Stern to Aspen. Hunter desparate?

[Kevin Lok <kevin.lok@lycosmail.com>]

Hunter is still making his troops believe there will still be a season
come Feb. I think he is just desparate.

I think Stern is really making Hunter sweat cold sweat (remember, Mr
Spree is standingby). He is having the upper hand and should be
squeezing all more concessions from the union as it drags on more. I bet
it is either 52% and the escrow system or the season's cancelled.

Cloudy and rain in Singapore
Kevin

STERN HITS THE SLOPES; HUNTER THINKS NO DEAL UNTIL JANUARY

(AP) - David Stern is going to Aspen, Colo., for a week, and
Billy Hunter is going home for the holidays, too. It doesn't look
like there will be a season until February -- if at all. The NBA
lockout was back on the slow track Wednesday with the two men
actually bickering over who should call whom, and who made the
first call last time. "If we are going to meet, in all
probability it won't be until the week between Christmas and New
Year's," Hunter said in a conference call with reporters. "We're
going to find ourselves locked into a 12th-hour scenario. At this
stage it's kind of like poker, and what they're trying to do is
see who blinks first." The sides have not met since Saturday, and
no meetings are scheduled prior to this weekend, when Stern will
leave for his residence in the Colorado ski resort town.

An NBA spokesman said Stern could be back in New York within a
few hours if developments warranted. Hunter said he will fly home
to San Francisco for the holidays if Stern leaves town. The union
director, in one of his most detailed conversations of the 5
1/2-month-old lockout, said the "drop dead" date for saving the
season must be after the holidays. "Things can't be too critical
or extreme in view of the fact that commissioner Stern is
planning a vacation in Aspen. If that's the case, I would assume
that Jan. 1 is not the drop dead date. We have looked at the
proposed schedules, and we are aware if the season would start by
Feb. 1, there would be at least 40-42 games left. If you
eliminate the All-Star game and maybe added a week or so, you
could get up to 50-55 games." In order to play 55 games, however,
teams would have to play five games per week.