Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

I have thought long and hard about what I want for Christmas this year. I’ve been pretty good and I hope you take that into account when you look at my list.

First – please make the lockouts stop! First the NFL over the summer, then the NBA this fall... I can’t take the stress!

The NFL locked players out, postponed training camp and cancelled a couple preseason games … but they were smart enough to end the lockout before any regular season games were cancelled. The NBA, on the other hand, cancelled about a month of games and turned off a lot of fans in the process.

The worst part of the lockouts is that of course both sides waited until the very last minute to negotiate, when both leagues knew they were coming for years. Because of that, the looming lockouts put a dark cloud over the previous seasons. And I’m sorry but millionaires fighting billionaires? The world has a lot bigger problems to worry about.

Santa, I hope athletes, players and commissioners in the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL have learned their lesson from these two lockouts and work to prevent them from happening rather than waiting to negotiate until the final hour. But I am not naïve and realize that they probably haven’t learned a thing.

My second wish is for safety changes in IndyCar.

Twelve laps into the IndyCar season finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a horrific crash unfolded that enveloped 15 cars, killing Dan Wheldon, winner of the 2011 Indianapolis 500. His car launched into the air, then slammed against the catch fence – cockpit first. He was 33.

The sadness of this accident is undeniable, the young husband and father of two loses his life after finally getting to the top of his profession. The sad part of the accident is that no one was shocked that it happened.

One journalist covering the race wrote: “Conditions in the race were such that everybody kind of expected that there was going to be at least one or two really big crashes."

During practice runs, drivers expressed concern about the track, where cars could reach speeds of 225 m.p.h. One driver, Oriol Servia, said: "We all had a bad feeling about this place, in particular just because of the high banking and how easy it was to go flat [to the floor with the accelerator].”

Ironically, Wheldon was racing for team owner Sam Schmidt, a former Indy driver whose career was cut short in a horrific crash that left him a quadriplegic.

Santa, please talk to IndyCar officials and make them take a look at these tragedies and do everything in their power to ensure that it doesn’t happen again, that no other children lose their father, no wife loses her husband. Remind them that safety of the drivers should come above all else – speed is exciting, but not worth the loss of life.

My final wish is for college football to chill out with the conference changes. So many schools changed allegiance this year, I don’t know who is now where or what the conferences are called – Pac-10 or Pac-12? Shouldn’t the Big 10 and Big 12 swap names?

Missouri and Texas A&M moved to the SEC; Texas Christian to the Big East – wait no, make that the Big 12; Pittsburgh and Syracuse left the Big East for the ACC;  Boise State and San Diego State join the Big East (yes, you heard that right, the Big “East”) … it’s all enough to make my head spin. Now the Big 12 will have 10 schools; the Big 10 will have 12 schools; and with Houston, Southern Methodist, San Diego State and Boise State joining the conference, less than half of the football teams in the Big East will be East Coast schools.

I hope I got all of the changes right… but if not, you’ll have to excuse me – it’s too confusing to keep straight.  Santa, please talk to all of the university deans and conference commissioners and politely ask them to chill out – we fans can’t keep up!

Well Santa, that’s all I have. Oh, and of course heath, wealth and happiness for myself, my family and my friends.

Merry Christmas!

Jen H., Savannah, GA

Welcome back NBA

*disclaimer: also posted late - wrote Monday, Nov. 28

So the NBA is back - tentatively. NBA owners and players reached a “tentative” agreement early Saturday morning to end the 149-day lockout and plan to begin the season on Christmas Day.

If the agreement passes as expected (which it looks to at the time this article was printed), the league plans a 66-game season and aims to open training camps Dec. 9.

Though the agreement was tentatively (there’s that word again) reached Saturday, the players still have to vote on it – and there are a few issues with that. The vote only has to pass by a simple majority, but the problem is that the players disbanded their union in frustration two weeks ago and have to reestablish it before they can cast a legal vote.

