Jerry Callahan: NBA Not Missed!

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

CNN/SI - NBA Basketball - No season...does anybody care? - Thursday  September 24, 1998 08:53 PM</TITLE>

So there I was in my favorite chair last Sunday, working the clicker the
way the great Zamfir works the pan flute. What a great day: 
Mark McGwire was hitting No. 65 and 65 1/2. The Mets and Cubs were slugging
it out for the wild-card berth. Cal Ripken was out of the lineup for the
first time since before US presidents had phone sex. And of course, a full
day of NFL action was exploding like a street fight in front of me. 
But personally, I had trouble enjoying any of it because I couldn't stop
wondering: How will we ever make it through the winter without 
Anthony Mason?

Maybe you haven't noticed, but the NBA is in the middle of a lockout and
the 1998-'99 season could be postponed or even cancelled. And as far as I
can tell, sports fans across the country haven't been this upset since the
Houston Astros dropped those spiffy orange-and-yellow uniforms. 

Here's what the average sports fan knows about the current NBA work
stoppage: 1) The layoff has prompted David Stern to grow a beard that makes
him look like he should be living in a cardboard box under a bridge, and 2)
Life without the NBA would be like a newspaper without comics. It would be
unfortunate, sure, but you probably would get over it. 
We have heard it said many times that McGwire and Sosa have almost repaired
the damage done to baseball by the '94 strike. In other words, it took four
years and two of the greatest individual performances ever, and the
national pastime has ALMOST been forgiven for walking out. 

For the NBA, it could take longer because so far the fans don't seem at all
angry at the prospect of a long and nasty lockout. Much worse: They just
don't care. 

Sports Illustrated senior writer Gerry Callahan appears regularly on
CNN/Sports Illustrated.