The NBA Flips the Bird to the Common Fan

 

Sonics | NBA approves Sonics' move to Oklahoma City | Seattle Times Newspaper

And there you have it...the NBA has approved the move of the team formerly known as the Seattle Supersonics.  The only two owners unsullied by the monumentally disgusting decision were Portland's own Paul Allen and Dallas Maverick's owner Mark Cuban.  I applaud these two for sticking by their morals in the face of the unmitigated greed of their peers.  This entire situation has been nothing more than the NBA's continuing war against the average fan.  For all the flack Barak Obama has been catching recently about being an elitist, no one is more so than the NBA, and pro sports in general.  This group of the super-rich moan constantly about not making enough money, and how hard it is to be a billionaire.  They hold cities hostage by threatening to move or contract teams, demanding that municipalities fund their hobby.  Consider the case of the Sonics-Bennett demanding that the taxpayers shell out 80% of the cost for a 500 million dollar stadium; this is pretty laughable, considering he bought the team for a mere 350 million.  And not only that, but the Oklahoma government granted massive tax breaks for the team, despite the fact that it was obviously unnecessary in light Bennett's stated wishes to move to Oklahoma City.  The gall of the commissioner and the owners is absolutely appalling.  These owners complain about poor attendance while continuing to practice price-gouging.  Who is it that loses in all these exchanges?  It is always the fans, and even some folks who don't even like the game.  Why should these obscenely wealthy robber barons be allowed to pillage the cities of this fine country?  Where are all the politicians who love to rail about tax breaks for the rich?  These owners demand that money that should be spent for civic needs be diverted into their pockets, that their own cold cash should be exempt from the community reserves.  They decree that the taxpayers, regardless of whether or not they want to see the team, should put up the money to build a stadium in which to pay exorbitant sums to see the games, and pay ridiculous prices for food and memorabilia.  This heartless bully mentality shows the dark side of capitalism, a very disturbing sight for the people of the country.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cancertown

Image
Things are really starting to warm up in this part of the world, and that brings along all kinds of problems.  The air quality around these parts is already low, between the waste disposal methods, the lack emission standards, and all the sand swirling about.  The heat has begun to have an unpleasant greenhouse-like effect of trapping all kinds of pollutants and odors around the camp.  The last few days this has been especially problematic around our little living area of “Microtown.”  The sunny and dust storm-free weather has encouraged most folks to enjoy the outdoors more than usual.  Unfortunately, most of them have also used this opportunity to indulge in lighting up some variation of vile weed.  Walking up and down the rows, you can see groups of soldiers dangling cigarettes, lighting up Cuban cigars, trying out a hookah, and even one or two with a pipe.  The convergence of all these smokers and the heat of the evening was suffocating.  Ev...
Read more

A Trip to the Market

This morning I attached my little buddy (an amazingly small Sony RX0) to the old scooter to give you guys a look at a typical Saturday trip to the nearest legitimate supermarket. Relatively speaking, it isn't a long trip, and one that isn't difficult to accomplish by foot. I prefer to scoot there and back because carrying groceries over an extended distance is a pain. And then the return trip. Here I take the main road back, for comparison purposes. I do not enjoy this more direct route, though it is a bit quicker. It is also noisier, marginally more polluted, and obviously somewhat riskier. So...SUCCESS! Groceries were acquired, and now I have plenty of time to prepare my "famous" chicken curry.
Read more

Talking Hands

Just recently, I've had the privilege of reading through Margalit Fox's Talking Hands . I've read quite a few books while I've been over here, some good, some bad, and some that barely make the category of literature. Fox's book is, ostensibly, about her experience observing linguists decoding sign language in a Beduin town in Palestine. What makes the language unique is that unlike most other part of the world, almost everyone speaks sign language in this town. This sign language was born out of necessity; the incidence of deafness in this community is quite high, relative to the worldwide average. Now perhaps you are someone who considers linguistic and academic pursuits to be dull and useless to you; I would certainly encourage you to think again about this book. Because the beautiful thing about it is that Fox has actually created a book that is really three books in one, a rather impressive feat, if I may say so myself. This is, naturally, her description of th...
Read more