It Seems So Simple, Until You're Locked Out

The other day Ray and I were playing a little hoop at our local park. It's something we do whenever we have a chance because playing basketball is a simple way for us to get some exercise in while having a good time. We're not exactly "good" at basketball... I mean, good is relative though.. right? It doesn't matter because most importantly we have fun! (Yeah, we suck.) ANYWAY. We have fun. Simple fun. Simple...

What a lovely hobby.

Simple is a funny word isn't it? It's meaning is rather... well... simple. Dictionary.com defines simple as easy to understand; to deal with. But what is simple to some isn't always simple to others. Take playing the guitar for example. My brother makes it look so smooth, effortless, SIMPLE! But put a guitar in front of me and I can't even play a chord. Golf is a great example. What some people use as a simple relaxing hobby, others struggle with and get extremely frustrated with. Simple is a funny word.

Up until recently playing basketball seemed simple too. Something Ray and I played, something we watched, something we rooted for. Something that now because of the stubbornness of millionaires and billionaires we probably won't get to enjoy this year. Now if you've read my blog entries before, most notably Coach Gets Fired; Fans Miss the Point, you know that on big issues like the NBA lockout, I don't like coming down too firmly on one side. I'm not an expert and don't enjoy pretending to be so I don't feel comfortable siding with one party without knowing all the facts. I do however feel like I have an expertise in being a fan. And I know exactly what is happened to us here.

If only it were this easy..

The players claim they have been "locked out" and maybe technically that's true. They're not locked out though, if they wanted to play this season they could have begun serious negotiations in the summer instead of saving their cracker jack negotiation tactics for now. (Sarcasm people) And the owners who try to act like they are the only people thinking about the fans. WAY OFF. Real smart giving the players an ultimatum last week, because EVERYBODY knows the best way to end negotiations is with scare tactics. Please. So do you know who are really the ones being locked out? The people who really are the victims? The people who REALLY seem to care? You guessed it, that's us. Because of the moronic negotiations between two pigheaded sides seemingly hellbent on ruining all the momentum the NBA gained last season, we are going to miss a season of basketball. I've got news for people. When David Stern or Billy Hunter try and tell you they care about the fans and are trying to do what's in the best interest  for us, they're lying. Neither side cares about us. They care about money and that's all they've ever cared about. So when they try to feed that bull to you on press conferences you are totally within your rights to throw whatever blunt object you have around you at he TV in frustration. This entire negotiating process has been a joke and now we're all screwed.

When did playing basketball stop being so simple?

Class Dismissed,
Student of Sports