One of the major concessions in the newest agreement is that players will receive a 51.2-percent share of the Basketball Related Income in the 2011-2012 season, down from the 57-percent the received in the last bargaining agreement. However, the players did get some of their demands, as is customary in a bargaining situation.

However, the players did get some of their demands, as is customary in a bargaining situation. In one of their (few) major wins, the owners wanted an unlimited escrow system, but the players were able to keep the system at just 10 percent of their salary. They also got no reductions in rookie contracts of minimum salaries; no reductions in maximum contract lengths or maximum salary increased – in fact, young superstars can take even more to the bank – a player finishing his rookie scale contract will be eligible to receive a maximum salary equal to 30 percent of the salary cap (up from 25 percent) if he signs with his same team and is either a two-time selection to the All-NBA first, second or third team; twice an All-Star starter or a one-time MVP.

But make no mistake – the owners got most of what they wanted, as they help the players over the proverbial barrel and shot for the stars – many “in the know” are saying the owners got 80 percent of what they were looking for in the deal. Understandably, there are rumblings from some players that the NBA Players Association executive director rolled over a little too easy. Despite that, the vote is likely to pass easily once the union is reformed, as most players are eager to start playing (and getting paid) again.

The NBA owners may have won big in this deal, but don’t feel too bad for the players – they’ll still remain the highest paid professional athletes.

In the first game of the (tentative) 2011-2012 season, the Boston Celtics will head to New York to take on the Knicks, a guaranteed ratings winner; followed by a rematch of last year’s Finals, as the Miami Heat head to Dallas to try to avenge their loss. And just in case those two games weren’t enough to entice you, MVP Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls head to LA to take on Kobe and the Lakers in the Christmas Day finale – now that’s what I call a comeback.

With the current tentative schedule, teams will play 48 conference games, and 18 outside; they will play about two more games per month than last season, but no team will play on three straight nights more than three times. Game 7 of the NBA Championship would be played (if necessary) on June 26, which is two weeks later than last season.

Nothing sums it up for NBA fans than how Dwyane Wade did Sunday night, “Finally.”

NBA should be wary of lockout consequences

On Monday, the NBA cancelled the first two weeks of the NBA season. Color me shocked – I thought they would cancel a lot more games after two days of negotiations failed to bridge the “significant” gap between the players and owners.

Is everyone as sick of these league lockouts as I am? Are we really going to have to go through this every few years in every league? This year alone started with the potential NFL lockout, now the NBA… and this one isn’t going away any time soon - and I do expect more cancellations.

Why am I being so pessimistic? Because right now the two sides won’t budge, and a gap can’t be bridged if neither side will compromise. In fact, the only way to come to an agreement is if both sides accept now, rather than later, that they will each have to make some compromises – that’s how negotiations work.

What should terrify owners is the hole they will have to dig out of with this lockout, especially is the entire season is cancelled. Last season was the best in the history of the NBA in terms of revenues and TV ratings and with the economy the way it is, a prolonged lockout will have dire consequences. It took some time for the NBA to recover from the 1998 lockout, and that was when the economy was in a much better place. This time around, it will likely take a lot longer for the league to recuperate.

As it stands, the league – players and owners alike – is showing it doesn’t really care about the fans. The owners want us to believe that if they get what they want, it will improve the balance of the league – as if the “have” owners care about the “have nots.” Do you think Los Angeles Lakers care that the Charlotte Bobcats can’t compete with them? Come on, I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck.

The NBA could learn something from the NFL – and I know they are sick of hearing that. For starters, the NFL had it right when they came to a deal before any games were cancelled. Secondly – and probably more importantly in the long run – the NFL achieves parity with their salary cap. The players and owners all make their money – and a lot of it – yet small markets teams manage to succeed. Look the Green Bay Packers, last year’s Super Bowl Champions – they are the smallest market professional team in the U.S.

