come to be lectured on legal proceedings
by a bunch of ... well, hell, let's say it. A
bunch of basketball players.
But seriously, hoops fans, it's never too
early to get down those season-ticket deposits.
And at the rate they're negotiating, it also may
never be too late.
You can't swing a dead bat without
hitting another box score in which Texas slugger
Juan Gonzlez has driven in a run or two, and as
of Friday Gonzlez was on a pace for 169 RBI. All
of which ought to make Hack Wilson's all-time
record of 190 loom as the Mt. Everest of
offensive marks, since so much of it is tied up
in what a player's teammates are doing ahead of
him in the batting order. And, by the way, the
Rangers only just now took over the A.L. West.
Who's pitching for these guys, Charlie Brown?
Undertow to the Padres picking reliever
Randy Myers off waivers from Toronto: The Braves
didn't get him. And if you are San Diego,
potentially facing that Atlanta rotation in the
playoffs, that alone was reason enough to do the
deal.
"There is not a piece of memorabilia
that's worth a dime." -- Mark McGwire, on how he
might bargain for the safe return of home-run
ball No. 62, should the lucky recipient try to
hold out for cash. And this just in from the
Department of Respectful Disagreement: Collectors
put the ball's auction value at $200,000 or more,
depending upon how many nutty rich guys get
involved.
Nice story from Pittsburgh about how
former local Kevin McClatchy has endeared himself
to Pirates fans by successfully lobbying for a
new stadium. At 35, McClatchy is younger than six
players on the Baltimore Orioles' roster.
Word on Irish swimmer Michelle Smith is
that her four-year international ban effectively
ends the Olympic champion's career at 28, because
few swimmers can maintain world-class times
beyond age 30. But if Smith had as much alcohol
coursing through her system as her urinalysis
tests indicate, I don't see the problem: She'll
be perfectly preserved for the next six, eight
years.
Chris Webber, Take 112: He'll show up. He
may speak, he may not, he may rely on simple
finger gestures (one in particular comes to
mind), but he'll show up in Sacramento. If you
believe nothing else about the man, believe this:
Webber will not leave $10 million sitting on the
table.
"I was forced out in Los Angeles. We do
feel the L.A. opportunity is ours. We paid for
it." -- Raiders owner Al Davis, note-takingly
nostalgic for the southern climes during a radio
interview in which he asserted that his franchise
simply "cannot exist without sold-out stadiums
and sold-out luxury suites." Davis noted that the
only reason the team returned to Oakland was that
the Coliseum Commission lied about how many seats
and boxes were sold. And, hey, thanks for
dropping by.
Heartbreaking interview on ESPN with
former Braves closer Mark Wohlers, who now can't
find home plate with a compass and agreed to his
second minor-league demotion of the year. And
those gnashing sounds you heard were the teeth of
relief aces the league over, with their
multimillion-dollar contracts, ordering room
service as if it'll never end. It can. It does.
Not that the first year of training camp
in Stockton is going over well, but: More than
27,000 tickets have been sold at $10 a pop for
the 49ers' practice under the lights Tuesday with
San Diego, and authorities are concerned about
scalping. To repeat: Practice.
It's no knock on the stature of Bill
Walsh that the man was totally miscast as Carmen
Policy's successor, but give Walsh credit for
recognizing the bad fit and running from it. Ego,
and Eddie D., might have prevailed otherwise.
Sure sign that the NBA labor talks are
flattening out: A wire-service account of
Thursday's get-together noted that Stern
"surprised many in the room by showing up with a
beard." Gonna be a long, cold winter. Facial hair
recommended.
MARK KREIDLER'S column appears four times a week.
Write him at P.O. Box 15779, Sacramento, 95852,
or call (916) 321-1149.
Copyright © 1998 The Sacramento Bee
ExpressNews.Com
Saturday, August 8, 1998
(AP) As the summer winds along and the NBA lockout drags on with
no end in sight, signs are starting to emerge that this impasse could become as
divisive and harmful as the 1994-95 baseball strike.
<P> And this time, the fans could turn their backs on basketball.
