NBA TV's Matt Winer reported while there are "no formal negotiating sessions planned" between the NBA and the NBPA, players are "meeting to discuss their issues amongst themselves." There are two more regional NBPA meetings “expected to happen in Chicago and New York this week" ("NBA Game Time," NBA TV, 8/23). SPORTING NEWS' Sean Deveney reports as the NBA lockout nears its third month, "there won't be meetings again this month." Since the lockout began in July, "there's been no progress," and there is a "sense that this is how the owners want it." Deveney adds, "Consecutive days? These guys can't even meet in consecutive months. ... So the summer drags on with no meetings and the key Labor Day date around the corner. The sides are no closer than when the lockout began -- and that's how the owners want it" (SPORTING NEWS TODAY, 8/24).
THIS, BUD, IS FOR YOU: In Milwaukee, Michael Hunt wrote MLB Commissioner Bud Selig is "going to skate right through the next collective-bargaining agreement without the problems that gave the NFL a temporary PR shiner and threaten to radically change the NBA as we know it." MLB and the MLBPA are working toward a new CBA with the current deal expiring after this season, and "almost two entire decades of labor peace would put Selig on the Nobel shortlist if baseball weren't, you know, just a game." Hunt added, "The commish wants to limit the coin drafted players can earn, but I can't fault Selig for not going to the mat with the union on a salary cap. With the concessions baseball has gained, it's OK to let that one go, like a cap has really helped the Bucks. Baseball needs to get a handle on HGH and figure out a way to expand the playoffs with dignity and without tedium" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 8/21).
USING YOUR HEAD: SI.com's Stu Hackel reported hockey player agent Kent Hughes believes that the recent class-action suit by former NFLers regarding head injuries could "have an impact" on the NHL. Hughes said the lawsuit "opens up a can of worms” for the NHL." He added, “I feel that the NHL will closely monitor what happens in the NFL." Hackel noted "should the NFL players lawsuit ultimately be successful, the NHL could also be the target of a similar lawsuit" (SI.com, 8/23).
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING: The Solheim Cup team members were announced Sunday night at 10:30pm ET on Golf Channel, and the net's Gary Williams said the timing was "awful" and a "blunder of the highest proportions." Williams: "The reality is at 10:30 on a Sunday night it not only gets caught in the wash of everything else in the world of golf, it gets caught up in everything in every sport’s headline on Monday morning. I can’t believe what a blunder that was on their part.” Golf Channel's Erik Kuselias said the LPGA is “fighting so hard for publicity, to give their athletes as much credibility and exposure as possible, 10:30 on a Sunday night to make a big announcement to me was a tough way to go” (“Morning Drive,” Golf Channel, 8/22).
