Block Out the NoBA
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
November 27, 2011
Beware the NoBA bearing gifts.
Wouldn’t it be great if the National Basketball Association held a partial season and no one showed up? On opening day I propose an “Un-occupy NoBA Arenas.” Fans, hopefully now former fans, should arrive at the arenas and not enter. Stand outside with signs expressing the abject displeasure they feel with both the players and the owners – peacefully, of course.
In fact, throughout the season resist the urge to fall for the NoBA discount tickets, parking passes, discounts on the obscenely priced merchandise/food/beverages, and just say no. Say no to the hassles of fighting traffic to get to the arenas; the long, cold walks after parking in Yemen; the belligerent, obsequious so-called loyal fans who shout obscenities in front of your children, spill overpriced, watered down drinks everywhere and the undercooked, overpriced weenies.
Stay home; watch the games on cable if you must fall prey to the apathetic and vacuous attitudes displayed by overgrown miscreants who barely kick it up a notch at the advent of the playoffs. After all, you already pay an outrageous cable bill.
Please, shed no tears for the multi-million dollar players or the billionaire owners. If your sympathies are with anyone, they should be with the local bars and restaurants that have lost a good deal of revenue with pre-season and 20 percent of the regular season wiped out. If you don’t want to stay home, patronize those establishments and spend the ticket/parking/merchandise/food/beverage money on dinner and drinks while watching the game. Remember to tip your servers generously – they need the money more than the players and owners.
Make no mistake, the players and owners have the right to make as much money as possible – I begrudge them nothing – this is still a capitalist system in which we live in the United States, at least for the foreseeable future, 2012 elections pending. Players’ careers are short; they should make their money while they can. But this is still an economy of supply and demand. The less the NoBA is demanded, the less of a supply there will be. Food for thought: NBA median salary: $2.33 million; US median salary: $50,233 – 46 times smaller.
While blocking out the NoBA, go watch real basketball. Go to the local colleges and high schools to watch young men and women who play the game they love because they love the game they play. I’ll take the excitement of March Madness over the aloofness of the NoBA playoffs any day. (Yes, I know, the NCAA is a billion dollar business that some think should warrant paying the players whose talents foist the profits into the coffers of the schools they represent, but I am not among them. They are given educational opportunities and a chance to demonstrate their talents on a regional or even a national stage.)
NoBA team owners already suck off the teat of the people with their tax-dollar funded arenas with no benefits for the fans who then pony up for tickets, parking, merchandise and food. For those who say that the arena patronage is a choice, that is true, but the funding of the arenas with tax dollars is not a choice. Don’t give them any more of your hard earned money.
As for those season opening games to be played on Christmas, go to church, stay home with family, enjoy the true meaning of the holiday. If you are Jewish – Chinese food – ‘nuff said.
YEAR LEAGUE ROSTER AVG. GAMES/ $ PER
SIZE SALARY SEASON GAME
2010-11 NBA 15 $5.1 M 82 $62,195
2010 MLB 25 $3.34 M 162 $20,617
2010-11 NHL 23 $2.4 M 82 $29,268
2010 NFL 53 $1.9 M 16 $118,750
Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.
As usual, I heartily agree!! In fact, while we're boycotting the NoBa, let's be sure to patronize the local woman's basketball teams at our local colleges and Universities. My in-laws will be attending each Baylor Lady Bears game.
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