Bob Molinaro: Lockout A Good Thing

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

                               Oct. 19, 1998
            Bob Molinaro on Sports

       NBA lockout guarantees instant relief -- fewer games

       The Virginian-Pilot
       Copyright 1998, Landmark Communications Inc.

       Wish I could share in the angst and disappointment that have
       been created by the cancellation of the first two weeks of
       the NBA season.

       Blame my indifference on age. We in the over-40 crowd just
       don't get it. We don't understand why anyone would shed a
       tear or waste a regret on the pro basketball lockout.

       This is a generational thing, I suppose. Pro hoops is a
       young man's game. The NBA is a magnet for the 8 to 38s. The
       youth market rules. The over-40 crowd can doze off in our
       recliners as far as the NBA is concerned.

       Still, has anybody ever heard someone say, ``Gee, I wish the
       NBA played more regular season games''?

       A USA Today poll reports that more than 70 percent of people
       who identify themselves as NBA fans believe the season is
       too long. Only 70 percent?

       So the lockout guarantees relief. Fewer games. A later
       start. Perhaps a much, much later start. So this is bad?

       It's not like there won't be basketball on the tube. The
       semi-pros, also known as The Colleges, begin play Nov. 10.
       Now if the entire NBA season is threatened by labor strife,
       that's a different matter. Then we'll be threatened with
       wall-to-wall ice hockey highlights on the late-night cable
       shows. That would hurt.

       But two fewer weeks of the NBA? A month? No biggie.

       That so many don't seem to care if the NBA starts on time
       should be a clear warning for the sport, which will suffer a
       bigger blow when Michael Jordan retires.

       By the way, could Jordan be any more coy? Recently, he said
       that new Bulls' coach Tim Floyd is not an impediment to his
       returning for another season. If he feels like playing.

       So, then, does he feel like playing? Jordan won't say.

       Last week, he told reporters that he'd wait until the labor
       stoppage was resolved before making a decision about his
       future.

       Well, sure, if there's no season, than there's no reason for
       Jordan to remove his golf glove.

       But just in case there is a season, doesn't Jordan owe it to
       fans to announce whether he's staying or going? In NBA
       cities, millions of dollars are being shelled out by fans
       who want to see Jordan play one more time.

       People are buying overpriced tickets for Bulls games not
       knowing whether Jordan will be in uniform or on a putting
       green in Key Biscayne.

       Perhaps Jordan could step back from his next putt long
       enough to announce whether he's returning to basketball.
       Fans of all ages would appreciate it.

       If not this season, one year very soon, though, Jordan is
       going to ride his golf cart into the sunset. When he does,
       his departure from basketball is expected to spark a
       wholesale exodus of fans from a sport that seems to
       celebrate immaturity.

       It's said that the Shaquille O'Neal-Allen Iverson generation
       has alienated mature basketball fans. That may be. Yet times
       haven't changed all that much. For the last 20 years, the
       NBA has featured athletes who, were it not for their
       athletic ability, would be going through life asking, ``You
       want fries with that?''

       So perhaps there's something else at work here. Maybe
       there's just something about pro basketball that is less
       suited to the over-40 set.

       Baseball is an example of an over-40 sport. Following the
       pastoral pastimes of baseball and golf becomes more
       appealing in the middle years. At least that's one theory.

       Generational divides notwithstanding, though, as long as
       there's a chance of Jordan playing, not everybody in the
       over-40 crowd says ``No'' to another NBA season. For some of
       us, it's more like, ``What's the hurry?''
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