I believe that the NBA lockout was the biggest sports story
of 2011. No one expected the lockout to
last from July 1st, 2011 through Christmas Day but it did. At the time, owners and players just didn’t
seem to find a middle ground for the terms of a new collective bargaining
agreement. For those whom aren’t fully in the know of what the lockout was
over, it was mainly focused on who would get the larger portion of the league’s
income. However, I am sure that there was more to fuss over on both ends. The owners simply wanted to obtain the
majority of the funds, but for once the players took a stand and weren’t having
it.
Like most NBA fans, I was shocked that it took so long to
reach a mutual gain. I assumed that the owners would take into consideration
the fact that the players are the ones risking their bodies and health daily by
playing on the court. However, it was a constant battle and it looked like it
would never end.
Similar to all of the Occupy Events going on throughout the
world, it seemed as if NBA players were in an Occupation stance of their own, with
the demands of being justly paid for their performance according to their terms.
Initially, neither the owners nor players would budge on
their terms. Due to the fact that neither side would move, this caused the NBA season
to be anticipated by many fans.
In October the first two weeks of the season
were cancelled and the revenue of the owners and players suffered. Yet
with fans from around the world waiting on the edge of their seats for
the season to begin, the two sides finally
came to a mutual gain agreement on Thanksgiving 2011.
I think that this was the biggest
sports story of 2011, because the NBA is a big money making industry.
Everyone knows of the game of
basketball. Even if they do not know the rules of the game, the majority of
people, especially Americans know of at
least one famous basketball player. NBA owners, players, and fans suffered
alike because everyone wants the thrill
of the game to continue. However, no one really knew if there would ne a
2011-2012 season because of the lockout.
It seemed as if there wasn’t going to be one because of the stubbornness of
both parties. Yet in the end negotiations
became solid deals, and each party found a mutual gain to satisfy the
needs of everyone. As an NBA fan, I am overjoyed, and definitely am tuning into
the league more than ever this year.
Two references that agree that the NBA
Lockout was one of the biggest sports stories of 2011 are,
The Atlantic: http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/12/the-10-biggest-sports-stories-of-2011/249466/#slide2
The Business Insider: http://articles.businessinsider.com/keyword/nba-lockout
No comments:
Post a Comment