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Jewish World Review Jan. 4, 1999/15 Teves, 5759
Larry Elder
The NBA slam-dunks taxpayers
(JWR) --- (http://www.jewishworldreview.com) DROP-DEAD DAY: Jan. 7, 1999.
The never-begun National Basketball
Association season goes lights out on that date, if owners and players fail
to reach a deal. This outrages hard-core fans -- but for the wrong reasons.
New Jersey Nets guard Sam Cassell said, "I think the owners look at us as
black, ghetto guys with tons of money that we don't deserve." And Jayson
Williams, also of the Nets, said, "For some guys, it's hard not to think
about race."
The race card?
Not that it matters, but The New York Times notes that the players "admit
that they cannot point to a single, overtly racist comment or tactic on the
part of the owners or the league."
Eighty-five percent black, the NBA has been dominated by black players for
nearly 30 years. Average salary? Approximately $1.4 million. For that, you
may blame/thank free agency, where a player, after a few years, can sell his
wares to any of the competing owners. Try asking brilliant old schoolers
like the Los Angeles Lakers Jerry West and Elgin Baylor how much jack they
could have banked under today's free agency and revenue-sharing arrangement
with the "racist" NBA (an option not available to the professional football
players).
Major league baseball also shut down play after failing to come to terms
with the players. So did the NFL. And, in 1992, the melanin-challenged
National Hockey League's players struck. Did anyone cry "Canadianism"?
Certainly, sports fans see red when, in their opinion, "spoiled" athletes
demand more, even though they play a game that many others would gladly play
for a lot less.
And the players have a point when they say, "Look, this
isn't about being grateful. It's about getting fair market value for one's
skilled labor. Same as you'd expect."
But white players hear it from the fans, too. When pitcher Kevin Brown
signed with the Dodgers for $105 million, one disgusted customer said of
Brown's contract terms, "It wasn't listed, so I guess Brown turned down the
kitchen sink."
Pricey Whitney Houston tickets don't seem to annoy. Nor do multimillion
salaries for actors Denzel Washington and Will Smith seem to tick anybody
off. So, guys, the race card? Please leave home without it.
But fans ought to be angry. Not at the players or the owners. No, please
direct the wrath toward the real villains -- the politicians. For the real
insult remains tax subsidies and other public concessions showered on
multibillionaire owners who pay multimillionaire players, all of which the
decidedly non-wealthy fans end up supporting. Nearly every stadium -- via
taxpayer money -- gives owners grants, tax forgiveness, tax abatements,
parking and refreshment concessions, sweetheart deals, free or below-market
rent, or some concoction of all of the above.
Later, when owners demand that taxpayers pony up a spiffy new $300 million
stadium with a retractable sunroof and luxury boxes, they truck down to City
Council and say, "Ante up, or I call the movers!" There's always another
Suckersville, with an ego-driven but economically illiterate mayor willing
to open the vault and yell, "Come on down!"
But don't the pols tell us that taxpayer-financed stadiums and arenas
generate jobs and attract revenue? Bull. Indiana University's Mark
Rosentraub told The Wall Street Journal, "The basic rule you always start
with is that building a stadium for economic development makes no sense at
all."
And Holy Cross' Charles C. Euchner, author of "Playing the Field," a
book about cities' bidding wars for sports teams, said, "Money spent on
stadiums is money not available for other infrastructure projects, and most
U.S. cities are in a state of crisis regarding the condition of roads, water
and sewer mains, bridges and tunnels and subways."
The Los Angeles Times reports that, since 1990, over $12 billion has been
spent in stadium and arena construction, noting that "of 59 individual
projects across the United States, all but five are wholly or partially
financed by taxpayers." Meanwhile, the price for a family of four to attend
an NBA game averages $214.28.
So, players, don't insult our intelligence by calling the owners racist,
when they dole out nearly a million-and-a-half dollars in average salaries
in a league praised for the number of blacks in management.
And, owners, don't insult our intelligence by pleading poverty. Tax
subsidies and tax breaks virtually guarantee profits. And if, despite this
generous cushion, you go bust (or say you do), cities line up to enrich you
at taxpayer expense, only to get jilted when another town blows you kisses.
So, if anybody has a right to scream foul, it's the loyal, luckless fan.
Welcome to today's professional sports. To the owners, it's a business. To
the athletes, it's a job. To the fans, it's a sport. But to the taxpayers,
it's a
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