new bulpett nba notes

[bird <birdwl@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

You can find the article at:

http://www.bostonherald.com/sport/celtics/nbants09012002.htm

Dick Pond tries valiantly to explain the reason why Rodney Rogers was lost.
  Maybe it's convincing for some people, but every time I hear him talk 
about "profits" and "fiscal sanity" and the like I only notice that he's 
not talking about basketball.  He's talking about business.  He's not 
talking about making the team better, he's talking about making the team 
profitable.  That just doesn't work for me.  I don't even want to know who 
the CFO of my favorite basketball team is, I want him to be invisible, 
behind-the-scenes, and *silent*.  Instead, the CFO is giving me reasons 
why last year's third option and 12 and 6 guy was let go to the main 
conference rival.  When a man as rich as Paul Gaston is having his 
flunkies tell me "it's too expensive" I just can't buy it.  "Fiscal sanity"
, indeed.  Think the Lakers are worried?  No.  They don't care if they're 
"fiscally insane" as long as they are winning championships.

I think that, eventually, we'll have to stop rooting for the players on 
the team and just root for more money to pad Paul Gaston's bank account.  
The gate, the revenue, the hot dog and beer sales -- that's what will 
matter.  Other teams will win championships, but the Boston Celtics will 
be profitable.  And that's what it's all about, isn't it?

(Looks like the Herald's copy editor suffers from the "+d" malady vis a 
vis Rogers' name, too.  I tell you, once it starts, it spreads like a 
virus.)

You've got to love this line from Pond:

``In the long run, what we're looking for is some measure of fiscal sanity,
 and I think that's what the fans want to see, too. It requires teams to 
keep their financial house in order. But for now it's going to be 
difficult as teams get their payrolls in line."

Sure, Dick.  Thanks for setting us all straight.  Sometimes, you lose 
sight of the really important things (you know, like profitability) and 
get caught up in silly things like winning games.  Thank god the CFO is 
there to put things back in perspective.

 Instead of bringing your "Pierce" or "Walker" or "Baker" placards and 
signs to the game, support the owner and bring your "Profits" and "Fiscal 
Sanity" signs.  That's what the game is all about.

Bird