B.A.F.F.L.E.D. Sports
We Wish You a Merry NBA Season...Or Maybe Not
I am not usually known for writing about sports stuff here, as V usually prefers to air my views on beer or the environment, but little known fact: I actually like other things besides environmental issues and shaming you all into being more responsible and sustainable. Some of those things include major organized sports, saving baseball (boring on TV) and hockey (I don't really get it, sorry). Many of you probably know that the 2011-2012 NBA season was in danger of not happening due to a large scale dispute between the players and owners. Now, I am no fancy big city lawyer (although V is) and I have only a modicum of understanding of what the specifics were that led to there almost being no NBA this year, or how a deal was reached, so I will not try to explain that (better people have done so for me).
So now that we have this sleeker, likely sloppier season looming, what do we have to look forward to? Those of you who have been keeping up with things probably know that there looked to be some exciting trades happening, including a possible Chris Paul to the Lakers trade that would have paired two of the most exciting NBA superstars together. You probably also know that it didn't happen. However I feel about Kobe Bean Bryant, the Lakers, or Chris Paul is irrelevant. As a basketball fan, I felt that it would have been great to see those two play off of each other and maybe help people forget the shitshow that was the NBA lockout and realize that yes, professional basketball is indeed where "amazing happens". But with this, it basically brings back some of the ugliness of the lockout; that of the owners' (who collectively own the Hornets, by the way) issues with control dynamics, the whole small market vs. big market disputes, and that it looks like David Stern is doing a poor job managing things (more on this after the jump).
Far be it from me to outright call for Stern's ouster, as he has done a great job turning the NBA into a global phenomenon, buuut...he has been making a lot of blunders in the past few years, from the whole "dress code " issue (which is leading to a lot of this) to his latest faux pas, actually having the cojones to raise the price of this year's NBA league pass (if you think about it....last year the pass was $179 for 82 games; this year it is $169 for 66 games. I guess you can use that $10 to drown your sorrows in either a decent 6-pack or two 6-packs of Old Style). I think that the NBA could do with a bit of damage control, and Stern retiring could cover up a bit of the black eye the NBA is showing.
Then we have the issues of the owners acting like major control freaks, fretting about how much money they are claiming to not make, or well...this. And to be fair, MJ is a huge jerk as well, not only as an NBA owner, but also in general, so I don't feel bad showing you those photos.
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| BONUS PHOTO! |
Or that one either...my present to you.
Alright kids, that is it from me today. Look for my post Tuesday where I list some of the things I am looking forward to this NBA Season. Anyways, I have plenty of recycling and whatnot to get to. Have a green holiday, enjoy some sports, and have a Merry NBA season!