Scorecard

NBA Lockout
Shadow on the Game

Groundhog day arrived for the NBA on Monday, when arbitrator John Feerick at long last poked his head out of hibernation and ruled that the 226 players with guaranteed contracts aren't entitled to be paid during the owners' lockout. This almost certainly means that the relationship between management and labor is in for several more weeks of winter, and most of that time will probably remind fans of the film Groundhog Day—every day will be identical to the one before, with each side criticizing the other for not submitting a realistic proposal.

With the first two weeks of the season having already been canceled, Feerick's ruling seemed to have removed any chance of resolving the dispute before more games have to be excised. If Feerick had decided that the players were entitled to their salaries, commissioner David Stern and the owners would have had more incentive to soften their demand for a loophole-free salary cap and bring the lockout to a quick end. Instead, they now have more reason to be patient as they wait for the players to feel the economic pinch. As even San Antonio's Avery Johnson admitted on Monday, "The owners are kind of sitting pretty now. They feel they have all the power in their hands."

Stern didn't wait long after the ruling to apply pressure himself, not so subtly encouraging the players to challenge players' association executive director Billy Hunter. "This union leadership has stymied us," Stern said.

For its part, the union acted quickly to prevent cracks in its members' resolve. Two players said they had been called by their team's player rep within minutes after the ruling to urge them not to be discouraged. Hunter insisted that Feerick's decision would not shake the union and said that no league proposal has been compelling enough to bring to the reps.

The owners' dream scenario is for the players, who are scheduled to meet in Las Vegas this week, to be so devastated by Feerick's ruling and the prospect of no income that they cave in and accept a deal that would put a hard cap in place. But there seems little chance of that happening for at least several weeks. "We didn't wait it out this long just to cave in now," said one player. "At some point your competitive nature kicks in, and you decide that you're just not going to let the owners win."

The owners will win, however. The only question is how decisive their victory will be and how much of the season—and the fans' goodwill—it will cost them. Both sides had better bundle up. The climate is going to get even colder before the thaw.
—Phil Taylor

Seth Burton (1980-1998)
A Young Athlete Remembered

On Oct. 14 two vehicles carrying members of the Fairmont (W.Va.) High boys' cross-country team to a meet collided head-on, killing one teenager and seriously injuring three others. The accident made the national wires, another tragedy boiled down to a dateline and a few grim sentences. But there's always more to the story.

Seventeen-year-old Seth Burton, with his spiked blond hair and his personal Web site, was different. He was a vegetarian. He was student body vice president. He'd been to Russia to help build orphanages. He performed plays for elementary school kids. He wasn't Fairmont's No. 1 runner, but he had still been chosen captain of the Polar Bears' undefeated team, the defending state champs. Skaters liked him. Jocks liked him. Even parents liked him.