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Page 9 • Tuesday, November 3, 1998
Technically Foul
hsketball problems reveal petty disputes
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RICHARD
PADDACK
also be pur-
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its who I
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4 gaw
sday against
•Stars,
stralian
times: professional basketball.
Many sports fans do not even
ilize the sport has begun. Well,
hould have begun, but it did
|t. If this is confusing, do not
irry because you are not alone.
The reason for the “lockout,” as
Website at s debate of the money hungry
>been labeled, is about as shady
Michael Olowakanidi in the af-
can pull the’ n00 n sun. But its disruption of
feed Arena Bo » S p 0r t jt se lf will be devastating.
The root of all problems with
■Sessional sports is money, and
other gameseflsthe main reason the basket-
owners and players are argu-
There is too much money,
dthey cannot agree how it is to
distributed.
Money leads to greed, greed
dsto regulations and over-or-
aization, and these in turn lead
lockouts.
The fact an entire month of
sketball has been canceled due
disputes over the payroll and
ntracts of some of the nation’s
’hest-paid athletes is ridiculous.
Eastern Kent! The long-term effects of this
ainst Mercer :kout may be beneficial to pro-
after lean isional basketball, but the
)een in a a ort-term effects will be felt by
two men arre llions of Americans.
;ion charges, As soon as football is over,
■ssion, Smitb is will be wandering the streets
the players search of something to satisfy
nage of the: eirhunger for professional
von its seitlorts. And what happens to all
March. Be bi-fans? Yes, it is the ’90s and
a was arrestfilany sports fans are now admit-
ving charge* to being bi-fans and not loyal
orward to Kjljustone sport. Bi-fans are sim-
1 Wayne'
tember
fans who prefer more than
ie sport at a time. Without B-
it in LexiifiH, there is no balance in the
sion came sit: I irld of professional sports,
mself took: The harmony of the delicate
ident in ant: |ofessional sports ecosystem is
itroversy.
not the only aspect that will be
lost due to the untimely disputes
between the owners and players.
Everyone loses during the lockout.
Why were these problems not
resolved during the off-season?
Did players and owners fear the
meetings would cut into their six-
month vacation time? Maybe it is
just an experiment to see how
long Americans can survive with
out basketball — or if they will
miss it at all.
Whatever the reason
for dragging out these
proceedings, the ends
better justify the means.
The revenue lost dur
ing this down time will
be enormous.
Skip Wollenberg of
the Associated Press
Business said, “The NBA
and its 29 teams had ex
pected to generate an as
tounding $2 billion in
revenue this year
through sales of tickets,
arena suites, broadcast
rights and advertising
signs and its (NBA) share
of an estimated $3 bil
lion-plus in merchandise
sales worldwide.”
The networks will feel
the brunt of the cancela
tions. They have already
planned a lineup of ac
tion movies and classic
NBA games to replace
telecasts of canceled
game, hoping to hold on
to viewers and advertis
ers during the lockout.
Re-runs are not going
to make it all better.
Most people will be
more inclined to go play
putt-putt golf.
Frito-Lay and beer
companies will probably
be hurt by this as well.
Who wants to watch
Rain Man or Thelma
and Louis with a six-
pack of beer and some
french onion dip?
Why do the American
people have to suffer be
cause some first draft pick cannot
make the payments on his Ferrari?
It must be tough for them to
consider they may have to settle
for a four-story house.
Some of the players’ maturity
levels have not quite caught up
with their pituitary levels.
Grow up and play some ball.
Richard Paddack is a senior
journalism major.
Lockout provides time to address league issues
I t is Nov. 3.
Sports enthusi
asts should be
preparing to treat
themselves to the
squeak of sneak
ers on hardwood,
the swish of bas
ketballs dropping
through nets as
the 1997-98 NBA
season kicks off tonight.
MATT
WEBER
TIM KANG/Tiii. Baitauon
Instead, they are being subject
ed to continued bickering be
tween wealthy athletes and their
equally well-off employers over
just how their millions should be
divied up.
And that, at least in the long
run, is a good thing for the sport.
Many are saying the National
Basketball Association should have
learned a lesson from Major
League Baseball and the fallout
from that sport’s disas
trous 1994 strike. But
the NBA is not baseball.
Baseball is an Amer
ican icon, a century-old
tradition that aborted a
potentially record-
breaking campaign in
midseason, losing both
a World Series and a lot
of followers, then tried
to substitute no-name
replacement players for
striking fan favorites.
