Is the NBA totally nuts? The league is threatening to have a protracted lockout because of a failure to come up with an agreement with its players.
As usual, I, as a fan, don't care who is in the right and who is in the wrong. I just don't care! I want to watch LeBron, Kobe, Amare, and MVP Derrick do their thing. I want to enjoy watching the elegance and mastery of the players in full flight.
I blame both sides. They look like fools. The NFL has been in the same bad PR boat, too, but I expect that those guys will be able to have a season without the taint of a disruption.
In the NBA, the sides are said to be billions of dollars apart. Think about that statement! BILLIONS of dollars!! The two sides potentially can reap so much money from a bunch of guys dribbling a large round ball and yet they have sunk to a level where they can be billions of dollars apart.
Both sides stink.
The NBA has so much going for it. There is a level of parity, in which the Dallas Mavericks can sneak in and surprise virtually everyone and win the title. Dallas supplied a wonderful feel-good story line and everyone seemed to enjoy it — except for the good folks of South Florida, mind you.
Can't the management and labor groups get together and recognize that they need the fans more than the fans need them? I'd love to watch the Heat play the Bulls again but my life doesn't depend on it. I can go to the movies or watch the NHL or — heaven help us — sit down and read a book!
What a novel idea: the fans telling the emperors of sports to take their labor strife and stick it. Let's stick together, sports fans, and show these greedy people that we are the boss.
Jon Friedman writes the Media Web column for MarketWatch.com. Click here to read his latest column.
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