Farewell

Wow I can’t believe this is the last blog I am writing, I hope that you guys have enjoyed reading my blogs. It’s been a great journey but like a wise man once said “Everything must come to an end.” Today I will be talking on my own opinion on the is whole sport industry, there is a lot of things that bugs me but at the same time a lot more things that I love about sports. As you all can guess my favourite sport is basketball, and as you can also guess I am a big fan of the Lakers. And as far as their season is going right now I cannot say I’m too pleased. As a fan I am actually outraged. The Lakers lost one of the best coaches to ever coach the game, Phil Jackson who finally retired after great years with many accomplishments. Phil who is the only coach in basketball to win up  to 11 championship rings, I mean who really needs that much we only have 10 fingers right?!

Also just this year we lost 2 great players who made Lakers the best of the best, Lamar Odom and Shannon Brown. I mean really, what the heck is going on with Lakers this is one thing that ticks me right off, why would you trade a veteran, Odom who has played with Lakers his whole career! He was a great shooter, great ball handler and just a great player overall that contributed largely in the Lakers success in the recent years. (Now that pisses me off) Secondly, Brown like I don’t even know what to say about that, why couldn’t they take Luke Walton or something. Brown was a phenomenal player, he was still young, extremely athletic, and his game was improving every year. And now because of these really stupid trades the Lakers have a really slow start going into this season.

Another thing that *ticks* me off, is the Miami Heats. Of course they are a good team and all, but if you have these 3 all stars on your team, Dwayne Wade, Lebron James and Chris bush, I am truly sorry but I do not understand how you can even lose one game in this season. They did their show case saying “This new Miami team is winning not 1 not 2 not 3 but 4 championships in a row” well they sure did outdo themselves last year when they lost to the Dallas. Maybe this will team them to stop being so cocky and just play the darn game.. You rookies. Not only that Lebron James who is suppose to be the heart of the team gave up on game 6 of the 2010-2011 finals. ( and people say he is better than Kobe..)

To conclude my blog, I just have to say the teams in the NBA right now are definitely stronger than ever and it is very entertaining watching all these young and older players do some work on the court. But in the end the Los Angeles Lakers will b ring home the title and will be the NBA’s strongest team, I know it. 

The man behind all this

Hello my fellow bloggers, today is a sad day, since this will be my 2^nd last blog of the year (maybe my entire life) My job was to educate my readers on the love of basketball and the madness that has taken over the industry of sports, and I hope the job has been done well. Today is one of those ( ohh interesting kind of blog) For a lot of people, they ask themselves who is the man in charge of this whole association? Who makes the decision that a team play or not? Or even better what’s his name?

Well people his name is David Stern, the NBA commissioner. David was born in the rough side of New York where he did not born rich, but eventually made something of his life. Most of you probably think that he must’ve been a straight A student, but no that’s a lie. Actually he was just like any teen these days, drinking, partying just living the life as we say, I am not saying the man was a complete idiot! Don’t get me wrong, he graduated with a B- average also known as a 70-73% in our system. And graduated from law school in 1966 and was admitted to the bar. Not a bar where you drink, that’s what most of you are probably thinking in the States the Bar is also referred to being granted as permission by a particular court system to a lawyer to practice law. After passing the bar examination, Stern made his first appearance in the NBA in 1966 as an outside counsel. And after a few more years of hard work in 1978, he became General Counsel. And finally in 1984 became the NBA commissioner.

Stern brought the NBA to another level, during his first few years as commissioner he succeeded in bringing the NBA’s first shoe contract with NIKE, it was the year Michael Jordan entered the league. He saw opportunity and talent in the young player and knew it would be big having Jordan commercial the brand. This brought more attention to the league. By the year 1998-2004, stern had already expanded the NBA with more than 30 franchises and also participated in making a WNBA, a women’s league.