The NBA, by com
parison, is an upstart
operation that has out
grown itself and its
own expectations over
the past 20 years to be
come America’s most
visible sports league.
Along the way, the
NBA has neglected to
address a lot of big-
league problems.
The most notorious
of these, skyrocketing
player salaries, is a
prime example. As
players like Michael
Jordan and Minnesota
forward Kevin Garnett
sign astronomical con
tracts, owners are
forced to pay out less
and less to their non
star players. This re
sults in a dwindling
NBA “middle class”
and a growing body of
minimum-wage talent.
These two groups
make up a “silent ma
jority” that often is ig
nored in player-man
agement negotiations.
This year’s work stoppage —
the first in league history —
should do a lot to change that.
Maybe union leaders like Patrick
Ewing and Dikembe Mutombo
will not mind a few missed pay-
checks, but the players on the end
of the bench will feel it in their
pocketbooks when the money
stops coming. And when the
checks quit coming, those lower-
paid players will have a lot to say
about how the union, and the
league, should be run.
Another, more important issue
that will finally be addressed is
proposed revisions to the NBA’s
laughable drug-abuse policy.
A study conducted earlier
this year by ESPN showed more
than half of the NBA’s 350 play
ers abuse alcohol or marijuana
on a regular basis, but some
players put the number closer to
80 or 85 percent.
The NBA drug policy, written
in the early ’80s and lacking
guidelines concerning marijuana
or mandatory drug tests for veter
ans, has come under scrutiny in
recent years. Several high-profile
players have been arrested for
drug possession, and some still
charge the death of Boston Celtics
star Reggie Lewis, who collapsed
in the summer of 1993 from heart
failure, was caused by cocaine
use that went unnoticed or
unchecked by league officials.
It is a shame basketball fans will
have to wait a few months to see
the NBA in action. It is a shame a
lot of borderline athletes will have
to find jobs in lesser leagues such
as the Continental Basketball Asso
ciation or with teams overseas. It is
a shame the league will have to
spend time and effort luring fans
back to the game.
But the game will go on, and
when it does the fans will come
back. And a few months’ worth of
missed games now to fix some
pressing problems is a lot better
for the league and the fans than a
forfeited season down the road.
Matt Weber is a junior
journalism major.
J.
., she ranks
im with eijj!
its. Pickerii
right time
sparing for
nt.
Tensive MV
mament ’
aroon Out success relies on Aggie fans
■hat be
gan as
an idea
nongst friends
pmed into one
tKyle Field’s
5red two go: rnemo "
ad the
ble scenes.
On Oct. 10th,
e Twelfth Man
eated a sea of
las begun,
an see intin#
in the w
mmate
KYLE
VALENTINE
lenti is on. , ,
aeementm aroon and a charged atmos-
^ "erethat definitely made a dif-
rence in the outcome of the Ne-
aska football game.
The success of Maroon Out
'as dependent upon the student
v m use Jy’ s ea g erness to participate.
^ the matd an ^ y° u ^ or making it happen.
„ intimW A SS; es - both current
r itpfl tnli ™former students, have ap-
irni j toached the Maroon Out staff
ondering where Maroon Out
ill go from here.
Following the victory over Ne
ka, the class councils decided
not to promote another Maroon
Out, but instead to wait to see
how the students responded.
At the Texas Tech game, about
half of the student fans at Kyle
Field chose to wear maroon. And
that is exactly how this practice
needs to continue: as a choice.
The students of Texas A&M
University do not need the class
councils to launch a huge media
circus before each game to en
courage people to wear maroon.
Rather, we need to allow each
individual to make his or her own
decision. Therefore, the class
councils have decided that we
will promote a Maroon Out game
once a year in the interest of pre
serving the anticipation, intensity
and unique atmosphere Maroon
Out creates. The rest of the
games are up to the Aggie fans.
Maroon Out was simply an
event that enabled Aggies to
stand united in Kyle Field and ig
nite the Aggie spirit that lies with
in each Aggie.
Even though it is an individ
ual’s choice whether or not to
wear maroon, it is the class
councils’ sincere hope the stu
dent body will take it upon it
self to choose to wear maroon
to all games.
The class councils will now
move onto other responsibilities
including Elephant Walk, Ring
Dance and Boot Dance just to
name a few. It is the councils’ duty
to work as diligently on these pro
jects as they did on Maroon Out to
ensure they too are a success.
