The NBA Lockout Looms

When July 1^st hits it is looking more and more likely that the NBA owners will end up locking out the players. I wrote something last week about how I think it will end up getting worked up but this is about what is actually happening right now, not what I'm thinking and hoping will happen three or four months down the line. And what is happening right now is the owners are attempting to scare the players into giving in before the deadline by threatening to push for a $45 million hard cap and to eliminate guaranteed contracts. While I don't see either of those things happening, if the NBA is really going to be narrow-minded enough to not give in on those points, we are looking at a lost season.

Do I think that we are going to be without basketball? Before I read about that I would've bet my house on not missing any games in this next season. Now I'd still probably bet a paycheck or two on that fact, I'm not nearly as sure as I was just 2 hours ago. The league had a strike shortened season less then 15 years ago so it isn't out of the realm of possibility that come Halloween the only NBA players we'll be seeing will be knocking on our doors hoping for candy and not pencils and apples. And before anyone goes and compares this lockout to the current NFL one going on, let me point out the biggest difference. The NFL is making money, the NBA is losing it.

What that means to me is when the NFL gets to the point of losing games, more then likely they will suck it up and get something done so that the money making machine of professional football doesn't risk getting off the tracks. To hell with the rookies who are basically getting a wasted season because they can't meet with coaches and learn the NFL system and thus are stuck waiting until next off-season before they can really get the one-on-one work that they need as young players, they need to figure out how to split $9 billion.

The NBA though needs to figure out a way to protect their owners from themselves and in the grand scheme of things, that is more important to them then this season. It would be a tragedy for them certainly with the NBA on the heels of it's best season in a decade and with more stars then you can shake a stick at, but sometimes tragedy is necessary. But at least I get this lockout. It isn't two groups grabbing for as much cash as they can get their hands on, it's one group with a serious problem and both groups wanting to find a solution to keep things going along without a bump in the road.

I really do believe that it is going to come down to some form of revenue sharing. The players have said they are willing to come down from their 57% of profits that they get, but you can't expect them to keep taking pay cuts and losing other benefits like guaranteed contracts and a soft cap without looking at the big market owners like the Lakers and Knicks and asking them to chip in to help out at the same time. But it's looking more and more likely that instead of watching Chris Paul throw alley-oops we're going to see Sportscenter lockout highlights of guys in suits. And if that is still happening when it starts to cut into the actual season, it will be a damn shame.

Thank You For The Wonderful Start

I just wanted to take a minute to say thanks to everyone that's coming and visiting this place whenever I post something new. This started off a week and a half ago getting about 10 views an article and it's already ballooned up quite a bit. The piece about Derrick Rose as an example has 21 views this week and about 25 at my affiliate, Sports Jabber. CM Punk has brought me 22 people here already from last night. It's really cool to see that people like what I'm writing enough to keep coming back and looking at it.

If anyone else has any advice or criticisms feel free to let me know, I've got tough enough skin to handle it and I'm always hoping to improve. Or if you've got anything you want me to write about, feel free to tell me on here or on either Facebook or Twitter. And if you like my work, pass it along using the buttons on the bottom of the pages.

Also, if anyone else reading has any blogs or websites or know of anyone who would want to be affiliated, just let me know. I've got a spot on the bottom of teh blog for them and I'd also be shouting out to them like I did Sports Jabber earlier in this post. Oh, and if anyone wants to write anything for this or even do a story/debate together to go on here, just let me know. Again, thanks for coming here and seeing what I'm doing, I wouldn't be writing this stuff if no one enjoyed reading it.

Hurry Back CM Punk

When you're watching basketball, football, or wrestling, you watch for those “wow” moments. They don't happen often but when they do, you know it when it's happening. And last night on Raw whenever CM Punk sat up on the stage and proceeded to run down the entire WWE company, I got goosebumps. I know that it wasn't a “real” shoot and everyone out there upset about that fact shouldn't bother watching wrestling in the first place. This is a soap opera that walks the thin line between real and fake and a lot of that is the problem that wrestling has in general these days, but that's a story for another day all together. CM Punk right now is the best in the world at walking that line. Even though you know it's scripted (I don't see them letting him go on for 6 minutes without doing something if it isn't planned that he's at least going to semi-shoot) CM Punk has played his character so well that in a setting where we don't believe, he makes us.

That's why if he ends up leaving it'll be one of the worst things to happen to wrestling in a long time. For those that don't watch, CM Punk's contract is up (rather conveniently) on July 17^th, the same day CM Punk challenges John Cena for the WWE Championship in Punk's hometown of Chicago. Punk's running with the storyline of whenever he wins the title he's done with the WWE and he's taking their biggest title with him. It won't happen obviously, but even the idea of it makes for an intriguing event coming up. But with CM Punk taking some time off, I'm not sure who is going to take his place as the guy carrying Monday Night Raw.