There have been many controversies on Stern throughout the year, many hate him as much as they like him, but what can you do he is still getting paid. A few months after the NBA lockout ended, the league had its first draft pick where teams are allowed to trade and sign new players from college or from the teams of the NBA. This is where Sterns job becomes a hassle because he decides whether the trade is approved or not, this is also the time where fans, owners and players are outraged and the decision’s Stern takes. For instant, many feel that the Chris Paul trade to the Lakers was unfair of Stern to have said no, when Miami Heats were able to receive 2 big all stars which could of made it one of the NBA most dangerous roster ( NOT! they still suck.. that’s what I think) But in the end Stern has done a great lot for the NBA and its communities.

Darn! they also had a rough one back then

As the title says, the 2011 NBA lockout was not the only one seen in the History of basketball, in fact people believe that “It’s been worst, this is nothing” (psht! Yeah right this lockout is killing me slowly!) In 1999 the NBA was to celebrate its 53^rd season. But due to a lockout the season did not start until early February, when both sides agreed on a new six year collective bargaining agreement. Now you’re possibly wondering why? Well I will tell you why, because of greed it is always about money. ( ok maybe I’m exaggerating..) but the lockout happened due to NBA owners looking for a change in the salary cap system in one of my blogs I explained to my readers what the cap is so I won’t go into details again. But that became such a big problem that the players, the national basketball players association opposed the owners new deal, instead they decided that players who make a league minimum salary should have a raise.

The Lockout became such a big problem that the league had to cancel the 1999 All star game, which for most who know what that is, it’s really big. You have kids, Hollywood stars and much more coming to watch both teams go at each other with 3 point competitions, dunk competitions, best basketball handles and all type of fun stuff. Not only that, the games got reduced by to 50 games that season, when regularly teams play 82 games including the playoffs. That year most fans felt that it was unfair because it’s the year the San Antonio Spurs won the championship.  (yeah it was all luck..)  Some teams did not meet each other at all during the course of that shortened season, therefore did not compete with the strongest teams. As the lockout went on things even got worst, going into September the preseason games were shortened to two games per team compared to the eight. This caused even more tension as teams began to fight and argue after each play from frustrations. The commissioner also postponed training camps for players in a way to put pressure on the owners and players to come down to the final decision.

As that month went by, things got way out of hand, in September it was the first time in basketball history that a game got cancelled due to labor dispute. Eventually the owners and players reached an agreement on January 18, 1999. Both sides came down to an equal agreement for the cap. They agreed that 53% should not be a hard cap and that there should be a few more exceptions to allow teams to spend above their cap limit. As I mentioned in my other blog, “ The Larry Bird exception” with this, teams are allowed to re-sign one of its own players at any salary even if the team has room under its salary cap to do so. A great example of this was with Micheal Jordan ( The greatest man to play the game) I know you all know who he is so I won’t say much, just know he is the man! What happened with M.J is the Chicago Bulls has already spent up to $28 million if their 11 players for the 1998-1999 season and since Michael had kept changing his mind on whether to play golf or baseball, he finally decided to come back, even when the bulls had a cap of $30 million. The exceptions allowed the bulls to pay Jordan anything it wanted without their cap budget.

http://hoopspeak.com/2011/09/know-your-nba-lockout-history-1999-lockout-calendar/

The NBA cares foundation

Even though the NBA is still on lockout, it's foundation and many other players foundation are still at work. As much as the lockout has lead to a lot of trouble, we still have to look at the bright side of everything. Now with players less busy, a lot of them have put more time and effort in expanding their foundations. 

The NBA cares community Caravan is a year-long community and fan engagement program that help many less fortunate families reach more than 10,000 schools and community-based organization that touch the lives of more than 17 million families each year ( NBA cares) In fact players such as Kobe Bryant, Jason kidd, Dwight Howard and much more, have recently reached out with the Red cross to help organise summer youth athletic camps, and were able to help keep kids out of trouble but also teach them great discipline for the future basketball players.

