October is one of my favorite months as teams in a variety of sports are in action. At the college level we have football, soccer, womens volleyball and even the traditional spring sports (baseball, golf, tennis, etc.) have a fall season. In the East and Midwest, Hockey is firing up for another season. Field hockey, swimming, cross country and Im sure Ive left something out, are all engaged. Basketball is beginning the road to March Madness.

High schools have much the same schedule. The pros have NFL football, NHL hockey, Major League baseball has the World Series and NBA basketball has ¦¦¦¦.? Hold it! What is the NBA doing? They just cancelled the first two weeks of the season and are playing pickup games around the country.

I know what is going on. The prima donnas (players) are at the bargaining table with the prima donnas (owners). Or, at least that is what is supposed to be happening. It looks more like a contest to see who can look good and get their way.

So what you say?!? Its just millionaires arguing with millionaires. No harm, no foul except for the people who will ultimately pick up the tab”John Q. Fan. It is amazing to me that fans still buy tickets. For the price of a new car you can get a couple of season tickets.

When we started the Portland Trail Blazers (yes, I am proud to say I had my part) in 1970 a fan could get a ticket to a game for 6 bucks. Thats five hundred dollars for 2 season tickets. That money now will get you a single evening at a game for a family of four, maybe. Tickets, parking, concessions”you do the math.

I know 1970 is a long time ago and everything costs more but the owners shot themselves in the foot in the escalation of players salaries. This is the largest portion of any teams overhead.

The owners, in their infinite wisdom, adopted what I call the œGeorge Steinbrenner Model for building their teams; buy the best players. No matter the cost. Ask the Miami Heat how that has worked so far. I dont know maybe that is the way to do it. By the way are the Yankees or Red Sox going to be in the World Series?

Sorry, back to basketball. Spending more was not a good plan when, after the merger between the ABA and the NBA was done, the best players only had one real place to ply their trade. I know for a fact that a couple of years ago there were only two teams in the NBA that showed a profit. Unless someone is lying in each organization the math doesnt add up.

I dont blame the players for taking the money thats on the table; market value. I do think they have a responsibility to have the enterprise called the NBA succeed. They especially have a responsibility to the fans who ultimately pay their salaries. All concerned are making it difficult for the fan to continue to do that in person so Jack and Jill might be hanging out in front of their TV sets instead of enjoying their seats in the arena.

The Commissioners Office is no bargain either. That entity is 10 times larger than it was even 20 years ago. David Stern seems to be able to do whatever he chooses to do whenever he deems it appropriate. Who pays that bill?

Maybe everything is just the way it is supposed to be. Maybe Peter will never have to pay Paul. It sounds a little too much like Wall Street to me.

Go to lulu.com or vervnt.com and check out some excellent reading from the pen of Coach Todd.