Unfortunately, for us sports fans, two of America’s major sports are in or seemingly about to be in a lockout. Now two buzzillion days into the NFL lock out it is hard to even remember the excitement and joy football brings to us. However, the NBA season has just finished, and boy did it go out with a bang! The Dallas Mavericks defeat the Miami Chockers (uhmm) I meant Heat in six games, and basketball lovers everywhere are basking in Lecoward’s defeat. Thus this raises the question, After one of the greatest and most profitable NBA seasons ever how could there be a lock out? The answer is simple my friends, the NBA actually lost money last season! To give you a better perspective, NBA owners lost about $300 million dollars during the course of the 2010-2011 season. This is obviously a trend that cannot occur often. Although my two favorite sports are among lockouts my perspective on the two are very different. When it comes to the NFL’s position I am pro player. Here are my three main reasons for this:
1. Football players, essentially, get injured for a living. I am not stating that football is a tougher or manlier sport than the others, but let’s be honest those guys can get seriously hurt every play. They earn the money they make and more importantly they are not over-paid.
2. In contrast to the NBA, the NFL has refused to show us their books and reveal the issues concerning revenue in which they claim to have. Football is the most popular sport in the country; do these owners truly expect me to believe they have money issues? (Which is the perfect segue to)
3. The NFL owners are simply greedy. Aside from hiding the books, owners’ old, white, wrinkly mugs have become a stable of the game (which is not a good thing). Much to my delight, the Cowboys were terrible this season yet I still saw Jerry Jones entirely too much. They are selfish, egotistical, prima donnas[i] that put themselves ahead their franchise’s and football’s future.
The NBA’s situation is completely different; I am pro- NBA owner for mainly these three reasons[ii].
1. Some NBA players make way too much money. Guys like Devin Harris, T.J. Ford, and Michael Redd are just a few of players who made millions of dollars and either played poorly, or didn’t play at all! Even some “franchise guys” like Joe Johnson, who just received a $120 million contract, didn’t have anything close to a MVP like season. Something has to be done so that occurrences such as these cannot happen.
2. Players, like LeChoke… I meant LeBron James, should not have as much power in free agency as they do. Being able to hold a team and a city of fans hostage should not be a privilege of any player.
3. There has to be a plan to make the playing field fair for small market teams. It’s not the Bobcats fault that they are in Charlotte instead of L.A.; thus they should not be punished for that by not being able to compete for top free agents.
When it comes the comparing the NFL and NBA lockout the similarities begin and end at the fact of a lockout, because they seem to be polar opposites. There is a lot that has to be settled in the next few weeks if a NBA lockout is to be eluded. All we can do as fans is hope that NBA players are not as greedy as NFL owners[iii]. And the NBA nips these issues at the bub so that they will never resurface again.
[i] I know those words mean the same thing, but I am trying to make a point here!!!
[ii] The reason that didn’t make the list was the fact that I plainly dislike NBA players today. Most share the self-centered characteristic that the NFL owners have.
[iii] Just to give you an idea on the player’s stance: Derek Fisher, the Head of the NBA Players Association, decided to miss the first meeting and go on vacation. Yet another reason to hate a Laker.
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