What Happened to the Rest of the Money?

Top 5 - Reasons Why NBA Rating are Going Down

Here are my Top 5 reasons why NBA TV ratings will drop.

1. Politics - whether it be the NBA putting Black Lives Matter on the court in the Orlando bubble or Mavericks owner Mark Cuban announcing he'd no longer play the National Anthem before Dallas homes games. The "in your face" manner that the NBA handles politics is very off-putting (to say it mildly) for a large segment of the the US (many of whom used to be fans but no longer).

2. Player movement - LeBron James, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Kyrie Irving and others have all now played for multiple teams and treating fan loyalty like something that is disposable is harming fans willingness to consume the NBA's product. Plus the way that many of these relocations happen is also distasteful to many fans (looking at you James Harden).

3. Too much ISO and 3's - there's way too much isolation play and too many three point attempts. Watching someone try one-on-one moves or kick out for a 3-point shot is boring basketball. Sure simple math says 3-points are better than 2-points but for the viewer 3-passes before a shot makes for more exciting play. In a way the point above was about too much player movement (from city to city) and this one is about too little player movement (on the court).

4. China - this is separate from politics because even many who support BLM are upset with the NBA's kowtowing to China. It was naked crass greed and very repellant. LeBron James wants to lecture me on human rights but defends China? Go fuck yourself.

5 Costs - there are no fans at games right now but even when there were the cost to attend games was getting out of reach for the average fan. It is not a stretch to say to be a season ticket holder these days you'd have to be earning at least six-figures a year. Taking away access to attending games in person hurts a person's desire to watch that same product on TV. Covid precludes people from attending today but the very costs (tickets, parking, concessions, etc.) having been putting the experience of attending a game out of reach for years.

I could also include the awful way replay is being handled, especially in the last minutes of the games and the refereeing of games in general but that's a post for another day.

Sports and Social Justice

 Is the NBA and other pro sports leagues:

A: A competitive sport

B: Big business

C: Entertainment

I would fall into the category of A - the NBA and the other pro sports leagues should be first and foremost competitive sports. You play to win the game. The goal of the season is to make the playoffs and for successful franchises the real goal is to win championships. Many want to be naive and believe this is still true but for many sports is also a refuge from the stress and troubles of the real world. That's what makes it so appealing. Rich or poor, black or white, Republican or Democrat, we could all agree on at least pulling for our hometown team. Now that appeal is being flushed down the toilet for politics.

And yes it is politics - not social justice. When the NBA explicitly allows you to have "Black Lives Matter" and other approved social justice messages but not "All Lives Matter" or "Blue Lives Matter" to be printed on official NBA jerseys and gear. And if the argument is that "All Lives Matter" or "Blue Lives Matter" means you're missing the point of young black men and women being killed at the hands of the police then why is "Free Hong Kong" also banned by the NBA? Do yellow lives not matter? Because if that's what you're saying - guess what - you've just become the racist in this argument. It is also not lost on most that the majority of these deaths at the hands of the police seem to be happening in cities that have been run by Democrats for decades yet the outrage is being focused at a Republican President.

If you answered option B that the NBA and other pro sports are big business it would be tough for me to argue with you. I've both accepted and approve of players going to where they get the best deals in free agency. I also understand that the demand for tickets means higher prices. I don't like it but I understand. But I wonder if the NBA understands that attending their games is now beyond the financial reach of most middle class families and especially of black families. Now owners like Mark Cuban seem bent on driving away a large section of the population that can afford to attend games because of politics. I'm lucky in that I can afford to attend games and usually attend a few Celtics, Bruins, Red Sox and Patriots games a year but outside of my annual trip to Miami for the Patriots away game - I'm probably now staying away from the other venues for the foreseeable future.

I truly believe "Go Woke Go Broke" is a real thing in the business world. Just ask the CEO of Goodyear. The NBA is also now going to have to fully embrace all that being woke entails which includes zero tolerance for any domestic violence and completely cutting ties to the Chinese Communists. To do anything less will open the NBA up to claims of being hypocrites (which they are). It will be a ever downward spiral. They will learn that you can never be woke enough. 

If you answered option C that the NBA and other pro sports are entertainment then there's a long standing saying in show business that "the show must go on!" How would you feel if you bought tickets for Hamilton but instead of doing the show the cast lectured the audience on identity politics? Now that the NBA players have set a precedent of cancelling games due to the death of a black man at the hands of the police - will they also cancel future games any time this happens again (and it will happen again). To not do so would be hypocritical. And if this threat that other future games might be also be cancelled then the appeal of buying tickets to NBA games just becomes even less attractive. Again it's a downward spiral.   

