You ever reach that point where you just think, "Yeah, I don't want to hear that ever again." Well, this column is for you.
Here is the 2011 list of things that Jeff is sick of hearing – I have a feeling I'll have to update this for 2012 as well.
Things that have become cliche or are just plain dumb:
1. A hard salary cap will cure all the NBA's ills: This is the biggest fallback for all sports financial woes. It's true on only the most basic of levels, meaning that while it prohibits one team from dramatically outspending everybody (a la the New York Yankees) it doesn't guarantee that every other team will spend what it takes to win championships. It's up to the remaining teams to do the things necessary to compete. The cap floor is key in this regard and almost more important than the cap ceiling. If the floor cap and ceiling are negligible then you can guarantee that teams will spend equal amounts. Otherwise there is this myth that the hard cap is some sort of panacea that will cause small market and large market teams to skip in a field of magic poppies and unicorns will frolic with the Wizard of Oz down the road of competitiveness. It doesn't eliminate team responsibility and there are way too many Maloof Brothers and Donald Sterlings in the NBA to suggest that the league can overcome bad ownership. Eliminating sign-and-trade deals and shortening guaranteed contracts will go much further than a hard cap will.
2. Open competition: There is really no such thing as "open competition" in sports. In fact, it's akin to having an open relationship with your significant other. It just doesn't work. Generally it's proven VERY early if one person is better or more proficient than another. What the phrase "open competition" does is create unrealistic expectations for fans of a particular player and it becomes detrimental to the team and a healthy distraction.
3. Denver is a small market: Denver is not, I repeat, not a small market. It's a mid-market city. As a whole, we do a rather poor job in extolling the virtues of the Mile High City. The marketing of Denver as a major sports city is terrible. Everything is Broncos centric, making it seem like Denver is the size of say – Green Bay, Wisconsin or something. We have the freakin' mountains right next to us! So many different kinds of beer you would need a year to get through all of them. All four major sports leagues call Denver home. A hip and happening night life in LoDo. Why don't we hear more of this? It's because we get the "please don't leave us" attitude. Rather than getting upset players aren't wanting to come to Denver, maybe we should just do a better job of giving people reasons to come play here.
4. This lockout will claim the season: As much as this is a likely scenario (and a sad one), it still upsets me. Negativity to that extent bothers me. When you look at the proposals, from the players and owners, you come to the realization that both sides are being petulant children and their petty game of mano-a-mano isn't resulting in anything fans care about. It makes you wonder what's going on. David Stern has been on a two and a half week vacation to who knows where. The players have shown zero urgency to negotiate. The owners haven't changed their proposal significantly at all. It's depressing. It cries out for something positive to happen.
We are truly in lockout hell. It's been hard to come up with positive, life affirming articles during this trying time … mostly because there is rampant boredom going on in the NBA writers' circles. Quite literally nothing of noteworthy status has occurred in quite some time. Please bear with us, we at Denver Stiffs will continue to keep our fellow Stiffs entertained with whatever we can, and we will provide breaking news whenever possible … like the following from Alex Kennedy last night:
AlexKennedyNBA Alex KennedyWilson Chandler has signed with the Italian club Olimpia Milano. Chandler can opt out in several months, after the Euroleague’s first stage.
Kazookeylele – Ukulele – The final countdown (via crouts0)
