tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8807685073027188764.post8684973276483857210..comments2024-03-14T08:38:46.219-07:00Comments on Biophilia: Occupy Parquet!Burkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08135758421220520531noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8807685073027188764.post-9504448319158591302011-11-20T14:40:06.072-08:002011-11-20T14:40:06.072-08:00PS- We're not losing anything over here with t...PS- We're not losing anything over here with the Warriors (!) ... sorry about the Thunder, though- they are a very exciting team now.Burkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11158223475895530397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8807685073027188764.post-31056955128713826032011-11-20T14:38:45.624-08:002011-11-20T14:38:45.624-08:00That's an excellent point about the "stop...That's an excellent point about the "stop us before we have to face a free market" aspect of the owner's position.<br /><br />Everyone pretty much accepts that monopolization/cartelization/nationalization is the only way to make these kinds of national sports work in the way fans want to see.. yet another way that free markets simply don't work. Sometimes they are great. Other times they really blow and need to be managed with some higher consciousness.Burkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11158223475895530397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8807685073027188764.post-77509487691939520532011-11-20T13:34:24.307-08:002011-11-20T13:34:24.307-08:00I referred to it that way because the players disb...I referred to it that way because the players disband their union to protest the owners' proposal, and the owners try to legally force the union together again in response.<br /><br />Very topsy-turvy from the perspective of a Wal-Mart employee, for instance!<br /><br />And the owners want a salary cap in order to avoid a "free market" system of bidding for the best players. So they need a union to negotiate with in order to avoid the things that normal anti-union rhetoric supports ("free" market setting of salaries). But yes, I am sure without the union (cartel, as you said), the NBA would not function as a unified entity like it does. <br /><br />Of course, no one wants a NY Yankees situation where one team can buy up all the best players in the league, but there are other options as you mentioned, such as revenue sharing, etc.<br /><br />But I am a casual follower of this as well, so I could be wrong in my analysis .....just severely ticked that we are missing out on a valuable year of Thunder play while the team is relatively affordable and many of the players are approaching their prime.Steven Starkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07677314285938844360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8807685073027188764.post-10138402979242975952011-11-20T10:37:51.734-08:002011-11-20T10:37:51.734-08:00Thanks, Steven!
Well, the union functions as a ca...Thanks, Steven!<br /><br />Well, the union functions as a cartel as well, colluding with the owners to limit access by new players/teams and mutually extracting as much income as possible from the current setup. The question is just how the money should be split between the owners and players- only there do they have an adversarial relationship.<br /><br />But from my very cursory reading, the NBA doesn't seem to have any special legal status as a monopoly, so I believe the players are free not only to go to Europe, as some are doing, but to form new leagues in the US, once their NBA contracts are defunct, which I think they are.Burkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11158223475895530397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8807685073027188764.post-62006316008921807152011-11-19T21:19:53.560-08:002011-11-19T21:19:53.560-08:00"The fact that the owners can't properly ..."The fact that the owners can't properly manage a business monopoly and entrenched cultural institution hardly reflects well on them."<br /><br />Ha ha ha! Best quote I have read yet on this.<br /><br />The NBA is so weird with unions. Surely it's a rare union whose function seems to be to try to depress it's members' salaries and playing options?Steven Starkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07677314285938844360noreply@blogger.com