And finally if Donald Trump wins re-election will all pro games be cancelled in protest on November 4th? Because this is all about politics.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

If there's one thing Black Lives matter has taught us is that the political correctness police these past few decades have been pulling our legs in trying to force people to say "African-American" instead of "Black"... The next time a Canadian politician or even the Prime Minister criticizes the US some Senator should introduce a bill offering the Western Canadian Provinces a path to Statehood to see how that goes over in Canada... Who knew? In the mid 18th century London versions of the play King Lear had a happy ending where Cordelia doesn't die but instead falls in love with and marries Edgar and lives happily ever after. Not until 1838 was the tragic ending restored... Would love to see Hugh Jackman star in a live action Samurai Jack movie... Wish I could get odds that Joe Biden's initial announced VP pick (whoever that ends up being) will have to be walked back and replaced (for whatever reason). That would be peak 2020. I'd need at least 100-1 odds to put real money on the proposition... NJ Governor Murphy announces no fans at Giants or Jets games this season. And the NYC economy takes another big hit (fans going to those games weren't staying in NJ)... "Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself." - Rumi...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Interesting profile of Doug Stanhope.

- Muhammad Ali's son says dad would have hated 'racist' Black Lives Matter

- Reason's case against qualified immunity

- I wasn't familiar with the history of the "Hard Hat Riot."  Would not be surprised if shorty history repeats itself.

- Interesting Werner Herzog interview.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Go woke go broke! ESPN ratings sink to 41-year history lows. Over the past 3-months I've watched the Jordan documentary and a few UFC fights and that's it. I won't shed a tear when the layoffs inevitably occur.

- For those who want to get into bird watching

- Nassim Taleb: The Mask Masquerade. Personally I wear a mask when in public as a common courtesy to others. But wearing a mask while alone in your car, on the beach, hiking, or golfing is just silly.

-  Stories and Data: Reflections on race, riots, and police. Highly recommended reading.

- A thread on heuristics (tips) to make good decisions from Shane Parrish

- Heh Heh (Via Instapundit)

I Am There

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- The Kyoto Protocol had "no verifiable effect on the CO2 emissions" for the nations who signed on to the "treaty".  Emissions trading and limits are all a sham and have nothing to do with science. Nothing at all.

- Heh heh

- Reminder of why The Far Side was so awesome

- It's the weekend - who up for a swim?

- Agree 100%!

Colin Kaepernick

At least one black live doesn't seems to matter to Colin Kaepernick - his own.

I appreciate Kaepernick's right to protest. We live in a free society where I too am free to have my beliefs which are mainly not to give a shit about the political beliefs or stances of back-up quarterbacks, B-list actors or comedians who stopped being funny five-years ago.

However, as a football fan I can't look away from this train wreck. And train wreck it is. A complete no-win situation.

Kaepernick has a disastrously large contract. He signed a 6-year $114 million contract in 2014 that has $61 million guaranteed. He could have used some of that $61 million to quietly become a benefactor to so very many. Instead he's become a lightning rod, complete ingrate prick, salary cap albatross or potential season long distraction depending on your point of view.

From the San Francisco 49er's point of view this is a distraction they didn't need from a player with an almost $20 million cap hit if they cut him. For their back-up QB! And if the team cuts him there will be people who complain that it was because Chip Kelly doesn't like black people. If Kaepernick keeps on sitting during the National Anthem then the boos will increase and even his teammates who support him will be put in a more and more uncomfortable situation especially as the losses start mounting (as they will). If Kaepernick caves and starts standing during the anthem - he will be viewed as a coward who lacked real conviction in his beliefs. Kaepernick can't even hide in the locker room during the anthem because he'd be a huge target for missiles thrown from the stands as he runs on and off the field.

I have to wonder if this is some sort of diabolical genius on the part of Kaepernick. Say if he no longer wants to play football but wants to collect all of his guaranteed money. This would be almost the perfect plan. Just sitting during the anthem isn't against the law or even team policy. Sure many people will hate him but this might be a way out of playing football and maybe even into some high paying speaking gigs for clueless kids at liberal arts colleges. I haven't seen anything this diabolical since Al Gore made millions pretending to care about global warming.

One prediction - at one of the 49ers road games this year a country singer (it will be a country singer) will sing the anthem and then shout "Fuck Colin Kaepernick" at the end to extremely loud applause. This country singer will simultaneously become famous overnight and banned from ever singing at another NFL game.

And I won't give a shit about this singer's political beliefs either.