Not since Chris Jericho leaving has a talent quite like CM Punk just decided to hang it up for at least a little while. But while we had see Chris Jericho in his prime throughout WCW and the WWE, CM Punk is still in his prime. He's only 32 years old and while in a lot of sports that would be late in a career, it isn't uncommon for a wrestler to keep going past 40 and in some cases, even further then that. I'm sure he isn't going to be gone for long and I'm sure that when he does return it'll be as big of a deal as deserves, but I can't help but just feel deflated knowing that the best thing going right now is hanging up the boots. Who else in the WWE right now is capable of the goosebump moment? No one else popped into my head and that's the saddest part of all. There's no off-season and everyone deserves a break and I hope CM Punk enjoys his. He has more then earned it. But I just hope he hurries back.

Why Derrick Rose Is Staying In Chicago

Now that the reigning NBA MVP resides in Chicago instead of Cleveland the Bulls fans have been hearing at the water coolers and on the message boards about how he'll be the next hometown MVP to be leaving for greener pastures. The thought process is that the Bulls have committed so much money to Boozer/Noah/Deng that Rose will eventually want to go and play with other superstars like the Miami Trio or Carmelo/Amare/Star to Be Named Later. But Derrick Rose isn't LeBron James and even though there are some valid concerns, hopefully this will ease a mind or two on the future of the Bulls.

Unlike LeBron, I really believe that Rose has that old school superstar mentality of being the star and going to war with your own guys instead of teaming up with other stars. With Dirk and the Mavericks beating the Heat and winning the NBA title, it shows that the way of one superstar surrounded by players who can compliment that star is still a formula that can win a title. While I'm sure that the Heat will eventually win at least one title and if the Knicks add Chris Paul or Deron Williams they will probably win at least one in the next 10 years too, I fully expect the Thunder and the Bulls to both at least win a title also. Taking that and adding it to the fact it's going to be much harder to get three superstars on one team (most likely) and the point that Rose will have to find himself on a team with other transcendent players isn't valid.

Another difference in the situations is that Derrick Rose has never been shy about the fact that he is from Chicago and that is his hometown. LeBron James has always called Akron home and whenever he left for Miami he was quoted as saying that Cleveland wasn't his hometown, Akron is where he is from. I'm not faulting LeBron for that so much that I'm pointing out that Rose is from Chicago, not a nearby area. This is his team in his city and he won't ever be telling the fans that he's from Gary, Indiana.

He's also humble. Once again, while LeBron will have a bad game and tell people that we take his talent for granted Rose has repeatedly tried to take the blame for losses and pass on the credit for wins. Personally, I think the difference between the two come from the fact that LeBron was an only child and Derrick had three older brothers that looked after him. He's credited his brothers with keeping him off the streets and focused on basketball and just playing a huge role in how he turned out as an adult and I would suspect that his humbleness is rooted down in there.

Really, it comes down to the fact that Derrick Rose and LeBron James are two different people. I'm not bashing LeBron James or even his decision to take his talents to South Beach? Did I like it? Of course not. And I'm also of the opinion that if this Bulls squad won a title the way it was designed it would mean more to Rose's legacy then if LeBron wins two titles down there. But LeBron is going to be happy down there. As for Rose, I think where he is going to be happy is in his hometown. At least I really, really hope so.

Fixing the NBA Lockout Problem

With the NBA draft tonight, I couldn't help but think about how this is the night that the fans of the bottom dwelling teams get a glimmer of hope. I'm a Chicago Bulls fan and while I know we've had a lot of success, we as Bulls fans from 1999 on have been living in the lottery for the most part. Granted, I'm not a fan of the Clippers or Timberwolves so I'm not quite as experienced as other fans, but I know what it's like to have this be the best night of your NBA season. What I'm really worried about though is that this might be the only memory of the new basketball season here in 2011.

But no one needs to worry because I've decided to figure out just how the new CBA is going to look. Right now, the biggest problem that the owners have is that they are losing money because they simply can't help themselves from giving out big contracts. So to save them from themselves, contract length is going to shrink to 4 or even 3 years most likely. Also, there will probably be another amnesty cut to help teams get things going again. The reason for an amnesty cut? A more strict soft cap and a hard cap are also highly likely scenarios.

Something that I think also needs to come into play is some form of revenue sharing. Both the NFL and the MLB want to see it happen and with the players reportedly willing to go from getting 57% of the revenue to around 53%, the owners are going to be looking at bigger profits so the idea of finding some money to spread to the small market teams losing cash isn't far fetched. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the players association tell the owners that if they are going to be making all these concessions for the owners because so many teams are losing money that the owners have to include at least some form of revenue sharing.

As I list my likely CBA bullet points, I fully expect the league to not punish teams for being over the hard cap for the first 5 years. But if you are over the hard cap in those first 5 years, you can only offer the minimum to players and get your draft picks. Adding salary isn't an option.

