Union issues, a rare compliment, and a fighting singer. It's all here

We’ve got a whole bunch of little items here today, was a quiet day with nothing that absolutely stands out so let’s go all over the place, shall we?

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I always had a sneaking suspicion that something was amiss with the NBA Players Association through the two lockouts I’ve paid close attention to.

It struck me that the leadership was somewhat lacking, that it was a “get mine, forget out yours” kind of organization that threw young players overboard to get a deal (and I don’t have a big problem with that, to tell you the truth; I’d rather pay for performance rather than promise) and there seemed to be something just a little “off.”

Guess others thought so, too.

An independent investigation into the union’s leadership came out with a scathing report yesterday, damning executive director Billy Hunter for his apparent disregard for conflict of interest issues and suggesting that perhaps the union might want to change its leadershp.

(Ken Berger, who has been relentless in his reporting on labour and union issues for years, sums it up incredibly well here so I don’t have to go into all the gory details).

I think the ultimate result, now that there is some semblance of labour peace for a few years at least, has to be a new leader there, just as there will be a new chief negotiator for the league the next time the collective bargaining agreement comes up for discussion.

I’m not nearly smart enough to break down all the minutia of the report or the issues and the legality of everything but, as we know, perception is reality and the perception of the union to those who pay even close attention to it has to be that it’s broken and needs to be fixed.

I know agents who have been highly criticial fo Hunter for years, they think he gave too much in every negotiation and wasn’t nearly as forceful as he should have been. And I am equally certain that when players ask their representatives for advice – and they should because that’s what they pay them for, advice and counsel – it will be suggested to them that it’s time for a change; that regardless of what poeple think of Billy Hunter that maybe it’s simply time for a new voice.

Don’t blame them, but I’m also glad it’ll be years before anyone has to worry about contract talks and a lockout.

Wonder what Don Fehr will be doing then? Maybe there’s another players association he can “save.”

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So I wander up to the nice lady at U.S.Customs and Immigration at Pearson yesterday, present all the requisite papers and she says, "how long will you be in the USA."

Now, at this time every season, I'm never quite sure what day it is, so I reply:

"Um, tomorrow. No, wait, Friday. No, sorry, Saturday. Whatever two days from now is."

No, she was not impressed.

"Which one is it? What do you mean."

So I explain that I'm a sportswriter, I had flown to New York on Monday, covered a game Tuesday, flown back Wednesday to cover another game and was now going to Philly and that I was basically confused.

Thankfully, instead of reaching for her copy of the Patriot Act and re-booking me to Gitmo, she laughed.

Then she holds up my passport to check me out, stamps the forms and says:

"Have you lost weight? Your face looks a lot thinner than in this picture."

I don't care if I have to stand in line for hours, if she's working, I'm waiting to be processed by her.

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Oh, what might have been.

Did you see the one about Kevin Durant wanting to be a Raptor as a Raptors fan growing up?

Pretty cool all these years after the fact and, frankly, a testament to Vince Carter, who absolutely put the franchise on the map.

It’s not entirely new – our friends at the excellent Ball Don’t Lie blog link to a conversation back in 2008 where Durant mentions Toronto – but it’s fun to look back and wonder, isn’t it?

Of course, if I know Raptors fans – and I do – we would have to go through two, maybe three years of hearing them complain about how he was too skinny and really didn’t have a position and how could Bryan have passed on Greg Oden because you always draft big if you get the chance, right?

Anyway, was a fun diversion for an hour or so.

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Sure, you think of Philly and you might think of Philadelphia Freedom or the theme from Rocky or whatever.

Me?

How about a sporting icon warbling?

And check out the outfit, Smokin’ Joe had some style.

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Oh, you zany NBA fans.

You saw the all-star starters announcement, right?

(I read about it; couldn’t watch an hour-long TV show about it) and fans are to commended.

Of 10 starting spots covering the two conferneces, they only got two wrong. Well done.

