Your demands on the NBA
Fans add their own clauses to the new labor deal
Posted: Thursday January 07, 1999 01:57 PM
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The fans have spoken. They want to see lower ticket prices, players who hustle, and mandatory lifetime bans for players who misbehave off the court Peter J. Taylor/Allsport |
The fans have spoken.
We asked you, the NBA fans, what you would include as your clause in the
new NBA labor agreement. The players are getting something, the owners are
getting something, shouldn't the fans get something, too?
Fred Hickman, CNN/SI
1. At least the first three home games
for every team should feature total open admission for the underprivileged,
for those that can't afford to go to the games and to students doing well
in school. 2. The League and the players' union should give back to
their communities. Since there isn't an All-Star Weekend this year, there
should be an All-Star Jam to be held in every NBA city. 3. Lower the
ticket prices for the remainder of the season. 4. Everyone from both
sides should come together and have a big press conference to say that they
are sorry. Vince Cellini, CNN/SI
Like baseball's
Cal Ripken, the NBA players should spend more time before and after the
games interacting with the fans, signing autographs, talking to the fans,
and apologizing honestly to the fans for putting everyone through this. The
owners, for their part, should have deals geared toward the fans -- like
two-for-one ticket nights, cut-rate nights -- and should also make everyone
aware that they appreciate the fans, and appreciate their support.
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CNN/SI Poll Results
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When the news broke that the league and the players had reached an agreement that would lead to a shortened 1999 NBA season, we asked how you felt about the season. Your response was fast and, indeed, furious.
Overwhelmingly, you said that you just, plain don't care.
Nearly 55,000 votes were cast in the one-day poll. Seventy-seven percent of you said that you didn't care about the upcoming season. Thirteen percent said that you feel fantastic that there will be a season, while 10 percent were still not sure.
As the beginning of the shortened season draws closer, the NBA and the players face a challenge. Can they get us back into the arenas? Back in front of our television sets. Will we start to care, again, about Kevin and Kobe, Alonzo and Allen? We'll see.
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Rick Cobb, Mustang, Okla.
Both the owners and players agree never
to use the words "middle class" in describing "low-earning" NBA players
since they are neither in the middle of the nation's socio-economic
demographic nor do the players genuinely demonstrate class with any
regularity. Howie Jackson, Huntington Beach, Calif.
I
propose all ticket prices be reduced 50% for the remainder of the season.
Clippers tickets however, should be free! Craig Sobottka, Freeland,
Wash.
You play a short season and donate ALL proceeds to charity
this year. Anupam Dhar, Salt Lake City, Utah
Bring down
the price of tickets ... it's gone way too high up, for both the regular
and the playoff seasons. Remember, the fans are half the game. Without
them, who will the NBA play for? The commercials and the corporations?
Enough of the avarice behavior of the organizers. Everyone should have a
hearty laugh together at the end to forget all the "stupidity" and have a
great new "attitude." David Young, Vienna, Va.
I think
that the NBA players should have to sprint up and down the court like every
other athlete does in all other sports. They should have to break a sweat
and actually try to play defense! Jon Leary, Toronto, Ontario
Have the players and owners go back to school for a semester to
learn intensity and desire again. Doc Marten, Sycamore, Ill.
No player or owner, regardless of stature, salary, or past
experience, may utter the following words in any form: "I know how the fans
must feel." Reason #1: No player or owner, no matter how "in touch" with
the fans he feels he is, has any clue how the lockout feels to an 11
year-old kid whose favorite player wasn't on TV because the two biggest
bullies on the block couldn't decide how to split up the biggest bag of
candy ever. Reason #2: No player or owner could possibly know what it is
like to watch a guy earn $400,000 to sit on the bench and cheer during
games, play a game for two hours in practice and call it a hard day's work,
and get to hang out with some of the most athletic, popular people in the
world, and yet complain about it. Lonnie Schoultz, Foley, Ala.
ANY substantial misconduct by a player including any drug use,
assaults on coaches or other players, or other off-court conduct
detrimental to the game will lead to a MANDATORY lifetime ban from the NBA.
Michael Jordan, the fans favorite, might not be around this season AP | |
Tony Liegel, Seattle, Wash.
Add a product satisfaction
agreement. If I am not satisfied with the product, especially when the
Clippers, Nuggets and Warriors come to town, my ticket price will be
refunded to me. Jeff Richied, Houston, Texas
As long as Alonzo
Mourning and the Knicks are going to continue fighting, could the
league pay for boxing lessons and set up a ring for a quick 3 round match
during halftime? Bryson Nokes, Dallas, Texas
I would like
lower food, beer prices. Its ridiculous that the ticket prices have to be
so high, but why the food. I mean where talking hot dogs and pizza.
