lingzi
1454 posts
|
NEW YORK —NBA players delivered a resounding but risky response to one more
ultimatum from NBA commissioner David Stern: See you in court. Marshal Yanda Jersey . The players
association rejected the leagues latest proposal for a new labour deal Monday
and began disbanding, paving the way for a lawsuit that throws the season in
jeopardy. Negotiating went nowhere, so now the union is going away. And Stern
said “nuclear winter” is coming. “Were prepared to file this antitrust action
against the NBA,” union executive director Billy Hunter said. “Thats the best
situation where players can get their due process.” And thats a tragedy as far
as Stern is concerned. “It looks like the 2011-12 season is really in jeopardy,”
Stern said in an interview aired on ESPN. “Its just a big charade. To do it now,
the union is ratcheting up I guess to see if they can scare the NBA owners or
something. Thats not happening.” Hunter said players were not prepared to agree
to Sterns ultimatum to accept the current proposal or face a worse one, saying
they thought it was “extremely unfair.” And theyre aware what this battle might
cost them. “We understand the consequences of potentially missing the season; we
understand the consequences that players could potentially face if things dont
go our way, but its a risk worth taking,” union vice-president Maurice Evans
said. “Its the right move to do.” But its risky. Hunter said all players will be
represented in a class-action suit against the NBA by lawyers Jeffrey Kessler
and David Boies—who were on opposite sides of the NFL labour dispute, Kessler
working for the players, Boies for the league. “Mr. Kessler got his way, and
were about to go into the nuclear winter of the NBA,” Stern told ESPN. “If I
were a player … I would be wondering what it is that Billy Hunter just did.”
The league already has filed a pre-emptive lawsuit seeking to prove the lockout
is legal and contends that without a union that collectively bargained them, the
players guaranteed contracts could legally be voided. During oral arguments on
Nov. 2, the NBA asked U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe to decide the legality
of its lockout, but he was reluctant to wade into the leagues labour mess.
Gardephe has yet to issue a ruling. Two years of bargaining couldnt produce a
deal, with owners desires for more competitive balance clashing with players
wishes to keep the salary cap system largely intact. The sides last met
Thursday, when the league offered a revised proposal but told the players there
would be no further negotiating on it. Stern, who is a lawyer, had urged players
to take the deal on the table, saying its the best the NBA could offer and
advised that decertification is not a winning strategy. Players ignored that
warning, choosing instead to dissolve the union, giving them a chance to win
several billion dollars in triple damages in an antitrust lawsuit. “This is the
best decision for the players,” union president Derek Fisher said. “I want to
reiterate that point, that a lot of individual players have a lot of things
personally at stake in terms of their careers and where they stand. And right
now they feel its important—we all feel its important to all our players, not
just the ones in this room, but our entire group—that we not only try to get
a deal done for today but for the body of NBA players that will come into this
league over the next decade and beyond.” Fisher, flanked at a press conference
by dozens player representatives and superstars including Kobe Bryant and
Carmelo Anthony, said the decision was unanimous. But there were surely players
throughout the league who would have preferred union leadership put the proposal
to a vote of the full membership, with many ready to go back to work. The sides
still can negotiate during the legal process, so players didnt want to write off
the season just yet. “I dont want to make any assumptions,” union VP
Keyon Dooling said. “I believe well continue to try to get a deal done or let
this process play out. I dont know what to expect from this process.” Hunter
said the NBPAs “notice of disclaimer” was filed with Sterns office about an hour
before the news conference announcing the move. Now, the NBPA is in the process
of converting to a trade association as the fight shifts to the courts. “The
fact that the two biggest legal adversaries in the NFL players dispute over the
NFL lockout both agree that the NBA lockout is now illegal and subject to triple
damages speaks for itself,” Kessler said in an email to The Associated Press. “I
am delighted to work together with David Boies on behalf of the NBA players.”
