When I was about nine years old I came home on a Saturday afternoon and turned on the TV. It took about two minutes to warm up and I flipped the channels with the channel selector knob. I had only three channels to choose from and all three were black and white. On channel seven I saw a bunch of guys in gym shorts playing basketball. Little did I know that I was watching the world famous Boston Celtics at the equally famous “Gahdin.”
I am not sure that the individual that plays the game today can equal the character of the people that played the game then. Jerry West for the Lakers, Irving for the 76ers, Frank Selby, Richie Guerin for the New York (hated) Knicks. These were players of character. They didn’t jump as high as the players of today. They didn't jump teams - they were loyal to the fans, the team and the city. They did pass better. They won without the three point shot, and they had to make the first free throw to get to the second.
The players I see today are not of great character. I am generalizing, but the few that set the stage for the rest are still NBA Players. Now what do they want? More. Just like Oliver, “More, please.” More of what? More diamond earrings, more gold chains, more groupies, more entitlements to bad behavior? Just more because they feel entitled by their size and sometimes, questionable skills that size hides their inadequacies.
There is a lock out. The owners have said enough is enough. More than 20 teams are losing money and the payers are insisting on a greater percentage than they had so the teams that are losing money could lose more. These are the “businesses” that employ the players and the employees that are making many millions of dollars are unhappy – they want more. They want to put their hands deeper into the pockets of the owners.
Imagine working for Sears and saying you won’t come to work because you want more. Or imagine Sears saying to the employees if you insist on more I am going to lock the doors. It is nuts. Until they hit the NBA most people didn’t know of any of the players unless they played in their hometown or home state college. Now they are stars and want to be paid accordingly. Accordingly to what? But what if they had no place to play – are they still “stars?” There are just so many players that are drafted from such a large pool are the stars still yet to be found?
I bet I could draft an NBA team from the courts at Venice Beach. But here is what will happen.
They will play well, draw TV audiences and stadium crowds, negotiate with the owners then they, too will be overpaid and they too will want more. Now whose fault is that? The owners. Because they paid!
They wanted the player to play for him/her and they said grab that wheel barrel of money and play on my court. So, the owners are responsible for their mess. Now they want to limit their expenses by capping the player’s share of income to a paltry 50%.
Have you bought a ticket to an NBA game lately? I am not so sure that the cost of buying those tickets didn’t cause the mortgage crisis. How much can you charge to watch guys in their underwear play for 48 minutes? And these are not nice guys (again, generalizing). These guys have histories of rape, wife beating, shooting people, carrying guns into a locker room, bedding more than 20,000 women who are not wives and so much more.
These guys are mostly inarticulate. They can’t string words together except to say, “more.” They make more money touting deodorants, sneakers and other overpriced stuff because the owners gave them a jersey and a number. Why can’t the owners ask for a percentage of that income?
This is a balanced problem – the owners pay more so the players think they owners can pay more. The players are insisting at looking at the books and the owners should have the same right to examine the benefits the player receives by wearing the owner’s jersey. They can each dip their respective hands into 52.5% of the gross – players and team.
It nothing more than greed. On both sides! But the owners have the key to the store. They made the investments, bought the jerseys with the numbers on them. Got the arenas built, negotiated the TV agreements that helped the “stars” become stars. The players invest in themselves – most of them received scholarships and other non-NCAA benefits to play at the college level so the pros could see them. Their investment seems minimal. They even got rewarded for becoming better at the “amateur” level. That made them worth “more.’
Take the 50%! How many more millions do the players need? Do the players intend to make up the lost income of the stadium employees – who make a few bucks short of a million. Does either side care? These are also casualties of this idiocy.
So, we won’t have NBA Basketball for a few weeks or maybe even months. I will live. Some fanatics will have hard time, but there is always college hoops, NFL and NCAA Football to keep us occupied. Many have said that college basketball is a better game. Can’t wait till March Madness. The October madness is happening now in a mid-town Manhattan hotel.
And where is the fan in all this?
That is my take on it – you decide.
I became hooked on basketball. These were my new heroes: Sharman, Cousy, McCauley and later K.C. Jones, Sam Jones and Bill Russell. These were great guys that played for the Celtics, the team and the Celtics were great! They were also good people!
The players I see today are not of great character. I am generalizing, but the few that set the stage for the rest are still NBA Players. Now what do they want? More. Just like Oliver, “More, please.” More of what? More diamond earrings, more gold chains, more groupies, more entitlements to bad behavior? Just more because they feel entitled by their size and sometimes, questionable skills that size hides their inadequacies.
There is a lock out. The owners have said enough is enough. More than 20 teams are losing money and the payers are insisting on a greater percentage than they had so the teams that are losing money could lose more. These are the “businesses” that employ the players and the employees that are making many millions of dollars are unhappy – they want more. They want to put their hands deeper into the pockets of the owners.
Imagine working for Sears and saying you won’t come to work because you want more. Or imagine Sears saying to the employees if you insist on more I am going to lock the doors. It is nuts. Until they hit the NBA most people didn’t know of any of the players unless they played in their hometown or home state college. Now they are stars and want to be paid accordingly. Accordingly to what? But what if they had no place to play – are they still “stars?” There are just so many players that are drafted from such a large pool are the stars still yet to be found?
I bet I could draft an NBA team from the courts at Venice Beach. But here is what will happen.
They will play well, draw TV audiences and stadium crowds, negotiate with the owners then they, too will be overpaid and they too will want more. Now whose fault is that? The owners. Because they paid!
They wanted the player to play for him/her and they said grab that wheel barrel of money and play on my court. So, the owners are responsible for their mess. Now they want to limit their expenses by capping the player’s share of income to a paltry 50%.
Have you bought a ticket to an NBA game lately? I am not so sure that the cost of buying those tickets didn’t cause the mortgage crisis. How much can you charge to watch guys in their underwear play for 48 minutes? And these are not nice guys (again, generalizing). These guys have histories of rape, wife beating, shooting people, carrying guns into a locker room, bedding more than 20,000 women who are not wives and so much more.
These guys are mostly inarticulate. They can’t string words together except to say, “more.” They make more money touting deodorants, sneakers and other overpriced stuff because the owners gave them a jersey and a number. Why can’t the owners ask for a percentage of that income?
This is a balanced problem – the owners pay more so the players think they owners can pay more. The players are insisting at looking at the books and the owners should have the same right to examine the benefits the player receives by wearing the owner’s jersey. They can each dip their respective hands into 52.5% of the gross – players and team.
It nothing more than greed. On both sides! But the owners have the key to the store. They made the investments, bought the jerseys with the numbers on them. Got the arenas built, negotiated the TV agreements that helped the “stars” become stars. The players invest in themselves – most of them received scholarships and other non-NCAA benefits to play at the college level so the pros could see them. Their investment seems minimal. They even got rewarded for becoming better at the “amateur” level. That made them worth “more.’
Take the 50%! How many more millions do the players need? Do the players intend to make up the lost income of the stadium employees – who make a few bucks short of a million. Does either side care? These are also casualties of this idiocy.
So, we won’t have NBA Basketball for a few weeks or maybe even months. I will live. Some fanatics will have hard time, but there is always college hoops, NFL and NCAA Football to keep us occupied. Many have said that college basketball is a better game. Can’t wait till March Madness. The October madness is happening now in a mid-town Manhattan hotel.
And where is the fan in all this?
That is my take on it – you decide.
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