Many players have contributed largely in their communities, for instant Orland Magic forward, Vince Carter has contributed over $1.6 million to the Vince Carter Sanctuary, which is a 100+ bed addiction treatment center founded in Bunnel, Florida, just a few miles of his hometown in Daytona beach. 

Another well respected player, Caron Butler known  for his hard work inside and outside the courts, Caron Butler also known as the top “good guys” in sports since 2006. Butler hosts Summer Explosion each year for youths. This event hosts a day of service, a charity basketball game, a free basketball clinic (where many other players participate to help the kids) and his annual bike brigade. For a lot of these foundations, they do not do it for publicity or to look good. Their goal is to assist non profit community organizations based on needs. They focus on the use of sports to promote education, teamwork and self esteem. And it’s well obvious that kids in the community are developing great self esteem that let out their true talents.

For most of us at first, did not consider how the lockout could benefit the community, and I can’t lie I was one of them.. (ok ok.. shame on me) but we can’t be blamed for that, after all we’re just fans right? Besides  a little break from this this lock out has definitely improved relationships with player as that one quote goes “ Absence makes the heart grow fonder” I know that from watching Lebron James and his opposition Kevin Durant, during the summer charity events where many players played on the same team to raise money for the sick kids foundation. I personally think that watching them play in these exhibition games has served a great teaser trailer for the season, when everything is settled with both sides. Although we don’t know when the lockout will end, but these charity events give us a glimpse of what it will be like when the game is back on.

http://www.vincecartersanctuary.org/

http://www.nba.com/caravan/

The silent victims

In my second blog, I mentioned the effect this lockout has had on the economy, but I did not get in dept with how the association (The victims, i.e employees) have no word in this lockout and how most of them are really affected by this lockout. These people are “silent victims”. I’m talking about the thousands of Americans making a living from the services this professional sport provides.

Silent victims #1: Arena workers

The NBA host up to 82 games a season (not including the finals), for many of these employees who work on game days – such as security guards, ushers, parking lot attendants janitors and half time entertainers. Usually work minimum wage, 11$ an hour and for most they work part time, these workers depend on this income to pay for bills and provide for their families. And with this lock out, no games + closed arenas = NO MONEY.  According to huffington post Workers at the Staples center in Los Angeles have it way worst than anyone other city. Well for the simple fact that the California stadium is home to two NBA franchises – The Los Angeles Lakers and the L.A Clippers.—

Silent victims #2:  Entertainment workers

It is very obvious that the NBA would not be complete with all the workers in charged for the most important aspects of the game such as lighting, music, camera and photographers. These are all the *small* aspects that keep this business going. And without any of these the game would not be such a unique experience for kids and adults. I remember my first game, I had never seen anything like it, the lights the music and the fans made my first game a blast. Of course the players too but the adrenaline of being in that stadium makes any 14 year old kid hop of his seat with the energy that surrounds the game. As I was saying, like any other arena these workers, entertainers      (most specifically the beautiful cheer leaders) are paid per game. So for them to go more than 2 weeks with every game cancelled..well let’s just say you can really feel that pain in your heart. According to huffington post entertainers would lose up to 500$ per game, while NBA dancers and cheerleaders would lose up to $50-$100 per home game.

This lockout isn’t about the players or the owners; they have enough income to support their families for year. The lockout has affected mostly the workers and the association should consider this as a reason to get the lights back on and the players back on the court. An end to the lockout would not only be good for sport fans, but would benefit thousands of loyal workers associated with the NBA.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/investinganswers/the-nba-lockouts-forgotte_b_1098099.html

What players did during the lockout?

Hello guys, yes it's the iAfrican blogger again doing big things. With my high school exams coming in shortly, have finally decided to put my foot to the medal with my blogs. I've decided to do things a little different though..( oh yeahh *Austin power voice) but anyways, I figured why not make these blogs a little more fun for those who are not that interested In basketball ( the girls in my 12U English class..Shame on you!) Well this is the plan instead of talking about what happens inside the NBA, I will think outside the box…yes ill talk about what happens outside the NBA with some of our favourite players in the NBA. This blog will include many pictures yay!

