e0y2e3 wrote:Naw, the fact that Wade, LBJ and Bosh turned the game upside down is not pseudo intellectualism, it's truth.
They staged a two week play that is only met on a player movement and drama level by the NFL draft, they went to South Beach where they are running the team (they are the ones picking players up from the airport, calling guys, etc.... not Riley), they took over a city, the press, a league and a team.
Now I don't believe that this is what set Gilbert off, but I do think that a lot of the outside looking in fans and owners were mad about this sort of player revolution.
It's an interesting thought to wrestle w/.
I don't think Gilbert losing his lunch was that closely tied to this, but I'm also not going to ignore the thought process outright because the guy teaches at Duke about Black Athletes.
They did turn the game upside down. Temporarily. The game will right itself. The powers that be will realize that letting the inmates run the asylum is not in the best interest of the game.
The casual fan will be enamored with the Super Teams, and the cities in which these Super Teams exist will sell out. Which is so sorely needed, because how could the huge markets sell out games without it?
However, competitive balance swirls the toilet and the owners of the "have-nots" will burn with fury. The Owner's meetings will get really interesting, probably ending with a "We-must-break-the-players" stance and a lockout.
The owners have too much money at stake to let this bullshit continue.
So, this is likely to be the last time you see this type of thing. This is not a Player Revolution, it's a Player Revolt that will be quashed. Things will go back to the way they were, maybe more than they ever were.
It may have made for fancy ratings, but you don't throw this in the Owner's faces and expect them to take it.
If the players don't like it, let 'em form their own league. And once they're owners, I wonder how long it will take them to start thinking and acting like owners.
