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Leagues and Governing Bodies

HOOPS HELD HOSTAGE, DAY 148: ARE SATURDAY TALKS IN DOUBT?

          NBA Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik "sent a letter to
     [NBPA Exec Dir] Billy Hunter ... suggesting that Saturday's
     full bargaining session in Manhattan be canceled," after the
     players "withdrew their agreement with the league on an
     escrow plan," according to Mike Wise of the N.Y. TIMES. 
     Granik: "We are going nowhere.  Whatever progress we made on
     Friday is all but gone.  If this is their position, then I
     don't expect there to be a meeting on Saturday. ... Based
     upon their not accepting the tax, we're back to square one." 
     Hunter "disputed Granik's contention that it would be futile
     to hold a meeting on Saturday," saying, "If the N.B.A. is
     serious about making a deal, they should stop posturing and
     come to the bargaining table this Saturday with the goal of
     ending the lockout and saving the season."  Granik "admitted
     that any thought of playing in December has been lost." 
     NBPA outside counsel Jeffrey Kessler: "We told them on
     Friday, 'Let's set a date to cancel the season on
     Wednesday,' and we'll negotiate around the clock for six
     days and see where we are.  Our feeling is, whatever deal we
     can make a month from now, we can make now.  But the
     commissioner didn't want to do that" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/25). 
     Kessler, on the NBA: "They're frustrated because the union
     is not falling apart, and they're frustrated because the
     players have positions that they feel strongly about.  All
     of those issues need to be discussed at the negotiating
     table on Saturday" (WASHINGTON POST, 11/25).  NBA CLO
     Jeffrey Mishkin: "The season is in grave jeopardy.  We are
     as far apart as we've ever been" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 11/25).
          A WONDERFUL LIFE? The NBA informed NBC that the games
     scheduled for Christmas Day have been canceled.  NBC will
     show "It's A Wonderful Life" in place of the scheduled
     Lakers-Suns/Knicks-Bulls doubleheader, which would have been
     NBC's first '98-99 NBA telecast (NBC Sports).  NBC Sports
     VP/Sports Information Ed Markey: "We're just on the sideline
     hoping it gets settled fast.  We're like every other NBA
     fan."  One Canadian TV exec said that he thinks NBC "will
     play a huge role in getting this resolved," as "they're the
     ones bankrolling the owners right now.  They're the ones
     paying all the dollars.  I think NBC will call a lot of the
     shots as to when the season will start" (Robert MacLeod,
     Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 11/25).  In Chicago, Sam Smith writes
     that the union "had hoped all along that NBC would pressure
     the NBA into playing the Christmas games, but that clearly
     was a misjudgment as NBC, with no football, is in no
     position to endanger its long-term relationship with the NBA
     by pushing for a quick settlement" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 11/25). 
     Bulls Player rep Steve Kerr, on "It's A Wonderful Life"
     playing on NBC: "That's rather ironic because isn't that the
     movie where (Jimmy Stewart's character) loses all his money? 
     Doesn't he lose all his money and become so frustrated that
     he ends up deciding to go jump off a bridge?  Well, I'm not
     ready to jump yet" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 11/25).
          LOCKOUT FALLOUT: In a front-page story in the CHARLOTTE
     OBSERVER, Rick Bonnell notes that one in three Hornets fans
     is "losing interest in the team during the lockout."  An
     Observer/WCNC-TV poll of 404 people, including 233 who said
     they were Hornets fans, found that 44% "say they've missed
     games little or not at all," while 37% said they'll "have
     less interest in the team" after the lockout (CHARLOTTE
     OBSERVER, 11/25)....The latest cancellation of games "pretty
     much ensures that players will lose two months of pay,"
     totalling about $300M (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 11/25)....NYC
     Controller Alan Hevesi said that the lockout has cost the
     city's economy $53M -- and "could go as high as" $236M if
     the season is lost, via lost sales at MSG's box office and
     businesses around MSG (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 11/25)....The IHL UT
     Grizzlies have launched a newspaper ad campaign "aimed at
     Jazz fans, even picturing John Stockton atop a Zamboni"
     (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 11/25)....In Chicago, Sam Smith looks at
     how the lockout will affect free agent F Scottie Pippen. 
     Smith, noting that the Bulls will probably resign Pippen, as
     the Suns, Magic and Rockets have all said they will go
     another way: "If [the Bulls] listen to the players union,
     they offer Pippen maybe $5 million.  After all, if no other
     team is going to offer Pippen a contract, why should the
     Bulls bid against themselves?" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 11/25).

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