LITTLE ROCK — NBA fans let down by owners
Miami Hearld columnist Dan LeBatard may have a show on ESPN2 calling himself highly questionable, but when it comes to the NBA’s labor negotiations, LeBatard said recently it’s the NBA owners’ tactics that are highly questionable.
“No matter how bully NBA Commissioner David Stern tries to manipulate the media spin, no matter how eager fans are to make sports one of the few American workplaces where the customers are pro-management instead of pro-employee, no matter how terrible a martyr a $100 million basketball player makes, this lockout is not a fight between greedy owners and greedy players,” LeBatard wrote.
“It is a fight between selfish owners and selfish owners.
“The players, all of them, want to play. The owners? Not so much. The players were fine with theway the system was but have already given back hundreds of millions of dollars in concessions, something baseball’s union would never, ever do, for the overall health of the league, negotiating in good faith.
“Think about all the ego and money in the room when those owners meet. Think about how accustomed these men with yachts are to getting their way in every walk of life. That kind ofwealth isn’t usually accrued by sharing and compromise; these men tend to be rich because cutthroat is what wins in business.
“Given that there are so many different interests in that room, and given that these owners aren’t really in it for the money, why would [Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan] Gilbert want to help [Miami Heat owner Micky] Arison with urgency, exactly? Even if he is not motivated by spite, what exactly is Gilbert’s impetus to settle quickly? You think he’s in a big hurry to go 19-63 again?
“Better for him to lose the season, break the union, fix the system and win that way than to fight the [Minnesota] Timberwolves for the worst record again.
“The players are an easy target but not an accurate one. They already have agreed, in essence, to a league-wide pay cut that gives back hundreds of millions of dollars - and they have done it because the owners have run their business improperly, basically giving back hundreds of millions in concessions to help the owners police themselves. And it hasn’t been enough.
“It really is breathtaking in its stupidity and makes you wonder how these people got rich in thefirst place doing business this way. We build these wealthy men arenas. We invest in their product in more ways than one. And what do we get in return now? These successful businessmen have somehow figured out a way to take the paying customer’s sport and team and fun - but not the paying customer’s money.”
Permission denied
Former Florida Marlins Manager Jack McKeon wasn’t surprised to hear that Josh Beckett was among the Boston Red Sox pitchers accused of holing up in the clubhouse during gameseating, drinking and playing video games.
McKeon told The Boston Globe he solved the same problem by locking the clubhouse door when Beckett was on the team and making players get permission to take bathroom breaks.
Wrote Dwight Perry of The Seattle Times: “In other words, one finger meant more than a fastball and two wasn’t just a curve.”Quote of the day
“They went out there and
fought as a group. They
didn’t go out there 10 at a
time and fight. They did the crime. They should do the time.” Grambling State Coach Doug Williams on spreading out Southwest Athletic Conference suspensions for UA-Pine Bluff and Southern University of Baton Rouge
Sports, Pages 24 on 10/26/2011