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Re: Boston Herald - Michael Gee - Lockout Ends When The Players Can't Play Golf
I find it really stupid and presumptuous when these media types assume
that nobody cares about the start of the season. I don't know why it
didn't get posted, but that horse's ass Bob Ryan wrote one of his
smug, self-important columns in CBS Sportsline about how much he
doesn't care about the lockout, that he hates the NBA, that (here
comes a surprise) the league was better in the 80s, and that he only
goes to Celtics games because he has to. What a dick! I wish he and
this guy too would leave basketball writing to people who care about
basketball. We know who we are.
P.S. If Ryan had a shred of credibility left, he lost it when he
failed to take the owners' side, suggesting that they "just say no"
once in a while. Shmuck.
---Way Of The Ray wrote:
>
> News Flash: Mike Fransesca of WFAN said he's hearing the NBA will be
> back for Christmas... Now back to our original posting......
> >
> BOSTON HERALD
> There's no hurry to
> go to the hoop
> by Michael Gee
>
> 10/15/98
>
> Anyone who wants to
> know when the NBA
> lockout will end is
> advised to check
> the Weather Channel
> each morning. As
> soon as it gets way
> too cold to play
> golf in Chicago,
> the players and
> owners will settle.
>
> If Michael Jordan
> walks off the 18th
> green and decides
> he wants to
> re-enlist with the
> Bulls, the warring
> parties will come
> to an immediate
> agreement. If
> Jordan decides he'd
> rather retire, move
> to Florida and play
> golf year-round,
> they'll come to an
> agreement even
> faster.
>
> Perhaps that's a
> whimsical view of a
> financial dispute
> involving hundreds
> of millions of
> dollars and the
> already postponed
> start of a major
> professional
> season.
>
> But it's no sillier
> than my opening
> premise, namely,
> that there is
> someone who cares
> if and when the
> lockout will end.
>
> That outsiders,
> such as fans, don't
> care is a given. In
> the last two months
> there have been
> more barroom
> arguments about the
> International
> Monetary Fund than
> about the NBA's
> labor dispute.
> What's truly
> amazing is there's
> no evidence anybody
> inside pro
> basketball is
> worried about the
> lockout, either. I
> was idly
> channel-surfing
> last weekend. Saw
> Rick Pitino's horse
> win the Champagne
> Stakes at Belmont.
> The Celtic coach
> was beside himself
> with joy. If
> Pitino's been
> losing sleep about
> the lockout, you
> sure couldn't tell.
>
> Flicked the clicker
> over to E!.
> Shaquille O'Neal
> was being
> interviewed about
> his debut as a film
> director.
> Wonderful! Maybe
> the Lakers will
> hire Jean-Luc
> Godard to teach
> O'Neal how to shoot
> free throws. O'Neal
> looked and sounded
> happy as a clam. If
> he's perplexed at
> missing training
> camp, he didn't
> mention it.
>
> The basketball
> business made
> Pitino and O'Neal
> internationally
> famous
> multi-millionaires.
> If the lockout
> isn't disturbing
> them, why should we
> care?
>
> Of course, that's
> exactly why the NBA
> is shut down. The
> owners and players
> battling over
> hundreds of
> millions of dollars
> already have that
> much money, or at
> least tens of
> millions of
> dollars. They have
> no fiscal incentive
> to settle. Their
> losses from the
> cancellation of the
> first two weeks of
> the season are only
> paper losses.
>
> Pitino and O'Neal
> probably are
> concerned about the
> lockout, and wish
> they could go back
> to work. But it
> doesn't really have
> an impact on their
> lives.
>
> But there are
> several hundred NBA
> players for whom
> missed paychecks
> are a disaster, in
> the same way the
> stock market is
> costing brokerage
> workers their jobs.
> But they don't
> count. In a world
> with millions of
> good players,
> non-stars have no
> leverage.
>
> The lockout is a
> contest between the
> owners and the 100
> or so stars who are
> the NBA's
> fundamental
> product. The
> players' union
> leaders aren't role
> players. They're
> Patrick Ewing and
> Alonzo Mourning.
> They can afford to
> see a missed
> paycheck as an
> investment in
> bigger paychecks to
> come.
>
> Since pro
> basketball starts
> at a particularly
> busy part of the
> sports calendar,
> conventional wisdom
> says the NBA's
> dysfunctional rich
> family will get its
> comeuppance when
> apathetic fans turn
> away from the game.
>
> Unfortunately, the
> lockout will likely
> have little lasting
>
=== message truncated ===
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