re:just talk about basketball!?

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

Hi:

    If you all won't mind my saying so, I wish we can negotiate a
moratorium on the fruitless and dullish "owners' fault/players' fault"
debate on this list. For the first time in a long time, I'm skipping
over rather than reading a lot of posts on the Boston Celtics' mailing
list.  While I'd agree that the owner's lockout is a topical issue, I'd
prefer if we stuck only to constructive ideas (including the several
good ones already out there on our list) re: the CBA and ways to break
the impasse.

    Or better still, we can just talk about basketball!?



****

    Yesterday at CNN/SI,  Jackie MacMullin reported the following quote
concerning Paul Pierce:

"That talk about Pierce is baloney," says Golden State general manager
Garry St. Jean. "He had a great workout with us. He might have more
ability to score than any other rookie because he can drift and shoot,
can come off the screen, can break you down off the dribble and can go
down to the box and score."

    According to this article, Denver GM Dan Issel had said before the
draft that Paul Pierce "might be a little soft."

****

    The Providence Journal site today reported the following BosCelts
financial info, according to documents filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.

    "For the nine months ended March 31 (the latest for which figures
are available), the Celtics rang up a net profit of about $14.42
million.Revenues for the nine months through March 31 jumped about 20
percent, to about $65 million. The Celtics front office attributed the
improved performance partly to a 20 percent increase in revenue from
ticket sales, and a 24 percent increase in television and radio
revenues."

    The article also reports that Rick Pitino will continue to earn
$18,500 per day and that Paul Gaston paid himself 1 million in salary
last year as the chief executive officer.

     (I personally don't know enough to judge how valid or meaningful
such numbers are. BTW, an econ prof at Harvard once joked during his
lecture that "an economist is someone who lacked the personality to
become an accountant".  I wouldn't be surprised if he stole this
self-deprecating line from somewhere else, but I thought it was pretty
funny. )

****