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“font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>Where are the O’Jays when you need them? Everywhere I turn it’s now about the money, money, money.
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“font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>Albert and the Cardinals, the pending NFL lockout, the definite NBA lockout, the NHL job action when their deal is up – and that’s just the team sports. I won’t even go there on the individuals who will not perform because the money is not right. Did I mention the NCAA, where it is always about the money?
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“font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>So what am I to do? Complain about someone else getting paid with somebody else’s money.
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“font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>As long as there is TV money to seed these financial endeavors, there is no relief in sight. If you are a player and you see what the owners are raking in, you want your share. If you are an owner, you remind everyone you are taking the financial risk. There is high risk and high reward on both sides, and each is digging in more because – believe it or not – the money is drying up.
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“font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>The NFL owners built their palaces they call stadiums. One problem. There is a thing called high-def that a lot of fans elect to stay home and watch, hence the soaring TV ratings. Now they want the players to take a haircut to help pay for the stadiums.
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“font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>The owners have diverted many players’ attention with the notion of an 18-game schedule. Many of the uninformed have made an issue of it and think that is what this is all about. The owners now have a self-made bargaining chip to use for the bigger picture, and that would be salaries. Poor players, they never saw it coming and, for the ones who did, their words fell on deaf ears.
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“font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>NBA, NHL, NCAA
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“font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>In the NBA, there will be a run on plywood at the hardware store as there will be some operations that may shut down for good if there is not a change in the salary structure. Commissioner David Stern would like to reduce salaries by a third. The union chief will allow that to happen over his dead body. These two have history in a lockout mode, which means there will be few prisoners taken. But will save the game when they return this time?
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“font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>The NHL players have hired former baseball union leader Donald Fehr to lead their charge to just stay afloat. Fehr has no problem sinking a ship and building a new one all over again. The NHL and commissioner Gary Bettman will be in for a rude awakening if they think they can stick it to the players again.
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“font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>As for the NCAA, they have the nerve to hint that they have no money. One problem, who are they gonna lock out? They get the players for free, they make a small fortune off of TV revenue, and they charge through the nose for licensing agreements. If there was ever a group that should be hauled in front of Congress when they want to go into grandstand reelection mode, the NCAA would be at the top of the list.
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“font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>What is next? Get ready over the next year to look for other activities that will not include your favorite sport. The likelihood of a full uninterrupted season is something that I am not optimistic about, as we have reached a limit and someone will have to pay for the sins of the past. Unfortunately, it will be us, as the millionaires will continue to be paid by the billionaires, but only a little less.
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“font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>Prep sports on ESPN?
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“font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>Last weekend someone thought it was good idea to put high school basketball on ESPN. Why? To showcase two players who will go on to college in search of pro careers. The problem with today’s athletes in many cases is that they have allowed TV to program them, their game and certainly their attitude.
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“font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>Look at how high schoolers mimic the players at the next two levels. I am amused that everyone needs an elbow sleeve to play. When Allen Iverson unveiled the item, it was because he was hurt. Now it’s a fashion statement.
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“font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>And some of the attitudes that come with the youngsters. Some coaches have a harder time getting to a player than actually coaching plays.
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“font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>If you want to be on TV, do something first. I get the Brad Beal thing. He is a good player, one of the best in St. Louis in some time. While I think he could have been in the class of Hassan Houston, Percy Wells and other greats of yesteryear, I would rather see him and his team in person than on TV.
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“font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana; color: black;”>These are kids we have started to treat as if they are adults. Pass.
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