Tag: Christmas

Could ‘secret talks’ still lead to Xmas games?

The NBA’s labor front has been relatively quiet over the last several days, with little lockout talk from either side.

Other than the players folding their suit in Northern California to aim for a Minnesota magistrate court, where they hope aagainst the NBA.

But other than that, there’s been no talk whatsoever. The silence has been frightening to those who fear the entire 2011-12 season could be wiped out but the lockout.

But maybe David Stern and Billy Hunter just want you to worry about the perceived lack of progress.

Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio tweets today thatthrough the Thanksgiving holidays with hopes of starting the season on Christmas. That date traditionally is the largest single day in the regular season for television ratings and sponsor awareness. Both the league and the union reportedly are facing tremendous pressure to keep games on that date.

But considering that Stern has always said the league would need at least a month from the end of the lockout to the start of the season, even that might be pushing it.

It’s looking more likely that we won’t have NBA games at least until 2012 — if they ever materialize for the upcoming season.

TP enjoying Disneyland Paris during lockout

Tony Parker was back in Paris last week spending some time at a very American part of France’s capital city.

Parker attended the opening the amusement park’s annual Christmas celebration. While there, he spent a little time , according to the sports website Terez Owens.com

And from the looks in the picture, Parker doesn’t seem to be missing the rigors of NBA life very much at this time.

What we’re missing tonight with the lockout

I can’t wait. Three games to start the season. It should be great after all that excitement still so palpable from last season’s playoffs.

Oh, that’s right. We’ve got the lockout. We’ll be missing three games. Two of them would have been televised, and the other one would have been available on my free preview of NBA-TV like always.

Chicago and Dallas would have started things off tonight at 7 p.m. Derrick Rose vs. Dirk Nowitzki. For good measure we would have seen the Mavericks’ championship banner raised to the rafters of the American Airlines Center. And after that, we could have seen Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.

In between those breaks, we could have switched over to watch Houston at Utah.

Instead, we’ll be able to watch “The Biggest Loser,” “Dancing with the Stars” and “Body of Proof.”

My wife will be happy. She usually doesn’t get too excited for NBA basketball much before Christmas.

But missing these first three games really drives home the point that we’re really missing games now.

Enjoy those reality shows tonight.

And don’t curse David Stern and Billy Hunter too much while you’re watching them.