<P> Consider this recent warning from Wilt Chamberlain:
<P> ``Baseball should have taught all these leagues a lesson, but apparently it
hasn't. I hope I don't reflect the entire population of basketball fans,
because if I do, the league is in big trouble. I have no patience for this.''
<P> The NBA endured lockouts in 1995 (for almost three months) and 1996 (for a
few hours) without damaging its popularity, primarily because the work
stoppages took place during the offseason and the league never lost a
regular-season game to labor strife.
<P> In baseball, on the other hand, the strike happened at the beginning of
September right in the middle of a pennant race. The ensuing cancellation of
the World Series alienated legions of fans, cost the owners and players a
combined $1 billion, and led to a 20 percent attendance drop.
<P> This summer's NBA lockout is similar to the last two, drawing little
interest or concern from fans whose attention has been focused on baseball, the
World Cup and the countdown to the start of the NFL season.
<P> But trouble could set in soon, especially if the current impasse lasts into
September and threatens to disrupt the start of training camps in early October
and the scheduled start of the season Nov. 3.
<P> ``The most important people here, other than us players, are the fans out
there,'' said Karl Malone, who made a surprising appearance at Thursday's
bargaining session that ended with commissioner David Stern and the owners
abruptly walking out, saying they were ``insulted.''
<P> ``I love baseball, but I don't want to see what happened to baseball happen
to our game. And that's what I saw today,'' Malone said.
<P> Stern and deputy commissioner Russ Granik said the episode that made them
leave the room came when a union attorney started lecturing them on the
league's chances of success in pending litigation.
<P> ``They disrespected us,'' said Patrick Ewing, president of the players
association.
<P> Stern, whose temper is well-known in the NBA office, already had a poor
relationship with two of the union's lawyers so poor, in fact, that past
bargaining sessions have deteriorated into shouting matches, with curses and
insults flying.
<P> Bud Selig and Donald Fehr engaged in similar exchanges in the months after
the World Series was canceled.
<P> In a conference call after the talks broke off, Stern was pessimistic enough
to admit that Jan. 20 would be the drop-dead date after which the NBA would
probably have to cancel the season.
<P> With so many harsh feelings and with Stern seemingly willing to sacrifice
games, gambling that the players' loss of paychecks will make them soften their
stance, it would be a major surprise if any new talks will take place until the
end of August at the earliest.
<P> In the meantime, the next chapter of the lockout will be contested in front
of arbitrator John Feerick, dean of the Fordham University law school. The
union filed a grievance with Feerick on June 30, a few hours before the lockout
commenced, contending that the owners should be paying players with guaranteed
contracts during the lockout.
<P> If the players win the grievance, the owners' bargaining position would be
weakened considerably, since they would be obligated to meet some $800 million
worth of contract obligations for the 1998-99 season.
<P> The players also have a complaint before the National Labor Relations Board,
the government agency that brought an end to the baseball strike by convincing
a federal judge that owners were not bargaining in good faith.
<P> ``The message they gave us was they didn't think it's necessary for them to
bargain seriously until that happens,'' Stern said after talks broke off.
<P> The hearing before Feerick will be Aug. 24-25, and the NLRB's New York
director is due to make a report to his superiors in Washington by Aug. 10.
<P> Which means no one should expect any truly meaningful offers to be extended
by either side until outsiders determine who will hold the leverage.
<P> In the end, however, the most leverage will be held by the fans.
<P> ``Basketball is different from baseball. Basketball is exactly where society
is at right now fast-paced, a lot of scoring, a lot of dunking, a lot of
making money,'' fan Alexi Yulich said Friday as he stood outside the site of
the NBA's soon-to-open merchandise store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. ``It's
all about 19-year-old kids making tons of money, tattoos, brand-new sneakers,
`phat' cars, music videos. Baseball is associated with sitting back and
napping.
<P> ``I think the lockout could go on two full years and it wouldn't hurt the
sport.''
<P> Chamberlain wouldn't agree.
<P> Asked last week by the Record of Hackensack whether he would stop following
the NBA if the lockout delays the start of the regular season, Chamberlain
nodded emphatically and said, ``Absolutely, absolutely.''
<P> The future of the sport may depend on whether a majority of people agree
with Chamberlain or the man on the street.