Hunter said the bargaining process had “completely broken down.” Players made
numerous economic concessions and were willing to meet the owners demands of a
50-50 split of basketball-related income—a transfer of about US$280 million
annually from their feeling the leagues desires to improve competitive balance
would hurt their guaranteed 57 per cent under the old deal—but only if the
owners met them on their system wishes. “This deal could have been done. It
should have been done,” Hunter said. “Weve given and given and given, and they
got to the place where they just reached for too much and the players decided to
push back.” Over the weekend, Stern said he would not cancel the season this
week. Regardless, damage already has been done, in many ways. Financially, both
sides have lost hundreds of millions because of the games missed and the
countless more that will be wiped out before play resumes. Team employees are
losing money, and in some cases, jobs. And both the owners and players
eventually must regain the loyalty of an angered fan base that wonders how the
league reached this low point after such a strong 2010-11 season. “Its
horrible,” said Ty Agee, president of the Beale Street Merchants Association in
Memphis, Tenn. “This is bad. Personally, I dont believe they will be able to fix
it. This is really, really bad.” And it was seemingly destined. Hunter said he
believed years ago owners were going to lock out the players until they could
force through the changes they sought. Given that, he has been criticized for
not disbanding the union sooner in hopes of creating some leverage that the
union never had. The proposal rejected by the players called for a 72-game
season beginning Dec. 15. On Sunday, the league made a very public push on the
positives of the deal—hosting a 90-minute twitter chat to answer questions
from players and fans, posting a YouTube video to explain the key points and
sending a memo from Stern to players urging them to “study our proposal
carefully, and to accept it as a fair compromise of the issues between us.” In
the memo, posted on the leagues website, Stern highlighted points of the deal
and asked players to focus on the compromises the league made during
negotiations, such as dropping its demands for a hard salary cap, non-guaranteed
contracts and salary rollbacks. Union officials repeatedly have said the system
issues are perhaps more important to them than the split of basketball-related
income, but owners say they need fundamental changes in both to allow for a
chance to profit and to ensure more competitive balance throughout the league.
The previous CBA expired at the end of the day June 30. Despite a series of
meetings in June, there was never much hope of a deal before that deadline, with
owners wanting significant changes after saying they lost $300 million last
season and hundreds of millions more in each year of the old agreement, which
was ratified in 2005. Owners wanted to keep more of the leagues nearly $4
billion in basketball revenues. And they sought a system where even the
smallest-market clubs could compete, believing the current system would always
favour the teams who could spend the most. The NBAs last work stoppage reduced
the 1998-99 season to 50 games. Monday marked the 137th day of the lockout; the
NFL lockout lasted 136 days. In its labour battle, NFL players tried to get the
courts to overturn the lockout and let players return to work. Although a
Minnesota judge initially ruled in favour of the players, that ruling was put on
hold by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. “Given the rulings that came down
in the NFL case, which are not binding in the 2nd circuit but would be
influential, right now the owners are not in a bad spot,” said antitrust lawyer
David Scupp of Constantine Cannon in New York City. “It could very well be that
the players have an uphill battle toward getting that lockout enjoined. If they
can do that, then it might swing things in their favour.” But time is not on
anyones side. “If you look at what happened with the NFL case, that whole legal
battle surrounding the temporary injunction was resolved relatively quickly, and
it still took a few months,” Scupp said. “Theres not a few months to spare this
time around.” Kelechi Osemele Jersey . The Argentine star
pulled up as he made a run during the teams 1-0 win over Celtic in the Champions
League on Tuesday. He left the field in tears in the 35th minute of the
second-round, second-leg match at Camp Nou. Dennis Pitta Womens Jersey . Giavotella hit a
two-run double off Matt Thornton in the seventh inning and Jeff Francoeur belted
his first homer of the season, leading the Royals to a 9-1 victory over the
Chicago White Sox on Sunday. “We were dead and (Giavotella) put up a huge at-bat
against a guy whos not easy to hit and throws 97,” Francoeur said. http://www.baltimoreravensmall.com/bernard-pierce-jerseys
. For another day, at least. The Phillies say they will send Roy Halladay to see
a doctor on Tuesday, two days after he came out of a start due to a sore right
shoulder. Ray Rice Jersey . Manager Ron Roenicke said
before Tuesday nights game against St. Louis that Francisco Rodriguez will be
handling ninth-inning duties while Axford, from Simcoe, Ont. Ray Lewis Jersey . If history is an
indication, it wont be an easy game for the Flyers who last picked up a win in
Edmonton almost 11 years ago.Its been 17 years since a Canadian won the Indy
500, but James Hinchcliffe and Alex Tagliani have a shot at ending the drought
Sunday. Hinchcliffe, from Oakville, Ont., qualified in the No. 2 position for
Andretti Autosport after missing the pole by a miniscule 0.0023 seconds.
