Explaining The Lockout's Apathy

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

DAN BERREIRO: Apathy and the NBA strike

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Copyright © 1998 Scripps Howard

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(November 19, 1998 01:04 a.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) -- Despite an
empty slate of NBA games Tuesday night, the world continued to turn.

Michael Olowokandi, the first player selected in the 1998 draft, hinted at
the same thing that Stephon Marbury did a couple of weeks ago: He just
might pack up and go play basketball in Europe. And the sports world yawned
its sarcastic indifference the same way it did when Marbury said it:

Oh, no! Not that!

First of all, nobody really believes these empty threats. Second, for the
sports fan, there are plenty of other things to chew on.

In their effort to become the first NFL team in 26 years to finish the
season undefeated, the Broncos now have clear sailing all the way to their
15th game in Miami. Unfairly slighted or ostracized quarterbacks -- from
Randall Cunningham to Doug Flutie, from Vinny Testaverde to Bubby Brister
-- are shaming the quarterback whippersnappers.

The Vikings have Minneapolis more excited about pro football than it has
been since Alan Page was terrorizing offensive linemen. Those faithful to
the Gophers men's basketball team are eager to see Maulin' Miles Tarver in
his next bout.

There is the unmistakable feeling, confirmed by nationwide polls, that few
fans are sitting in a darkened room brooding over the absence of pro
basketball.

Let me offer an alternative explanation.

It might be that folks are not all that eager to turn their back on the
game of pro basketball. It could simply be that that they are really not
going to get all hot and bothered about being cheated out of a
Clippers-Kings game before Thanksgiving. It could be they are saying: What
have we really missed here?

Even in Minnesota, where long-suffering Timberwolves fans are hungry to
savor every victory now that the team has emerged from the dregs of NBA
society, how many people are truly going to be devastated that they will
not get to watch their heroes play the Warriors this Saturday night at
Target Center?

Let's be honest about this: Some of us care enough about pro basketball
that we pay attention from the opening day of training camp. We are a tiny
minority. How many fans really pay close attention to the NBA before that
Christmas night game that always involves the Bulls? Many fans do not even
pay attention until after the Super Bowl.

The point is, part of the indifference might not be frustration with the
current stalemate in which the two sides haven't even bothered to meet for
almost two weeks. Part of the indifference is the feeling the NBA season --
and playoffs -- goes on too long anyway, so why get all bent out of shape
before it really matters?

These fans might be onto something here.

League officials have insisted 55 games are needed for the season to have
any integrity, not to mention cash. You know what? I don't think most fans
would be all that devastated if the league and owners settled in time to
play 45 games. As a matter of fact, most fans probably would celebrate it
as a blessing. Each regular-season game would take on greater urgency as a
playoffs appetizer. The players' bodies -- and minds -- would stay fresher.

Thereby demonstrating just how absurd it is to play an 82-game schedule to
eliminate only 12 of 28 teams.

It's not as if the grind of the NBA season substantially changes which
teams are there at the end. In pro basketball, there is no feeling that the
long, 82-game marathon of the season itself helps to create a separation of
the best from the rest. Nor does the pro basketball season create the sense
of buildup that, say, major league baseball, can. Not when more than half
the NBA teams make the playoffs.

The season is this long primarily so the owners and players can have a
bigger pie to fight over.

With 45 games left in the 1997-98 season, the top eight teams in each
conference were the same eight teams that would qualify for the playoffs
the following April. Even within the seedings, movement was minimal. In the
East, the Bulls, Heat and Pacers remained Nos. 1-2-3. The Hawks moved down
a little and the Hornets moved up. Big deal.

In the West, there was a bit more movement, but nothing all that
substantial. The Wolves moved from a sixth-place tie to the No. 7 position.

There have been several doom and gloom predictions -- including one here --
about the damage that could be done to the game if the NBA season did not
start on time. The belief now is that as long as the league is able to pull
off a 45-50-game season, and Michael Jordan decides to come back for
another season, damage will be minimal. In fact, the chances of Jordan
returning will be improved by the prospect of a shortened season.

The league insists it must have no fewer than 55 games to give the season
any real value. Is it possible the real reason league officials do not want
to consider a season shortened even further is they are terrified that the
fans just might embrace it?

By DAN BERREIRO, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune. Distributed by Scripps
Howard News Service.

Copyright © 1998 Nando Media