NBA has opening
night to forget
The NBA/by
Steve Bulpett
11/04/98
Patrick Ewing
was held
scoreless last
night on the
date of the New
York Knicks
opener with the
Celtics.
Antoine Walker
took not a
single bad
shot.
Rick Pitino
didn't scream
at all.
Pervis Ellison
didn't play.
Some things
just don't
change.
The scheduled
night of the
NBA season
premier came
and went with
no games
played, and the
needle on your
Give-a-darn
meter didn't
even consider
the possibility
of moving. What
if they didn't
have a season
and nobody
cared?
And speaking of
not caring, it
is quite
instructive to
note that on
the day that
teams were
supposed to
meet, the
league and the
players union
did not.
There was talk
between lawyers
Monday and
there will be
more talk
today, but with
so much at
stake, the
sides didn't
think it
necessary to
even discuss
the collective
bargaining gulf
that divides
them.
What the NBA
will most
undoubtedly
find out soon
enough is that
there are very
few pure
basketball fans
whose
attachment to
the game goes
beyond all the
muttonheaded
maneuvers these
millionaires --
both in suits
and in sneakers
-- throw in our
face, beyond
all the
multimedia
halftime shows
and the jump
shots for pizza
during
timeouts.
The NBA will
learn that
people can live
full and
productive
lives without
the presence on
their
television of
self-important
people who
can't hit free
throws.
The Celtics did
not tip off
against the
Knicks at 8
p.m. last night
in Madison
Square Garden,
so Bostonians
entertained
themselves with
other sporting
events -- the
Bruins and the
election.
Would Joe
Thornton score?
Would Cellucci
cover the
spread.
More people
were worried
yesterday about
Willie
McGinest's
groin than
Pitino's
season. More
people wanted
to talk about
some short guy
who plays in
Buffalo than
about some tall
guys who were
supposed to be
playing in the
FleetCenter
tonight. The
NBA has been
given November
off for stupid
behavior.
Those who paid
money for this
evening's tilt
with the
dreaded Miami
Heat and the
dreadlocked Pat
Riley (just
seeing if you
were still
paying
attention) will
be forced to
look elsewhere
if they wish to
be gouged for
dinner and
parking.
Perhaps it's
time to have
that talk with
your child that
the public
service
announcements
have been
suggesting for
years.
Just make sure
to have your
dancing shoes
ready when the
kids ask why
Shaquille
O'Neal can't
come over and
play anymore.
Explanations
seem to be in
short supply
these days when
the subject is
professional
basketball. And
it wouldn't be
so bad if the
questions
weren't so
simple and
glaring.
Why are the
rank and file
members of the
players union
willing to lose
paychecks just
so the precious
few elite won't
have to settle
for $15 million
a year instead
of the $20
million some
fool owner will
be willing to
pay just as
soon as the
league takes
the child-proof
cap off his
wallet?
Why are the
owners asking
the players to
share their
revenue when
the owners
themselves
won't even hear
of transferring
some of, say,
the Knicks'
local revenue
to the league's
poorer
franchises?
The players
believe the
owners are
trying to stick
it to them, and
the players are
right. The
owners believe
the players are
being greedy,
and the owners
are right.
The fans
believe they
are again the
ones being left
out in the
cold, and the
fact they are
absolutely
right is all
that is going
to matter in
this wicked
game.
When the league
and the players
talk about
revenue, they
are talking
about you. They
think they're
discussion
television and
sponsorship
deals and
people in
corporate
offices who
control
advertising
budgets. But
you are the
ones who watch
TV and buy the
products.
You are The
Revenue.
And as of last
evening, The
Revenue was
blissfully
unconcerned
about the
absence of the
NBA. This much
is known. We
are left only
to measure the
effects on the
game of the
aftershock.
No doubt the
NBA has had
better opening
nights.