I presume the coaches will correct this – like they always do when the voters go off the rails – but electing Dwight Howard over Tim Duncan was senseless and giving Kevin Garnett a lifetime achievement award instead of voiting in Tyson Chandler was borderline scandalous.

It is what it is, of course, a popularity contest driven by home fans and on-line clickers so I don’t think anyone expected the people to nail it.

They did all right, everyone had their fun and now the coaches can fill out the rosters correctly.

Oh, and I’ll help them out the first of the week, it’s going to be slow around here next week since I’m not heading to Florida and I’m going to have to figure out how to fill this space.

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Talk about your crisis being averted.

My iPad Mini and I plop ourselves down on a stool at The Field House, an excellent sports bar about 100 metres from my hotel, to watch some games and get some mail together and as I am wont to do in Philly, before the barkeep can even ask, I say I'll have a Yeungling.

Crushed, I was about to ask what else they had when she says, unprompted, "try the Stoudts Gold, you'll like it."

I did.

And I did.

And I only go places with smart servers.

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When I Rule The World, Vol. 12,484,809

Every saloon worth its liquor license will not only have a free jukebox with my iTunes playlist but it will also have wireless Internet access.

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No, I did not see a second of Lance Armstrong, mainly because it’s been my experience that pathological liars, cheaters and bullies don’t ever come totally clean or apologetic and some self-serving interview bores me to tears.

It’s like Ben Johnson without the bullying part; or Roger Clemens or Barry Bonds, I wish they’d just go away forever.

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Yes, of course I can use some more mail, haven’t heard from some of you yet and it’s not a regular week until I do.

So ...

Click. Write. Send.

Comments

[SR]

Was reading on hoopshype, that Kevin Durant during a interview on the Dan Patrick show was saying growing up, his favourite team was the Toronto Raptors, and that he always wanted to play for the Raptors.... Oh why must they tease... :(

[Drew]

Totally agree with you about the All Star starters, but I figure those guys would still be there anyway, as will the guys who should be starting so in the end I think it all works out fine. I'll only really have a problem with fan voting when someone ends up starting that shouldn't even be an All Star

[Mike D.]

Best U.S. Immigration story ever, Doug. Sounds like she was only a step away from baking you cookies.

Blogger's note: That would have been spectacular

[Mr. Cook]

Perhaps to start a tradition of admitting past wrongs among The Irregulars, I'd like to offer a mea culpa regarding Billy Hunter. At some point during the most recent lockout I pilloried one commenter or another in this section for insinuating that Hunter was unqualified and had to be fired from the NBPA. In quick searching this morning I was unable to discern what date that comment was made and who it was directed to, but if somebody around here specifically remembers that conversation and my remarks being directed toward them, my apologies--you were right.

The CBS article is fantastic, but it's barely even an executive summary of what is contained in the report. I downloaded it last night and skipped to the juiciest parts and it is absolutely flooring, it is certainly kind of the investigators to say that criminal behaviour was possible but inconclusive (the premise of which is that there may be further information available by court order that shows better record keeping) because that would be a counterintuitive way to run shady dealings, hiding evidence regarding your innocence and publicly filing evidence of your guilt.

Shocking, absolutely shocking.

[JHK]

Had we had the first pick that year, I honestly think we would have picked KD instead of Oden.
We had Bargs picked at #1 the year before and he was going to play C because we had Bosh at PF.
So definitely we pick KD #1.
Line up would had been:

TJ / Jose / D. Martin
AP / Delfino
Durant / Kapono / Joey G
Bosh / Garbo / Hump
Bargs / Rasho

Holy mama... what a team.