Since the NBA lockout went into effect July 1, the players have found plenty of ways to keep themselves busy and out of trouble.. Well for most of them. Some even developed talents they never knew they had in them -- and very few included basketball.

I’m going to start off with the Minnesota Timberwolves all star, Kevin love who got a little sandy this summer.. Did I say sandy? Yes Kevin has been spending his time playing beach volleyball in the Manhattan Beach open. Kevin is sure using that height to his advantage. According to sport illustrated, Kevin holds an amazing record of 1-0 

Up next we have Kris Humphries of the New Jersey Nets, who got married to Kim Kardashian during the lockout. Kris went all out with his lavish 17$ million wedding to Kim. (Don’t do that she will play you!) but unfortunately 72 days after the marriage, Kim signed the divorce papers ( Didn’t I tell you she would play you Kris!) and did I mention they divorced after only 72 days! Some say it’s the attention Kris was looking for, but others say a Kardashian will always be a Kardashian, only if he had known…

Love at first sight? nahhh

My favourite one, have you guys heard the tim where a player legally changed his name to Metta Worldpeace ( did I just say that?! ) this is one of those *LMAO* moments.  Yes Ron Artest of the Los Angeles Lakers seemed to be very bored this summer, so he woke up one morning and decided he should change his name to something a little uhm…creative? Yes that would be the perfect word. His teammates did not find it weird at all, after all Ron has always been known for his sometimes eccentric and outspoken behaviour. 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/1108/nba-players-during-lockout/content.19.html

A different lockout you say?

Hello to all my fans, i'm seeing how a lot of you are enjoying my blogs, so I decided to do something a little different this time. Instead of the basketball lockout, I want to talk about the NFL lock out. Sure it's a different sport and all but (NBA is better just saying) but it'd be nice to see the different facts  between both sports and how the NFL lockout affects it's fans, it's business and the player of course.

Although the NFL also went through a settlement of a new collective bargaining deal, it was not as bad or as long as the NBA. The Bargain was not easy and both sides did not receive exactly everything they wanted, but they did come up with a new 10 year player agreement that should keep the NFL revenue at a stable spot. One obstacle that extended the lock out was the league's desire to expand to a 18- game schedule. But in the end was denied when Owners became a little too heated in the conference. This one only lasted close to four months compared to the NBA's five months and a half.

To start off, this lockout is about the owners more than the actual players. Owners are asking for more money saying that they have taken a big financial loss, ( It's always easy said, than done) what I mean by that is, the owner have not been able to give much proof that they have taken a financial loss, therefore the lockout was not going very far at the start. At an economic point of view I will show how this some interesting facts on the 2011 NFL lockout and how it could affect everyone involved

• According to sporting news it is estimated that $160 million would be the loss of every single NFL city. 

• The NFL television revenues make about $4.5 billion a year, but with the elimination of $4.4 billion in players salaries (nfllockout) claim that the 2011 season could cut down the profits for owners.

At the end of the day owners and players have to think for their actions, it's not the millionaires and billionaires in the league or the networks that are the most affected by these lockouts. It's the people who run the apparel shops and restaurants and even the janitors who make sure the stadium is always clean for fans. And it might not sound that severe but it's fair to say some of these people's lives are in the hand of players and owners 

http://aol.sportingnews.com/nfl/feed/2010-09/nfl-labor-talks/story/nfl-lockout-ends-owners-nflpa-10-year-deal-2011-season-cba-labor-agreement#ixzz1kREslqGj


http://aol.sportingnews.com/nfl/feed/2010-09/nfl-labor-talks/story/nfl-lockout-ends-owners-nflpa-10-year-deal-2011-season-cba-labor-agreement