Some NBA teams report that they are not turning a profit. NFL teams make money, and the league doesn’t have guaranteed contracts. Do you think that’s just a coincidence? The excessive guaranteed contracts that NBA owners give players – make no mistake, the owners are largely at fault for these – are killing the league. Teams stuck with gigantic contracts for players who are barely on the court can’t rebuild, and the cycle is never ending.

Should fans side with the NBA players who believe they deserve millions to play a game, or the owners who have enough money to pay them? It’s hard to decide –millionaires (players) or billionaires (owners)? I’m taking the easy way out: I’m on the side of the fan who spends an inordinate amount of hard-earned money and time to be entertained, and who doesn’t need to be reminded that what these millionaires “deserve.”

The NFL is the most popular league in America; the NBA wants to be, but if they continue to cancel games and ignore the fans, they’ll never recover from this lockout.

That being said, a lockout-shortened season can only help my aging Celtics, so this could be a good thing for Boston fans – always looking for the silver lining!

Can Plax come back?

On Monday, Plaxico Burress was released from prison. 

After serving nearly two years on a gun charge at Oneida Correctional Facility in central New York, the former New York Giants wide receiver enters the world a free man, but without a job.

In a game I’d rather forget as a native New Englander, Burress caught a 13-yard pass from Eli Manning with 35 seconds to play to give the Giants a shocking 17-14 win over the undefeated  Patriots in the 2008 Super Bowl. Just nine months later, Burress’ world crumbled. He and then-teammate Antonio Pierce went to a nightclub in New York City, but before he left home, Burress tucked a handgun tucked into his waistband. While at the club, the weapon slipped from his waistband and as he attempted to catch it, it went off and shot him in the thigh. 

So not only did Burress shoot himself in the thigh, he was charged with criminal possession of a weapon, to which he plead guilty and accepted the two-year prison sentence. He was released three months early for good behavior.

I have many opinions of what Burress went through. Let’s start with the obvious – what an idiot! He had everything going for him, why in the world did he feel the need to illegally carry a handgun into a night club? In one second – when he tucked that gun into his waistband – he fell from Super Bowl hero to prisoner 09-R-3260.

Secondly, I think the sentence was extremely – and unfairly – harsh. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has waged a long campaign against illegal guns and publicly reprimanded Burress for carrying his .40-caliber weapon. He wanted to make an example of a high-profile person in his war against illegal weapons. I think Burress deserved punishment for illegally carrying a weapon, but I think he should have been treated fairly – not more severely because of his celebrity status. 

But that’s in the past, and Burress is again a free man and says he’s ready to play football. 

Prior to his sentence, Burress was released by the Giants, and suspended by the league. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell ruled that he was ineligible to sign with any team he completed his jail term, but said he would be reinstated in the league upon the completion of his sentence. 

Making things more difficult for Burress is the lockout – he can’t even talk to teams (on the record at least) until the lockout has ended.

There are many other obstacles standing in his way: Burress has been out of football for three seasons; he will be 34 years old when football season begins (whenever that may be); he has to get into football shape, and that is utterly impossible to do on your own - and the longer the lockout lasts, the longer he will be forced to workout by himself.

But there are also things working in his favor: he is 6’5” and has great hands; that freakish athletic ability he possessed is still there – and that is intriguing to just about every NFL team; with the current NFL lockout, the field is more leveled for Burress – instead of the free agent market season opening in March and teams already having their roster needs filled, he will be entering the market at the same time as everyone.

It worked out for Michael Vick, but Vick was 29 when he re-entered the league after his prison sentence – five years younger than Burress. 

In the end, I have little doubt that Burress will find a team - Terrell Owens proves that you're talented enough, you can always find an NFL team willing to carry your baggage. And a 6’5”, freakishly athletic wide receiver with loads of experience? That’s just too tempting for no team to pick up on.

The question is: will he be a factor? Only time will tell.

