A reminder that the players lost the lockout quite badly
The union and owners have a handshake deal, the season should begin on Christmas, and both sides can leave acting as if the disagreements and animosity of the past few months gave way to delightful compromise. It’s a great time to be an NBA fan, mostly because for the first time in a while there’s actually an NBA to be a fan of. Even before the lockout’s official end, everyone is eager to see it fade into memory, and rightfully so. Yet it would be a mistake to forget the lockout entirely, and not just in a tragic “let’s make sure it never happens again” sense. For all the talk about compromise, the players pretty clearly lost, giving up privileges and rights that took decades to claim. They’ll make less money, have less latitude to move to the teams they want to play for, and work at a disadvantaged position during their next labor fight. The league’s promised improved competitive balance may not come, but the NBA will look substantially different then it used to. Whether or not you think that’s a positive is up to you. With a few exceptions, the history of the NBA has been a progression of player rights. The 1999 lockout helped rein in player salaries, but that agreement was more accurately a creation of rules and laws in a landscape that previously worked under a loosely defined set of guidelines. If the ’99 CBA was the formation of a government, though, then the new deal is more like the government reasserting his control over the people. For the first time in league history, the loss of player rights isn’t a single event, but the state of engagement between the NBA and its employees. The players have a chance to gain back some leverage in six years, when both sides have a chance to opt out of the new CBA. But for that to be a good play, the league will have to see significant financial gains without a concurrent increase in competitive balance. For the first time in a few decades, the owners will have to feel compelled to give something back for the long-term health of the product. Given some owners’ reluctance to make any concessions in this year’s negotiations, that result may seem far-fetched. Perhaps the new CBA will solve all the leagues problems. Still, no matter what changes it brings, the course of the league has been reversed. If we care about the NBA as anything more than a child’s game played on a huge stage, it’s worth remembering the events and negotiations that brought us to that point and why they happened. The cost of labor has been cut to settle a disagreement between large- and small-market teams; the players lost because the owners set the terms of the debate years ago. The NBA is back, but it’s also going to be hell of a lot different. Related: NBA lockout
Filed under: online games
Israeli women’s league canceled after strike (PA SportsTicker)
By ARON HELLER Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP)—The Israeli women’s basketball league canceled its entire season after local players went on strike to protest a new rule giving more playing opportunities to foreigners. The decision leaves several top WNBA players out of work. This is the first time in the league’s 54-year history that a whole season has been scrapped. Israel has one of Europe’s top professional leagues, and the WNBA said 13 of its players spent their winter in Israel last season. Most of the league’s top players are Americans who come over after the WNBA season. Players who were set to take part this season included Jia Perkins of the San Antonio Silver Stars, Tanisha Wright of the Seattle Storm, Karima Christmas of the Tulsa Shock and Plenette Pierson of the New York Liberty. The strike centered on the league’s decision to reverse a policy requiring teams to have at least two Israeli players on the court at any time – a rule that is common in Europe to help promote local talent. The new regulations would allow teams to play four foreigners at the same time, angering local players who saw their possibilities of earning playing time diminished. A similar rule change took place this offseason in the Israeli men’s league as well. After the Israeli players sat out the first game and refused to return to work, league officials threatened to cancel the rest of the season. They carried out the threat on Sunday. “Canceling the season is necessary to clarify who decides things in this league,” said Dorit Keren-Tzvi, general manager of A.S. Ramat Hasharon. “Anyone who knows anything about women’s basketball in Israel knows that we need more foreign players. Most of the Israeli players do not have the talent to play in a top league, but they want the playing time without having to fight for it.” Critics say the new rule undermines the Israeli nature of the league and that without guaranteed playing slots, the local talent pool will have no way of improving. “Wild competition and wild market are not always everything,” retired player Anat Draigor wrote Monday in the Yediot Ahronot newspaper. “There is no reason we should not have affirmative action for local talent, in sport in general and in women’s basketball in particular.” The players’ association has appealed to the league for further talks to salvage the season. But owners and league management say their decision is final. Last season’s league champion, Elitzur Ramle, captured the European club championship as well. It was led by Israeli point guard Shay Doron, a former Maryland star who later briefly played in the WNBA.
Filed under: stories
Patriots release DT Haynesworth (AP)
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP)—The Boston Herald is reporting that the New England Patriots have released defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth(notes). The move came Tuesday, two days after Haynesworth did not play for most of the second half of Sunday’s 24-20 loss to the New York Giants. The Patriots would not confirm the report. New England obtained Haynesworth for a fifth-round draft choice on July 28 after he spent two seasons with Washington on a seven-year, $100 million contract. He constantly feuded last season with Redskins coach Mike Shanahan and was suspended for the last four games for conduct detrimental to the club. With the Patriots, Haynesworth had six tackles in six games, missing two with a back injury. He had no tackles against the Giants.