[Rob.V]

Billy Hunters extension was/is to be $18 million dollars (if approved). I'm guessing he would have made tens of millions of dollars dating back to the mid 90's when he took office. Assuming this type of salary the unused vacation day payments don't seem out of whack.
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Does there appear to be some fluff with travel expenses, sure.
Did he hire people he knew, and trusted, of course he did (we all would).
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Like any position, if there are no expectations things can veer off track. When you hand someone the keys to the union and no one questions anything for 15 years this is what happens.
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Having said this, this only one side of the story at this point.
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Oh, and if the players read here.... I think I could be an outstanding union official. I'll do a great job for only 75% of what Mr. Hunter was charging you, with a 50% reduction in travel expenses.
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Raptors - nothing!... just nothing!
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Armstrong - nothing!... just nothing!
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How about this. This just saddens me:http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/white-house-criticizes-nra-ad-referring-obama-children-215133780.html
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At what point will this President simply be allowed to do his job!!! Full disclosure - I want to be a billionaire as well when I grow up... however this ad is ridiculous.
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Obama and his cabinet are making a serious attempt at trying to keep assault weapons off the streets. They are making efforts to protect innocent children and people of all walks of life. An attempt to avert another Newtown disaster.. and yet he is met with this GARBAGE!!!
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In fairness, I imagine it's tough if new policies will cut into your sales. I get it, probably a very hard pill to swallow and some serious commission cuts... but attacking with this ad? Shame on the people that run the NRA!!

[Steve]

Honestly, where to start with the all star game fan vote. People say it's not important because it's "just the all star game", "the coaches will fix it in picking the reserves", or it "doesn't mean anything" yet:

- There are provisions in the CBA that mean appearances mean big $$$ in some cases.
- Clearly it doesn't hurt endorsement wise either, more $$$.
- The number of all star appearances is still used as if it means anything when comparing players.
- If we're relying on the coaches to "fix" the rosters, why not let them do it in the first place!

[Wilber]

Doug,
I'm a cycling fan, so can't help but follow the Lance saga. Setting aside the cheating for a moment, the interview reminded me what I'd felt from watching cycling and yes, basketball for many years: often it seems those that get to the top have a single-minded drive to succeed (hello, MJ, Kobe) and that drive doesn't make them very nice people. Lance did speak some truth last night, if only when he said he was a bully and and arrogant p#$@k. Gotta admit, between that and an imaginary girlfriend, it's been a fascinating week that shows some of what's wrong with sports. Maybe I need a sweet Jose assist, an Amir board in traffic and Acy taking a charge tonight to restore my faith :)

[R]

Just a reminder that the year the Raps drafted Bargs was the first year that the NBA's new eligibilty rules were introduced. Otherwise Durant and Oden may have made themselve eligible that year rather than one and done in the NCAA.

Similar to how the Raps and Grizzlies got screwed in their first couple years where the NBA did not allow them to be eligible for the number 1 pick.

[D-Mac Ottawa]

Awesome clip of Smokin' Joe, Doug! Wouldn't you love to see Mike Tyson do his cover of that one?
Speaking of covers, a family connection (in an in-law manner, not blood family) made his mark on American Idol last night. The kid's got a real shot at success. You can google Gabe Brown's Idol spot if you're interested, but this cover his band did of Steel Dragon is more representative of what he's got going: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asd9ybJJkgY
Cheers. Go Raps!

[Peter]

I watched the Lance and Oprah thing last night (while working on some other things, so I may have missed some) but I'll probably watch some of it again tonight, not because I'm a fan of Lance or because I'm naive enough to believe everything, but instead because it's a pretty big story that people are talking about, and it's interesting to hear people's perspectives. Today a lot of people are twisting what was actually said to reflect their pro, or anti-Lance viewpoints. It was interesting in the sense that this isn't the kind of thing that happens everyday, and on some level it is fascinating to watch how the entire narrative plays out. Not just within the interview, but within society as it's discussed.

[Dell]

I think if anything that it was a nice thing of Durant to say of the Raptors. For the arguably best player in the league to state he was a fan of the Raptors and wanted to play for them certainly provides some positive words about the organization. I won't go so far as to say it could convince other star players to want to play for the Raptors, but it is a nice gesture and some free publicity.

