Favila: No NBA? No problem for this sports fan
If NBA Commissioner David Stern wants to cancel the entire 2011-12 NBA season, I say let him. In fact, I said that back in 1998 when the 98-99 season was postponed and shorted to 50 games.
I didn’t miss the NBA then and I won’t miss it now.
With the NFL labor situation safe for at least the next 10 years and Major League Baseball OK for now, who needs the NBA?
On Wednesday, sources close to the situation told the Associated Press that Stern was planning on canceling the entire 2011-12 season possibly later this week unless labor talks made significant progress this weekend.
Naturally, players reacted to the news by saying that Stern was simply bluffing in order to expedite negotiations.
Either way, the start of training camps has already been postponed and so far 43 preseason games have already been cancelled.
Considering that the regular season is supposed to get under way on Nov. 1, unless a deal is made early this week it’s likely we could see a repeat of the 1998-99 shorted season when games did not begin until Feb. 5, 1999.
But Stern has the right idea. Why shorten the NBA season when you can just cancel it as soon as possible? Why put the people who actually still care about he NBA through the pain?
Hey, if the owners and overpaid players can’t get their act together, why should we sports fans support their product?
Besides, there are plenty of other sports going on during the NBA season to fill the void.
Look at it this way, the NFL season runs through early February and ends just as college basketball starts to heat up. People who are truly jonesing for hoops come March are much better off following the Final Four tournament than following a league where more than half the teams are under .500 and out of playoff contention after just two months of play.
The men’s Final Four national title game is set for April 2, which is perfect because the 2012 MLB season gets under way just two days later on April 4 when the Florida Marlins open their new baseball-only ballpark against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Frankly, there’s simply no time for the NBA, if you ask me. So stay locked out, boys. Here’s one sports fan that won’t miss you.
Dave Favila can be reached at davidf@valleystar.com or at 956-430-6214
