Race in negotiations & Fan's Union

[Daniel Pelletier <dlp@philabs.research.philips.com>]

First, I wanted to address the article I read in the NY Times today
regarding the complications of race in the negotiations.  From my
reading of the article, I interpret the following:

1) Management is playing hardball, rejecting many of the ideas the union
has proposed.
2) The union, including Billy Hatcher, is using the implication that
this approach by management means that they have no respect for the
players (the hidden, secret message is that the owner's action are
racially motivated.  This subtle suggestion of racism has been one of
the ways that they've maintained solidarity of the players to date.
3) When asked directly, the players and the union can not point to one
word or incident that indicates any racist attitude, but they say, in a
negotiation of mostly white owners and mostly black players, how can
there not be race involved?

What I get out of this is the cynical use of race to maintain the
players' allegiance and to divert criticism of the union
representatives.  If you ask me, it smacks of an attempt at manipulation
of the players' emotions, which reveals a paternalistic attitude from
the union toward its own players which is itself a lack of respect.  

Well, I guess there are no heroes in this thing.

Which brings me to my next thought, which is that we shouldn't wait for
these idiots (management & players) to squabble until they cancel the
season.  We should cancel it ourselves, for if the players think they're
vitally important to the game, we as fans are absolutely critical.  

So, here's my proposal:

1) We give the owners and players until midnight, Dec. 31 to settle this
mess, or we cancel the season for them.  That means:
	a) NO attendance at ANY professional basketball teams for the 1998-1999
season ( go find a CBA or college team to root for a while)
	b) NO watching of the games on TV, broadcast, digital, cable, whatever.
	c) NO listening to radio broadcasts of the games
	d) NO purchase of NBA or player sponsored merchandise, shoes, clothing,
sports equipment, nothing.

2) The attending, viewing & listening strikes continue through the
1998-1999 season, including the playoffs.  Then we can watch again next
season, so we're not punishing ourselves unduly.

3) The merchandising boycott continues through the 1999-2000 season and
possibly the 2000-2001 season.

If we can get organized enough and the internet is just the tool we need
to do so, we can really put some pressure on and raise the stakes and
give each of the factions an excuse to swallow their pride and go back
to the bargaining table.   If we REALLY get organized, maybe next time
we can get fan representation at the bargaining table and maybe be able
to put a lid of escalating salaries & prices.  

But for now, I suggest that if you have friends that are bball fans
and/or if you know of other teams email listservs or usenet groups,
forward this proposal on to them.  If we get it in front of enough fans,
maybe we can get some media coverage of the boycott and start to have an
effect.

Happy holidays.

Dan