[LeeZ]

@RobV: The NRA are so far beyond the ability to feel shame that it isn't funny. Remember how back in the '70s SNL had that parody ad about multiple blades in a razor? Back then they had just introduced a razor with two blades, and they had that animated graphic on the tv ad showing how anything that the first blade misses, the second one would get. The parody ad showed a razor with THREE blades, and of course everyone laughed uproariously at how ridiculous this concept was. And today, we have razors with, what, five, six blades? Well, that's how I look on the NRA ad. It actually looks like one of those SNL parody ads. Only it's REAL.
Doug, unless I missed it, you failed to remark on Dear Abby's passing the other day. We'll leave it to the wonderful John Prine to handle the obit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2ccC4aULow

[Avinash]

Nice Customs story. Pre-Christmas, the wife & I went down via the Niagara Falls bridge only to have the guard shout/demand we keep our eyeglasses off the entire questioning period. After handing him our Canadian passports, he asked us where we're from. I thought he was joking. Turns out it was a trick question? Yep, we's all up to no good. Pesky Canadians.

[LeeZ]

@Avinash: I can't believe that you didn't fall for his trick question and fess up that you're from Abbottobad, were educated by a radical cleric in a madrassa deep in the Afghani interior and are the love child of Osama Bin Laden and Kim Kardashian. You must have nerves of steel, sir!

[DaveB]

I agree with a fellow irregular, "Awesome clip of Smokin' Joe, Doug! "

I also watched some of the Lance and Oprah show last night while doing other things, so I also missed some of the details. I don't think he did anything to help himself as he still came across as an "arrogant pr**k" who is faking any remorse that he is attempting to show. You are very correct in your assessment that "pathological liars, cheaters and bullies don’t ever come totally clean or apologetic ". This is also the reason that I have very little interest in the sporting events of the Olympics. I think it is still a case of who has the best pharmaceuticals and who can hide them the best. Sure there are some legitimate athletes, but I think the majority are not.

Doug, I am very surprised that with all you travel to and from the US that you do not possess a Nexus card. It would be a great asset for you and well worth the time and cost to get one. You can even get access to a fast line leaving the US now whereby you won't have to remove your shoes. I find ot takes me 15 minutes to get undressed and dressed again every time I travel, especially if you have lots of electronics. I got one this autumn and I think it will be great and I use land crossings most of the time. you will still need to know which day it is and how long you will be in the US. :-) Check it out. You are welcome.

Will Doug Collins angst over the finish of the last game carry over to this one? It will be interesting to see how the team responds.

[Dan]

You do not have Nexus? I travel half as much as you and Nexus has changed my life, you should look into it...

[Andrew Gregg]

Hi Doug:

Ditto on the Nexus. Makes all the difference in the world--not only at customs but at security checks as well.

AG, Toronto

[DaveB]

I never understood why people feel they have any rights trying to enter the United States. Being allowed to enter any country is a privilege, not a right. I have been asked many time where I am from and my Citizenship when crossing the border. I know the answers to these questions. However I don't have any reason to believe the Border Agent knows that or that I handed him/her a valid Passport.. And yes there are many Canadians who are up to no good. And if anyone doesn't like the process of entering another country, they are welcome to stay home.

End of Rant.

[doug]

I just think Hunter was and is in power to long for that type of position as to call any professional sports league a "union" is just wrong its a union in name only no semblance of a true union....the last negotiations were drawn out as you had 2 men in charge who are past their best before due date...Stern and Hunter are a mirror image of each other in terms of not leaving sooner and losing their perspective and effectiveness.....the Sixers are a interesting team to me in that speaking of best before due dates for whatever reasons the longer Collins stays on as a coach of a team the less effective he is....he is a smart b-ball man but if I recall during the broadcasts when he was a announcer, he brought up interesting relevant points and insights but he was so analytical and stats minded it at times turned me off....so if he is that way as a coach I can understand players tuning him out as its the same old same old....good old Smokin Joe always in the shadow of a legend no matter how hard he tried to forge his own identity, Ali....ok cheers...