Tagliani, from Lachenaie, Que., had pole position last year and will start 11th
this year for Team Barracuda-Bryan Herta Autosports. Both men are looking for
better races than last year. Hinchcliffe, who only joined Andretti in January
after being named rookie of the year for 2011, joked that last year he ran the
Indy 250. He tagged the wall midway through the 200-lap race. But driving the
car Danica Patrick made famous has injected a lot more success into his
sophomore season, although the 25-year-old said questions remain about the car
since it was rebuilt. “Its the first time anybody will have run this car for a
full race on an oval,” he said in a conference call Wednesday. “With the heat
were expecting Sunday, I think that throws a question mark in the mix.” The car
has been renumbered No. 27, the same number that adorned the car Jacques
Villeneuve drove in 1995 when he became the first and only Canadian ever to win
at Indianapolis. In a twist of fate the number had been intended for Dan
Wheldon, last years Indy 500 winner who was killed last Oct. 16 at the IZOD
IndyCar World Championship at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. And Tagliani, Wheldons
teammate last year at Indy, said his car is adorned with the same No. 98 that
adorned Wheldons car last year—part tribute, part superstition perhaps. “I
dont know why but Im definitely looking at No. 98 as a number that brought a lot
of luck to the team and also did a lot at the speedway,” said the 39-year-old.
He finished only one position ahead of Hinchcliffe in 2011, after making contact
with the wall a little more than 50 laps from the end of the race. But high
engine oil temperature issues with his Lotus engine had already moved him well
back in the pack. Michael Oher Jersey. . Hes looking for
something better this year from the Honda engine hell be running. “We have a
good car in traffic at the moment. We did a lot of race trim running and its
been really, really good. Im very excited. Ive never been so confident before a
race in my life.” Tagliani ran into trouble on the same turn four that cost race
leader J.R. Hildebrand the title last year at Indy, when he also ran high and
clipped the wall on his final lap. That opened the door for Wheldon. This is
Taglianis fourth visit to Indy. His best finish was a 10th in 2009 and he said
its always a tough race to predict with eight or nine pit stops and so many
things that can happen. The chassis this year is still an Italian Dallara but
this season engines have been downsized from 3.5 litres to 2.2 litres and theyve
been supercharged. To make it more interesting, the forecast for Sunday is in
the mid-to-high 30s. “Setups are going to be a shot in the dark,” said
Hinchcliffe. “Its going to be about compromise and adaptation I think.” His
Chevy engine may give him an edge in fuel consumption, which is a big part of
winning the Indy 500, but he isnt counting on it too much. Chevrolet-powered
cars have also won the first four races of the season. “Racings not about
engines or tires or race cars, its about people and the right group of people
will be successful, period,” said Hinchcliffe. Engines do seem to help this
season. The top six finishers in the qualifying round at Indianapolis were all
powered by Chevrolet. Josef Newgarden, at No. 7, and Tagliani were the top
drivers for Honda. “We have to forget about the first three races or four (of
this season),” said Tagliani, adding that the same holds true for qualifying
times. “Racings 10 times harder than qualifying. Hopefully theres somebody up
there that has worn the 98 in the past who can keep an eye on us and give us
some luck and well be all right.” ’ ’ ’
|
Home
3 posts, 3 voices
shanggu
469 posts
waleed20100
909 posts
