Oh, the humanity!
After two days of pronounced optimism and positivity from both sides, NBA labor negotiations came crashing down again today, and commissioner David Stern announced the cancellation of games until November 30. Any dreams of a full 82-game schedule? Gone. So close, yet so far away.
More.....
Derek Fisher is leaving NYC, so any hopes that they'll try to kiss and make up tomorrow are also dashed. Instead, they'll go back to their neutral corners for a few days, at minimum, and then start this whole dysfunctional process all over again. Howard Beck of the New York Times (yes, I do have a man crush on him; I think he's great) breaks it down for us here.
In fact, since the union and owners are doing such a poor job in failing to deliver a new CBA and torching their own potential earnings in lost games in the process, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank those who are performing admirably through this mess: NBA beat reporters, who are reporting on the scene in hotel lobbies and, in at least one case, out on the sidewalk, to bring us the latest windbaggery and doublespeak from the negotiating parties. In addition to Beck:
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports
Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press
Links are to their Twitter feeds, from which you can learn anything else you want to know about how this sausage is being made. The work they're doing is keeping us all informed, even if the news is crappy so far.
All is not lost here. The parties will be back at it again soon and we'll have a season. As Suns fans, we can be grateful that the 82-game season idea is kaput. Can you imagine Steve Nash trying to play a tightly condensed 82-game schedule? When all is said and done, it will still be a tightly condensed schedule, but at least only a 50-70 game length.
In the meantime, hey, quite a baseball game going on here tonight!