Friday, August 19, 2011

Attorney David Cornwell "NCAA Mandated That He Feed Their Families, But He Could Not Feed His Own."

by Kevin L. Davis (@EsquireSports)
Readers of this blog will remember that I have already stated my belief that the system of college athletics is broken, and it should be reformed to allow Players to be paid, although that compensation should not be paid from universities and instead Players should be eligible to receive compensation based on their likeness not actual pay.  If you haven't seen it the petition can be found here >>>>  http://esquiresports.blogspot.com/2011/06/petition-to-allow-collegiate-players-to.html.  

With the recent developments dominating the sports pages involving scandals at Ohio State University and the University of Miami, and the firings of the coach and athletic director at University of North Carolina, I felt now was a great time to reexamine the state of college sports.The quote from attorney David Cornwell in the course of representing former Ohio State Quarterback Terrelle Pryor, that I used as the title shows the hypocrisy of the amateurism rules.  

As such I decided to take Cornwell up on his call to arms on challenging "the NCAA on its 'amateurism' rules." To me this system is nothing short of an injustice, there is no justification to allow enormous amounts of money to be made for everyone involved (i.e. NCAA executives, coaches, and the university itself, etc. ); but the player.  Lets just face it, prohibiting players from profiting off their likeness is patently unfair.  

I know players do receive an education at a university for free and also receive other benefits during their time at the university which obviously have value.  However, when compared to the value lost by Players based on not being able to profit off their likeness during collegiate years, its clear that the latter is more valuable.  The large amounts of money boosters, agents, and others have shown themselves willing to spend to get in contact with these young superstars of college sports illustrates that.

So what do I suggest?  A re-writing of the rulebook totally abandoning the rules of amateurism.  That my friends may just be the only way to reestablish the integrity of college sports.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

My Critique of Excellent David Stern Interview Conducted by Bill Simmons

by Kevin L. Davis (@EsquireSports)

Hello Sportsfans.  Not sure if you all are aware but prior to the weekend David Stern made an appearance on the BS report giving Bill Simmons a rare interview that spanned a little more  than an hour.  If you've not listened to it for yourself, you should definitely check that out >>>>> http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=6856992.

Although I must admit that my views have been slanted toward the players I decided prior to listening to the interview that I would stay open-minded.  Although at times I felt that Stern was condescending and arrogant, and even felt that at times he seemed a little angry and Simmons for bringing up points that didn't paint him or the owners in the brightest light I think for the most part Stern set out to accomplish what he intended to accomplish - to explain to the common fan what the importance of the issues at stake in this CBA and to illustrate the size of the schism that exists between the Players and the Owners, and to present a united front among his contingent of Owners.

Stern accomplished both of these objectives masterfully by calling the NBA Players the "worlds highest paid union" he shows just how well compensated the NBA players are, and by following that up by stating the amount of money being lost by the league annually.  In these shaky economic times, very few fans will have pity on millionaire Players whose lavish salaries are causing their business to be unprofitable.  He also did a good job in arguing why revenue sharing should be kept out of these negotiations and should instead be determined at a later date once Players and Owners have determined the revenue split, as attempting to do that in these negotiations very well could cause a split amongst his Owners.

However this interview also pointed out some of Stern's weaknesses, as condescending, insecure, and quick to anger when he's being challenged.  His continued statements that the players will come around when the offer is explained to them does that (insinuating their too stupid to understand whats going on themselves) and again even more blatantly when Stern snapped at Simmons that he's "been doing this for 40 years, which is much longer than Billy Hunter has" (which seems irrelevant to me when he admits to having lost the last 3 negotiations that he had against Hunter) seems the best illustration of that.  With all do respect Mr. Stern we all know the league has  grown by leaps and bounds under your leadership, you don't have to be so touchy about not feeling as if you got your due.

All in all though this interview shed great insight on where things currently stand in this labor dispute.  In order to get things going the Players simply must realize that will receive a smaller share of the revenues.  Now we just have to find middle ground where both the Players and the Owners will be satisfied.

I still think the offer reportedly made by the Owners which would allow the Owners to be the sole recipients of the first $900 mil in revenues, and then to split remaining revenues 50/50 goes too far, but at least that forms a basis to start.  Additionally middle ground must be reached on revenue sharing.  Personally I still believe that it should be apart of these negotiations, however I do agree that the revenue split must be determined first before the league can figure out an effective way to split those revenues.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Billy Hunter Admits That He Expects There Will Be No NBA This Year

by Kevin L. Davis (@EsquireSports)

While speaking to an audience composed mostly of lawyers at the American Bar Association, Billy Hunter said what most of us have expecting all season - that chances are the upcoming season will be cancelled as this labor dispute drags on.  Although this statement has been repeated time and time again over the last year or so, I believe this is the first time that Hunter has stated publicly that he expects the season to be cancelled.  

Hunter went on to point to what he views as the problem leading to the more contentious manner behind this whole labor dispute, the changes in the constituency of ownership.  At one point Hunter said "[i]n the last six or seven years, there is a new group of owners to come in who paid a premium for their franchises, and what they're doing is kind of holding his feet to the fire."

Whether you agree or disagree with these tactics at this point it seems clear that if there is no resolution soon the true losers here will be the fans.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

NBA Files Lawsuit Against Players and File Unfair Labor Charge

by Kevin L. Davis (@EsquireSports)

Remember how I said the meeting yesterday had to be seen as good news?  Scratch that.  The owners and David Stern have now filed a lawsuit against the players as well as filing a charge with the National Labor Relations Board against the Players accusing them of unfair labor practices, specifically for failing to bargain "in good faith" and of "impermissible pressure tactics" in labor talks.

From the information that has been made available to the general public, it seems the league has little chance of success with either of these proceeedings.  Why do I say that?  

First off you must as I'm sure many of you remember, these negotiations didn't take the turn into the current bitterness until David Stern famously told the Players that he knows where “the bodies are buried” in the NBA....because he had buried some of them himself.  Sounds to me that Stern and not the Players started that.

Also you must remember why the league is currently locked out.  The Players had no problem with the old CBA, and would still choose to play under it if given the option.  We're only in lock out mode now because the Owners opted out of the deal and chose to impose that course of action.

I believe the Owners understand that there is a very small likelihood of winning these suits, but are only doing this to try to prevent the NBPA from filing an anti-trust suit against the NBA with the threat of voiding out the Player's contracts if they do pursue a suit.

So as I said, the chance of success for these suits seems low, but they do signal just how far apart the Players and Owners are.  Bad sign.

NBPA and Owners Have First Substantive Talks Since Lockout......No Progress Made

by Kevin L. Davis (@EsquireSports)

Yesterday in what has to be viewed as a good sign David Stern and his high level executives (deputy commissioner Adam Silver, Spurs owner and labor relations committee head Peter Holt, and T-Wolves owner and Board of Governors chairman Glen Taylor) met with Billy Hunter, along with NBPA player-execs Derek Fisher and Theo Ratliff

Unfortunately the fact that there was a meeting seems to be the only good news to report. Neither side produced an offer, and it currently appears that neither the Players or the Owners are willing to make any concessions yet. However they did agree to meet again in the coming weeks

Stay tuned sports fans maybe there will be something new to report soon.