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Readers Response To Dave Kindred Column (TSN)
Dave Kindred's Mailbag
OCTOBER 9, 1998
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Dave Kindred
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A column saying I've had it with the
NBA players' union provoked so many
responses that this week's mailbag
is devoted exclusively to the
lockout issues . .
Dave, I know you're a great baseball
fan, but hockey hopes to have fixed
its offensive balance just in time
for the NBA's implosion. You say if
there's no NBA, you'll tape the
World Series and watch it all
winter. No need. You can already
watch a tape of the Yankees beating
the Braves to win a Series.
Give hockey a chance.
Bruce Lowekamp
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I've yet to understand why the
majority of NBA players support the
union position when it seems
dedicated to ensuring a vast
majority of the money ends up in
just a few players' hands.
On the other hand, NBA owners who
fork over $80-$120 million contracts
shouldn't be allowed to wrap
themselves in the NBA position of
trying to save money and preserve
the financial integrity of the
sports. They're the ones who got us
here.
The mystery is why they can't
negotiate. The union claims it's a
victim -- after all, they're locked
out, they didn't go on strike. Yet
when the owners made a substantive
change in offers, the union couldn't
meet to negotiate. "Previous
commitments."
GIVE ME A BREAK! Are these people
stupid? Didn't they see what
happened with baseball?1/4 And it's
we fans who get the wrong end of the
stick.
Rusty Neff
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Many of us NBA fans support the
players before we support the
league. A business hires employees
based on skill and according to
need, with compensation paid to
those employees based on their value
and market value. If L.A. gives Shaq
$120, it's because someone else
would've given him more. Doesn't
make him the "greedy" one.
You can blame who you want, but just
remember, this common man, who makes
$25,000 a year, doesn't own a home,
doesn't own a car, has no savings,
still buys season tickets every year
-- and I do it to see Gary Payton,
not Wally Walker, not Barry Ackerly,
not Russ Granik and definitely not
(accidently snipped)
Terry Emmingham
-------------------------------------
As a resident of the nation's
capital, I have been forced to
endure abusive drug-using players
who insist on speeding and driving
under the influence. Combine that
with a flashy new arena that doubled
ticket prices and you have a recipe
for utter disgust. I've had it with
the NBA. I'm watching Maryland and
Georgetown.
Tim Charters
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Would NBA players rather make their
X millions of dollars or be part of
a family grossing $20,000 a year
that can't even afford to buy a
ticket to a game?
They need to quit bitching and
remember how lucky they are.
Paula Naughton
I have absolutely no sympathy for
the players. I'm tired of the excuse
about "shortened careers" and how
they "deserve" more money because of
it. That may have been true 20 years
ago, or even 10. Today it just makes
me laugh. The minimum wage is, what?
$360,000 a year!!!
Don't get me wrong, Dave. I have no
problem paying what the market will
bear. But you can find what the
market will bear by negotiating or
by walking. If you walk, you take
the risk the other party will let
you keep on walking. I hope the
owners do just that.1/4 Hockey, here
I come.
Jonathan M. Robertson
Latrell Sprewell aside, I've gotta
go with the players on this one. If
owners don't want to pay obscene
salaries, DON'T PAY 'EM!
Steve Huntington
Hey, Dave, and all you boomers --
there's a ton of support for the
players. Maybe not on the golf
course, but on the playgrounds you
used to get beat up on when you was
little. Who feels sorry for rich old
men who can afford to pay hundreds
of millions for a team and then make
about $25 million a year each
without making a single jump shot?
No one I know.
D.J. Wilburn
I'm glad to see you're being paid by
David Stern & Co. to promote the
owners' mantra of "salaries are too
high." Who says? You?
I hate to spoil your fun, but you
don't understand that a businessman
does not pay his employees what he
cannot afford. Did someone put a gun
to Glenn Taylor's head and say, "You
must pay Kevin Garnett $120
million"? I don't think so.
By the way, who's to say an owner is
"entitled" to an 8 percent return on
his investment? For doing what? Do
fans pay to see an owner? Give me a
break.
The fans decide the salaries. When
fans stop paying $50 to sit halfway
up in the arena, there'll no longer
be enough revenue to pay the
salaries you're complaining about.
If Joe Lunch Bucket doesn't think
they should get that kind of money,
don't go to games.
Kyle V. Miller
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WORD!!! That's some slang to let you
know I totally agree with your
latest snippet of feelings about the
NBA and its players. The NBA is just
annoying rich kids playing sorry and
boring pickup. Give me college
hoops, football and hockey.
Cooper Alden Morrow
-------------------------------------
Dave, you're wrong about the
"exhibition" season being canceled.
Those are the 81 games warming up
for the playoffs next spring.
Richard Schulman
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Bravo! Refreshing to hear it spelled
out plainly about the pampered lives
of pro athletes. How any other union
can stomach supporting these whiners
is beyond me. I'm so glad that you
and others realize the NBA players'
union is more an exclusive country
club than a champion for labor.
Terry McLaughlin