My Version of the Next CBA

1. Soft cap of $55 million, a drop of $3 million
2. Hard cap of $70 million
3. One time amnesty cut
4. Contract length max is a 3 year deal with a team option for a 4^th year
5. Players resigning with the team with their rights can get a 15% increase in salary year-to-year while other teams can only go to 10%
6. Only exception for a team over the soft cap is for 4 million a year
7. Players guaranteed to get 53% of the revenue

With that set-up, teams would have to cut down salaries quite a bit to stay under the $70 million hard cap. Last season there were 9 teams over the $70 million in salary, though 3 of those teams were less then a million over that mark. It would also keep teams from committing so much money to players that aren't worth nearly that much money. If you add up the money that Rashard Lewis, Michael Redd, Andrei Kirilenko, Gilbert Arenas, Vince Carter, Kenyon Martin, Elton Brand, and Predrag Stojakovic made it's $139 million. Those are all contracts that surely wouldn't have made it as long as they will under the current CBA and would save the owners nearly half of the $300 they say that was lost this season.

I don't think that salaries will be rolled back, hence the grace period of 5 years for teams currently way over those limits. I also think that guaranteed contracts are going to stay as part of the reason that the players association accepts the shorter contracts. And while I'm sure there are problems with my ideas and flaws in how I have it set-up, but in terms of a starting point, I think this would be a fair way to settle the owners worry of rising debt and keeping the players happy with the amount of money being spent on the talent on the court. Hopefully the two sides can come together and figure out a way to not jeopardize next season. But if a lockout does happen, I just hope David Stern brings back his sweet lockout beard pictured above. Talk about a win-win.

Where Is The NFL At Again?

Now that summer has officially started, I find myself for the first time actually noticing that football isn't gearing up to get started. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of the NFL but apparently not as big of one as I thought. Honestly, I can say I'm shocked they haven't managed to figure out a way to make $9 billion dollars go around yet as the toll the lockout is taking on the fans just keeps growing. I never knew making buckets and buckets of money was such a burden but you know what they say, mo' money mo' problems.

Maybe it's because rather then sitting through SportsCenter and catching the latest updates on the lockout while waiting on highlights I can just hop online and see what happened in MLB and NBA, but I haven't even really heard much on the lockout until the last few days. They say that the owners have agreed to offer a deal that gives the players 48% without taking any off the top, no 18 game schedule, rookie scale, and a lot more money for the retired players. The fact they are finally making some progress is great news, but it'll be even greater when they come to an agreement with the players union or whatever they're calling it these days.

Normally this time of the year I'm still researching just who the Bears drafted this year and watching highlights of their college careers while checking out any first round picks from all the teams if I'm not familiar with them. About this time last year I was watching Major Wright, Corey Wooten, and J'Marcus Webb film hoping that the Bears had found a diamond in the rough since the Bears 1^st and 2^nd round picks had been traded to other teams.

Instead, now I'm following the Cardinals more then I ever have in the dog days of the baseball season even though Albert Pujols just managed to fracture his forearm and paying attention to whether or not the NBA is getting ready to start a lockout of their own. I'm really hoping that once the NFL starts back up (whenever it is) that I fall right back into my own normal NFL routine. I'm not one of these fans who is going to “boycott” because of the lockout and just not watch, I want my football back. I'm just not sure why I don't want it back more.

Remembering The Bias Brothers

As a father I wanted to write something special for this Father's Day. At the same time, I had kept reading about how today was the 25^th anniversary of Len Bias' death. While I'm not old enough to remember watching the forward from Maryland fly through the air I have watched enough highlight clips like this one to know he was a special player. It wasn't until not to long ago however that I truly understood just how talented this young man was and the the tragedy that happened not only robbed the ones around him of watching him mature in an adult, it robbed us as basketball fans a chance to watch him turn into true greatness.

This was the guy who was going to go to Boston and allow Bird and McHale to take nights off in the regular season and extend both of their careers for a few years. Bias was also the obvious guy who very easily could've positioned himself as Micheal Jordan's rival. When you look back at Jordan's career, was there any player that you would call his rival? Wilt and Russell, Bird and Magic, Hakeem and Robinson. Those were rivalries. Jordan went up against the Pistons, the Pacers, the Knicks and the Jazz, but there was never that one guy who challenged his greatness. And maybe Bias wouldn't have either, but he had as good of a chance as any.

So I'm doing my research on Len Bias when I find out that not only did he die tragically of a cocaine overdose, he had a younger brother who not only was a talented basketball prospect but also saw his life end to soon. Jay Bias, named after his father James Bias, was riding in a car just four and a half years later when he was shot in back twice just blocks from Maryland University. He was pronounced dead at the same hospital as his older brother and just like that, James and Lonise Bias had lost two sons, one only 22 and the other only 20.

According to Wikipedia they decided to take up vocal roles in the fight against drugs and trying to strengthen gun control and while I'm glad they are trying to turn their tragedies in something positive, I can't help but feel my heart break for them. We've all heard about the tragedy of Len Bias and while some of you probably remember hearing about his younger brother, I'm sure I'm not the only one to just be finding this out either.

A parents worst fear is losing their child and I can't imagine the pain that would cause. So like most fathers on Father's Day I'm going to hug my little girl, go to a cookout and see my dad and the rest of the family that lives around here, and then probably lay around the house and for once make my wife watch something I want instead of the other way around. But I'm also going to remember how lucky I have it. My dad is still around and even more important, my little girl is here, healthy and (usually) happy. I hope to spend the next 50 Father's Days with her but that isn't guaranteed and I don't plan on taking it for granted.