Fallout continues over the NBA's initiative to put microphones on coaches and place cameras in the locker rooms during nationally televised games. In UT, Tim Buckley wrote that the "privacy-preserving" Jazz are "vehemently opposed" to the mandate, which now carries a $100,000 fine if coaches refuse to wear a microphone on the sidelines. Jazz coach Jerry Sloan: "They will not mike me. They can fire me, or have me fired, but they will not mike me." Jazz F Karl Malone, on cameras in the locker rooms: "Next thing you know, they're going to have them in the shower with us, when we're taking a shower. And they're going to have it on the Internet, while you're washing your(self)" (DESERET NEWS, 3/9). Pacers coach Larry Bird: "Next year, they'll be putting computer chips in everybody's (rear ends) so they can monitor them year-round." Although Bird called the plan "ridiculous," he said that he would comply with it because "I have to." Bird, on ways to counter the cameras: "I'll just have all my players sit there naked and that won't last very long." Pacers President Donnie Walsh noted that there "would've been more acceptance" to the plan if the league had brought it up in a meeting with coaches before the season (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 3/10). Celtics coach Rick Pitino: "I'm going to do what the league says, but I really wish there was discussion on this" (BOSTON HERALD, 3/10). Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins: "Fans know what goes on in a locker room. Where's the mystery? I understand that they want to be in there, but once it's shown, now what? ... My concern is, if they get a little foot in the door, they're going to want a bigger foot" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 3/10). Sonics coach Paul Westphal said, "I'm sure a lot of people would love to have sat in with [NBA Commissioner] David Stern and the owners planning their strategy to end the lockout. It would have drawn real high ratings." But Sonics F Vin Baker said he likes the idea of cameras in the locker rooms because "it'll be fun for the fans. Kind of like the helmet cams (in the NFL)" (SEATTLE TIMES, 3/10). DESPERATE MEASURES BY NBA? In Boston, Howard Manly writes that microphones and cameras are "a cheap attempt [by the NBA] to improve sagging NBC television ratings" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/10). In Albany, Steve Campbell: "How stupid does the NBA think we are? Does the NBA really think that any old mike will fool fans into loving the game the way they did when [Michael] Jordan was wearing a Chicago Bulls uniform?" (Albany TIMES UNION, 3/10). FSN's Jim Rome called the cameras and microphones "bad ideas" and said, "I guess the NBA wasn't going to be fine in the post-Jordan era after all. TV ratings are down, there are empty seats in arenas everywhere and the league is panicking. What else would produce such ridiculous ideas. ... Memo to David Stern: It's the product on the floor that needs addressing, not the broadcast itself. Stop playing producer and start being commissioner. The networks may be keeping your league afloat, but now is not the time to start letting them run your league" ("Last Word," FSN, 3/9). In Philadelphia, Phil Jasner writes under the header "Keep Your Camera Where It Belongs," and writes of the plan: "Wrong time, wrong place" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 3/10). But in Milwaukee, Bob Wolfley writes, "This dispute is more about the league's ham-handed way of imposing its will on its employees than about an issue that's peripheral to the health of the league." Wolfley noted that the only way to get coaches and players to "warm up to the idea" is to introduce it in "small measures" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 3/10). In Toronto, Chris Zelkovich writes that the new concept is part of NBC's plan "to bring the game closer to viewers." Zelkovich: "With all those Internet advances and video games out there, sports will have to bring fans closer to stay in business" (TORONTO STAR, 3/10). In L.A., Tom Hoffarth supports the idea and writes that the NBA should "remind the players and union who really pay the salaries and that more people watch [NBA games] at home than in person because that's all they can afford. At least then there might not be such a resistance to a little bit of technological progress that's already become a bigger deal that it needs to be" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 3/10).
