I have a new definition for an NBA game: A bunch of millionaires that play for one millionaire trying to beat another bunch of millionaires playing for another millionaire that people who are far from being millionaires pay hard-earned money to watch.This afternoon the 2011-2012 NBA season was dealt what could be the death blow as the players rejected the league’s latest offer and have begun to disband the NBA Players Union. Of course, NBA Commish David Stern immediately began pontificating that the league owners are not scared by this and that the NBA season may be lost. “It’s just a big charade. To do it now, the union is ratcheting up I guess to see if they can scare the NBA owners or something. That’s not happening.” Stern said on ESPN this afternoon.
Really??? A big charade???
There are now families out there wondering how they are going to afford to have Thanksgiving with their families, let alone Christmas. Families who will now swell the ranks of the unemployed as this strike continues. Quite a few losers because of this strike.
The owners? The players? These greed-driven elitists are not the losers here. It’s the vendors, the ticket window workers, and the people who clean up the arenas after games for these greedy egotistical mongers. The ushers, the front office workers taking care of team business, the assistants and trainers…these are the ones are the losers.
A losing season means money out of pocket? Not yours, Commish Stern…not yours, NBA union boss Billy Hunter…not yours Mark Cuban…not yours Kobe or LeBron. It comes out of the pockets of those who need it the most. Those who haven’t hade multi-year multi-million dollar contracts to fall back on. Those who don’t make hundreds of millions from years of ticket sales and team merchandise.
One keeps hearing about the disparity of the economic classes in this country. Occupy protests, the vanishing middle class, rising unemployment ranks, soaring debt rates, growing numbers of personal bankruptcies, swelling numbers of people on food assistance, more and more families losing their homes to foreclosure. Well, I can’t find a bigger disparity than these clowns with the NBA elite and the workers that keep things running for them and the fan base that spend hard-earned dollars to support the NBA elite’s lifestyle tastes.
Over the past few months I followed a high school football team that showed a more professional attitude and work ethic than professional athletes. They worked hard and had a great season and got all the way to the semifinals for the state championship. Yet I can bet you that the returning sophomores and juniors next year won’t be holding out for more “perks” from the school. And I can bet that the school won’t raise ticket prices because they have to cover these “perks”. And I can bet that the coaching staff will not try to renegotiate their contracts.
Please, NBA…just cancel the season and go away. Many of us are just done with you and your greedy dispute.