We look forward to serving the
students of this University, and
we hope you will take part in the
many services the class councils
provide here at Texas A&M.
Kyle Valentine is
Maroon Out director and a
junior finance major.
mpetitivend
of team
has a stron
on everyo®
lid. “I can , sf
side to
TESTS ON JOHN GLENM
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MAIL CALL
Holiday attacked
by propaganda
In response to John Lemons’
Oct. 30 column:
I would like to remind John
Lemons the opinion page is for
opinions and not for false infor
mation and urban legends.
By claiming Halloween began
as an evil holiday, Lemons pass
es along false propaganda start
ed by Christians centuries ago.
When one religion takes over an
area where another religion is
prominent, the first thing that
happens is the conquering reli
gion demonizes the traditions of
that culture and spreads lies
about it. This happened to the
Celts, the Native Americans,
Africans and Asians.
It is true the Celts did perform
human sacrifices using criminals
and war prisoners (not babies).
This was a common practice for
many of the world’s past cul
tures. Christianity is not without
its questionable acts in history.
One only has to think of the thou
sands of innocent people killed
during the Inquisition.
It seems every Halloween
someone opposes the holiday us
ing false fear propaganda such as
Satanic infant sacrifices (proven
false by police and child abuse
centers around the country) or se
rial killing sprees caused by play
ing Dungeons and Dragons (again,
an urban legend).
Not only is spreading fear pro
paganda unethical, it leads to in
tolerance, misunderstandings,
and in the most extreme in
stances, hate crimes.
Kimberly Gilliam
Class of ’01
Violence requires
serious attention
In response to Oct. 30 coverage:
As a co-sponsor of the
Clothesline Project, I was
pleased to see the coverage of
the shirts on display in the MSC
Flagroom. I was taken aback,
however, by the header reading
“Airing their laundry.”
That phrase evokes the
phrase “airing their dirty laun
dry,” or talking in public about
things we should keep private. It
reflects the belief we should
deal with our problems on our
own, in isolation.
Domestic and dating violence
are dirty issues, but they are
not issues we can afford to
keep private.
Far too many women and chil
dren have died as a result of so
ciety’s expectations that we
keep our “nasty little secrets” to
ourselves. Far too many people
live in an isolated hell because
we refuse to talk openly, publicly
and honestly about the abuse
that is taking place within the
supposed sacred confines of our
homes and relationships.
Although I can excuse the
header, I was horrified by the car
toon, Fish, on the back page.
Finding a cartoon making a
joke out of a man with a chain
saw looking for his ex-wife at the
end of National Domestic Vio
lence Awareness Month makes a
mockery of those individuals
who work to end domestic vio
lence. That is to say nothing of
what it does to the victims of do
mestic violence.
Before joking about this top
ic, think about the following: an
estimated one in three college-
aged individuals experienced vi
olence in their dating relation
ships; and, of all women
murdered in 1995, one in four
was murdered by a current or
former husband or boyfriend.
People’s lives are at stake.
Please stop joking about domes
tic and dating violence.
Becki Elkins Nesheim
Coordinator, Gender Issues
Education Services
Studies support
marijuana use
In response to Oct. 28 columns:
I have read several opinions in
The Battalion discussing the le
galization of illicit drugs such as
marijuana, and Thursday’s
columns were no different.
Although I am not endorsing
the use of such drugs, one must
use reason to determine whether
or not these drugs are as harmful
as anti-marijuana crusaders would
have us believe.
Elizabeth Strait supports her
belief that cannabis should re
main banned by citing the find
ings of spurious studies suggest
ing marijuana is as harmful as
tobacco. Strait also contends a
marijuana user cannot be a suc
cessful student.
In fact, G.D. Mellinger’s 1978
study on drug use and academic
performance shows frequent
users of marijuana who were col
lege students have been shown to
have higher grade point ratios
than non-users.
Another study by S. Cohen pub
lished by the New York Academy
of Sciences suggests users score
higher on standardized achieve
ment tests than non-users.
Because of length, I cannot
expound further on actual find
ings about marijuana, but there
are many legitimate studies that
anti-marijuana crusaders will
never cite.
Do not believe everything the
government or other prohibition
ists would have you believe. Find
out for yourself by doing research
rather than just being another type
of “dittohead.”
John David Young
Class of '98
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number.
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letters for length, style, and accuracy. Letters
may be submitted in person at 013 Reed Mc
Donald with a valid student ID. Letters may also
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