Looming NFL Lockout

(To run 2/10/11)

By the time you are reading this, chances are you’re sick of the Super Bowl talk. Unless, of course, you are from Wisconsin, and in that case you will talking into 2012. But for the majority of us, our team didn’t win; maybe the team we hoped would win did, but we didn’t have any kind of real vested interest in the game, and we haven’t thought about it too much since we turned our TVs off at 10:30 p.m., Sunday night.

Most people see the Super Bowl as an end – the end of the season; and for many women, a chance to get their husband/boyfriend back on Sundays. But for me, I see the Super Bowl as a beginning. My team didn’t win this year, but now we look ahead to next season.

Except … this time, there might not be a next season. Throughout the 2010-2011 season, there has been the proverbial elephant in the room – something we’re all thinking about constantly, but trying to ignore in hopes that it will go away: the looming lockout. 

All throughout “Super Week” and the entire season, the side story was next season’s potential lockout – Who is at fault? Who has to make the first move to prevent a lockout? Whose side should we be on?

The major issue is that the owners have decided that the 2006 labor agreement was too player friendly and wish to re-work it. 

Total league revenues for last season were approximately $9 billion, and there's every reason to believe that cash cow will continue. Players currently receive about 59 percent of total football revenue, but that figure is calculated after taking $1 billion off the top, which goes to owners for operating expenses. Owners are seeking an economic model that better favors their pockets. In addition, they want to tack on two more regular season games to the schedule in which they will make additional millions in revenue, but they don’t want to pay players any additional money for those games. They also want to establish a rookie wage scale that will restrict the amount of money that rookies will make when they enter the NFL, which would allow teams to avoid paying high salaries to new players that don’t live up to the team’s expectations. 

Here are my two cents: we as fans should be on the side of the players. I realize that most people think of NFL players as overpaid machines who should keep their mouths closed and be thankful they get paid to play a game; but if not for the players, then there is no game. 

People tend to forget about the backups or the practice squad players who make league minimum. Most of you are thinking, “League minimum is still more than I’ll ever make in a year.” But you also don’t have to pay an agent, a manager, a financial consultant, etc. Most lower-rung players do in fact live year-to-year and would be in a financial hard place if they don’t get a paycheck next season. 

The players are the ones who will suffer if there is a lockout, and the owners know this. For every $20 million contract, there are 30 players who make league minimum, and the players union has always cracked in the past to ensure that those athletes who need each paycheck aren’t suffering.

The owners and the NFL have negotiated TV deals that will pay them $4.5 billion in 2011 ... even if no games are played. On the other hand, if there are no games the players won’t get paid, their families will lose health coverage and injuries won’t be treated by team doctors and trainers who know the athletes and their health background. 

In a nutshell, owners are demanding that players play two more games each season and take an 18 percent pay cut. If the NFL had fallen on hard times, this might be understandable – but the NFL is as profitable as ever. What the owners want to do is unfair to the players, who are the most important piece of the NFL pie.

The only thing that the two sides agree upon is that former players need to be better taken care of – it is the amount of care that is debated. Players say that they feel that they are paid for their services, but then once they have ruined their bodies and sometimes even their brains with the brutal play of the game, they are tossed aside. Men who play NFL football for five years reportedly cut their lives short by twenty years, and after all of the hits they take to the head throughout their careers, an astonishingly high percentage of players have been diagnosed with depression and Alzheimer’s. Owners and the league owe it to former players to give them quality health care for life.

Even if you don’t care about the impact on players and owners, a lockout will have devastating impacts on NFL cities – each NFL city is expected to lose about $150 million if there is a lockout next year, and an estimated 150,000 people will be out of a job. Can cities like Cleveland or Detroit afford that exorbitant financial loss in this economy? I think not.

In short, it is the owners who are pushing ahead with this lockout – on March 4, if they don’t get their way, they will lock their doors. They want to cut salaries, but won’t give a definitive reason as to why it is necessary. Until they do so, all fans should stand behind the players, the ones who we cheer on each Sunday, and who put their bodies on the line each week for our entertainment and the owners profit.