Jim Vlahakis, Somerville, Mass.
How about some decent seats
for $20? No rock-show, laser-light, introductions. No crazy, blaring music
during timeouts. No cheerleaders, no stupid mascots, no indoor fireworks,
no guys dunking with the help of trampolines - are you getting the picture?
No more uniforms that look like they were designed by a 12 year-old. Fewer
time outs with under 2 minutes to go. I don't care how much the advertisers
like them. In fact, we're going to boycott any product we see advertised in
the last 2 minutes of a close game. One more thing - will somebody out
there run a fast break? Please. Kal Barber, Huntsville, Ala.
The teams need to get the players to interact with the fans a hell
of a lot more. That's what saved baseball -- classy players like McGwire,
Sosa and Ripken. The NBA players need to treat the fans the way that NASCAR
drivers do ... with deep appreciation! They need to take the time to shoot
the breeze and sign autographs before AND after the games. Greg
Abbey, Charleston, W. Va.
Any "bad boy" (Sprewell and Iverson,
among others) must wear the old little shorts from the great days for the
remaining of the season. See how bad they think they are then. Ken
Oplinger, Visalia, Calif.
Grow up. You have been given an amazing
talent which we enjoy watching, but the drug use, violence, poor attitudes
and overall obnoxious behavior will do nothing but take money out of your
pockets in the future. Anyone who can't do this needs to leave the league,
for EVERYONE'S benefit. Brandon Thornberg, Portland, Ore.
Throughout the lockout, you've been insisting that you're entertainers, and
that you should be paid like entertainers. Well, now entertain us. Play
hard. Play well. Sign autographs. Shake hands. Make us feel glad we spent
our money on your entertainment. Because it's true you're the product, but
that gives you the responsibility to be a good product. We've learned we
can live without you; make us understand why we shouldn't. Paul
Reinheimer, Charlotte, N.C.
Fan redemption can be achieved in one
way and one way only. Monetarily. People are fed up and money always brings
a smile. For starters, Reduce ticket prices and concessions by 25 percent.
Free parking. Hand out free T-shirts at the gate. Have free autograph
sessions before and after games. For every 3 pointer hit, free beer, if you
happen to be at the head of the line. Tom Hackett, Layton, Utah
How about a customer satisfaction clause? In other words, I can
get a refund up until the end of the first quarter. Since all that really
matters in most NBA games is the last two minutes, shouldn't we only have
to pay 4% of a ticket price? If a player gets a technical, he buys a hot
dog for the crowd. Miss two free throws in a row, you buy the house a coke.
If the home team loses by twenty, the fans get a voucher for a free ticket
to another game. The first guy to throw a punch buys pizza for the crowd,
the rest of the guys in the fight buy the beer. Jose Lopez,
Washington, D.C.
I feel like we are the ones penalized for the
huge salaries. I can't take my son to a game for less than $200 and then on
top of that you pay 6 bucks for a hot dog! Not to mention another 6 for a
lousy watered down Coke! Give us a reason to come back! Keith
Hardeman, Columbia, Mo.
1. Each side must issue a public apology
to the fans taking full responsibility for being complete, ignorant
jerks.
2. Cut ticket prices by 50% for the playoffs.
3. Fire David
Stern and Billy Hunter: They serve no purpose and have almost dual-handedly
ruined the sport.
4. Don't EVER make silly statements about one's
livelihood or profits. Your general $40,000-earning public couldn't care
less that you had to take a "pay cut" down to $5 million.
5. Don't EVER
let Alonzo Mourning, Kenny
Anderson, or Patrick Ewing
speak in public again!
Steve Sonne, New Canaan, Conn.
No spitting on us; no swearing at us; no obscene gestures towards or in
front of us and our kids. Players must play defense during the season as
well as the playoffs. Chris Harris, Damascus, Md.
NBA
players have permanently revoked any right they ever had to treat fans like
irritants. Severe fines should be imposed on players who skip autograph
sessions, personal appearances, and the like. Same goes for verbal abuse
of fans, officials, or other staff. NBA players have choked their golden
goose within an inch of its life. It's time for them to start kissing our
behinds instead of the other way around. Tom Anderson, Hamilton,
Mont.
No rookie should receive more than $500,000 in his first
year. Brent Tischler, Chicago, Ill.
Please don't let this
happen again ... ever.
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