Filed under: strategy
Monday Night Live Chat, Week 9: Bears (+8) @ Eagles
We’ve got highly relevant matchups on “Monday Night Football” for the second staight week. And hopefully this one won’t end with me crying as I lay drunk in the boiler room of an abandoned shoe factory, clutching a bottle of Mad Dog 20/20 and wondering where it all went wrong. It’s the Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night, both likely to be factors in the NFC wild-card race. It’s a big game for both teams. If the Eagles win, they climb back to .500. If they don’t, they’re three full games behind the Giants. With a win, the Bears put themselves into a tie for the final wild-card spot, and with a loss, they’re a .500 team. We’ll be here throughout the game with running commentary, observations, insights, polls, blatant lies and a high level of interactivity with you, our beloved reader. We’ll get it started a few minutes before kickoff. See you then. Related: Chicago Bears, Philadelphia Eagles
Filed under: online games
Seguin nets hat trick, Bruins romp 7-0 (AP)
TORONTO (AP)—Tyler Seguin(notes) scored his first-career hat trick and Tim Thomas(notes) made 24 saves for his first shutout of the season as the Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 7-0 Saturday night. Milan Lucic(notes) added two goals and an assist for Boston, while David Krejci(notes) had a goal and two assists. Shawn Thornton(notes) also scored and Patrice Bergeron(notes) added three assists for the defending Stanley Cup champions, who seem be finding their game after a sluggish start to the season. With starting goalie James Reimer(notes) still out with concussion-like symptoms, Ben Scrivens(notes) was unable to repeat his stellar NHL debut Thursday when he stopped 38-of-39 shots in Toronto’s 4-1 win at Columbus. The Leafs rookie allowed five goals on 14 shots against the Bruins, who have won two in a row for the first time this season. Scrivens was replaced by Jonas Gustavsson(notes) after the fifth Boston goal. He finished with four saves and was jeered by the crowd in the third period after the seventh Boston goal. The Bruins took control early in the second when Seguin and Lucic scored 8 seconds apart. Seguin gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead just 34 seconds into the middle period with a great display of hand-eye coordination. The 19-year-old batted a deflected pass from Bergeron past a helpless Scrivens. Lucic stretched the Boston lead to three moments later off a great feed from Zdeno Chara(notes). The Bruins captain found Lucic with a tap-to-tap pass up the middle off the faceoff at center and the hulking winger split the Toronto defense before wiring a shot over Scrivens’ shoulder. Toronto coach Ron Wilson used his timeout after the goal, but it did little to stem the Boston tide as the Bruins continued to dominate play. Seguin, who took a big hit from Joey Crabb(notes) earlier in the period, completed his hat trick at 15:01 when he beat Scrivens with a snapshot shortside and Krejci made it 5-0 nothing just 14 seconds later off a feed from Lucic. That was the end of a disappointing night for Scrivens, who flew in family and friends from Alberta to see his first home game with Toronto. Lucic made it 6-0 off a pass from Krejci at 5:44 of the third and Thornton banged home his first of the season for Boston’s seventh 28 seconds later as boos rained down from the Air Canada Centre crowd. Seguin, drafted second overall by the Bruins with one of the picks acquired in the Phil Kessel(notes) trade, showed Maple Leafs fans his talent on a big stage. Kessel, meanwhile, continued to struggle against his former team, registering just two shots. Kessel has 10 goals and 11 assists on the season. He’s been held pointless just three times, including twice against Boston. The Bruins started the season 3-7-0 but beat Ottawa on Tuesday after back-to-back losses to Montreal and defeated another Northeast Division opponent in Toronto to get out of last place in the Eastern Conference. Boston took the lead on the power play at 6:23 of the first. With Crabb off in the box for holding, the Bruins worked it around nicely to Seguin, who wired a one-timer past Scrivens from the right faceoff dot. A sluggish opening period was a sign of things to come for the Leafs, who only got their legs moving as the period wore on. Jay Rosehill(notes) had a puck skip over his stick in front and Nikolai Kulemin(notes) couldn’t find the range off a scramble with Thomas out of position. Boston finished the night 1 for 2 on the power play, while Toronto was 0 for 3. NOTES: D Luke Schenn(notes), C Philippe Dupuis(notes) and RW Colton Orr(notes) were scratched by the Maple Leafs. … D Steven Kampfer and LW Benoit Pouliot(notes) sat out for Boston. … The Leafs wore their heritage jersey. … The Bruins spent Friday at the Hockey Hall of Fame signing autographs for fans. The team will also donate a Stanley Cup ring to the Hall. … Toronto C Tim Connolly(notes) needs one more point for 400 in his career.
Filed under: online games
