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The Mass Media

The Mass Media

The Mass Media

For Argument’s Sake: Nov. 8, 2011

Ariel Rodriguez
Ariel Rodriguez

Should the NBA play this season?

YES – Haley Van Orman

Should there be an NBA season? This truly is the funniest debate question I have ever heard. Of course we shouldn’t. We should trade the NBA for the National Curling Association. I’m being very sarcastic for those who can’t tell. The NBA is one of the richest organizations in sports history and culture.

Not only will teams lose money, but also if there is no NBA season, the major cities that have a team will lose a part of their sports history. Let’s take Boston for example. We are “title town,” but let’s get real. When you think Boston sports, you think of the Celtics. Seventeen championships say it all. Sure we have the Bruins. Ted Williams might pop into our mind when we think Red Sox, and Tom Brady is the man on the Patriots.

But when I think Celtics, I think of a ton of players, including Bill Russell, John Havlicek, Dave Cowens, Larry Bird, and now Paul Pierce. Los Angeles would be the same, along with Miami, as painful as it is to say that; even Philadelphia has a good history with the NBA.

If we lose the NBA, we lose a part of our city. NBA gets high ratings on television when the playoffs roll around. Every single professional sports league in the U.S. makes us the great sports nation we are. The NHL, MLB, NFL, and NBA work together to keep this nation entertained, and if you remove any of them, then the cities lose their rhythm.

 

NO – Ariel Rodriguez

 

With all due respect to my combatant, she is totally wrong. This lockout has been a long time coming because the Player’s Association and the owners haven’t been able to work things out. This situation is just like the showdown between Obama and the Republican Party over America’s credit limit, albeit much less important but I’d say just as annoying.

It turns out that people in any position of power are petty and unable to sit at a table and hammer out a deal until they are on the brink, and the NBA hasn’t reached that point yet.

Players will not start actively looking for a compromise until Nov. 15, because that’s when 400 out of the 450 NBA players will stop being paid due to the lockout.

The owners will not begin to really deal until they see the players squirm, so what does that mean? Even more games need to be cancelled. David Stern, the commissioner of the NBA, is more than willing oblige these petty parties. These two groups can’t decide how they want to slice up a $4.3 billon pie while people are literally starving to death.

Congratulations, NBA. You’re ruining your brand by flaunting the fact that you have so much money that you don’t know what to do with it. Perhaps you should cancel more games and give the money back to the fans that put it in your hands in the first place.

 

About the Contributor
Ariel Rodriguez served as the following positions for The Mass Media the following years: Arts Editor: Fall 2011 *Music Editor: 2010-2011 *The position of music editor was developed in Fall 2010, and disappeared in Fall 2012. Elizabeth Dow served as music editor from 2011-2012.