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Spurs’ opening night now just another Wednesday

Around 7:30 tonight, Spurs radio man Bill Schoening will be hunkered down in his Austin home, finalizing last-minute preparations for an Internet-only broadcast of the Vista Ridge High School football team’s season finale this week.

About the same time, retired schoolteacher Jane Ann Craig, a die-hard Spurs season-ticket holder who also lives in Austin, figures to be settling in for a night of television after a busy day of planning a long-awaited kitchen remodel.

Spurs forward Matt Bonner has his own method for killing time on what, if not for the NBA’s ongoing labor dispute, should have been opening night at the ATT Center.

“I’ve got my Nerf hoop set up, I’m going to put on my jersey,” Bonner said. “I’m still going to play the game.”

In an alternate universe, one with an infinite collective bargaining agreement and no such word as “lockout,” a throng of 20,000 or so would have converged on the ATT Center tonight to see the Spurs open a new season against the Milwaukee Bucks.

With the entire November schedule of games already lost and the threat of more cancellations looming if a new deal isn’t soon reached, members of the Spurs community — a group as wide-ranging as Tim Duncan and the Silver Dancers, Manu Ginobili and the arena ushers, Gregg Popovich and The Coyote — have been forced to find a Plan B.

For many who count on Spurs games as either a money-maker or a diversion, the lockout has affected the normal biorhythms of day-to-day life. And it has transformed opening night — normally one of any season’s red-letter days — into just another Wednesday.

Spurs season-ticket holder Jane Ann Craig often has brought signs to Spurs games at the ATT Center. She rarely misses a game, despite having to travel from her home in Austin. (William Luther / wluther@express-news.net)

The superfan

Forty-one times a year, not counting the preseason and postseason, the 66-year-old Craig loads up her black Chevrolet Malibu, festooned front to back in Spurs paraphernalia, and embarks on a 150-mile round trip from her home in west Austin to the ATT Center.

For a 7:30 tipoff, she leaves at 3:30.

“You have to leave early,” she says, “or traffic is just awful.”

Once at the arena, Craig will slip into her seats on the baseline, a few rows up from the Spurs bench.

When she retired from teaching three years ago, Craig bought this prime piece of ATT Center real estate almost on a whim. In the time since, she has come to view her little corner of the building as its own ecosystem.

She has become friendly with the fans to her right and left, with the ushers working her section, with the players that pass her on the way to the pregame layup line.

These are the people who will be on Craig’s mind tonight, as she endures the first of an indefinite number of nights without Spurs basketball.

“I’ll miss it because of the friendships I’ve made there over the years,” said Craig, who has skipped exactly one preseason game since buying season tickets before the 2008-09 campaign. “It’s kind of like a big Spurs family.”

A brokenhearted fan, Craig struggles to find any silver lining to the lockout, but there is one.

“I guess it will save some wear and tear on my car,” she said.

The radio voice

For as long as Schoening cares to remember, there has always been a game to call. Even with the NBA lockout in full swing, this fall is no different.

Schoening, the voice of the Spurs since 2001, has been moonlighting as the voice of the Vista Ridge Rangers, a Class 4A school near Leander.

“I was a little rusty at first,” said Schoening, who last called a football game 10 years ago as play-by-play man for the University of Texas. “It took me a couple of weeks to find my groove.”

With his 20-year-old son Karl, a sophomore at Texas State, serving as color commentator, Schoening has chronicled every snap of Vista Ridge’s disappointing 2-7 season.

“I’m just trying to keep myself busy,” Schoening said.

On Friday night, Schoening will be back on the business end of a microphone, calling Vista Ridge’s season-ender against district rival Rouse. Tonight, at a time when he should be courtside at the ATT Center, Schoening will instead be holed up in his house, preparing for a prep broadcast.

“I’ll be working on my color-coded, two-deep depth charts,” Schoening said. “Maybe watching a little game film.”

A radio man whose began his career calling high school games in Lamesa in the early 1980s, Schoening says he’s enjoyed the return his roots.

That’s not to say he wouldn’t welcome a return to his day job. Like the Spurs players he covers, Schoening is paid by the game, and every one of them scuttled is a check not going into his pocket.

“I think we’re all champing at the bit to get back to work,” he said.

The player

As a vice president of the National Basketball Players Association, Bonner has had an at-times too-close view of the sausage-making that is a collective bargaining negotiation. In testament to how draining the process has become, Bonner says he was completely unaware the Spurs were supposed to open the season tonight.

“It never even occurred to me,” said Bonner, in town Tuesday for his annual charity tournament at Canyon Springs Golf Club.

As recently as last week, Bonner would have wagered that teams would at least be in the midst of a belated training camp by now. But even with tangible progress at the negotiating table, talks blew up again last week, and, for now, no new ones are scheduled.

“As it drags on, you go through the whole range of emotions,” Bonner said. “If anything, it gets more frustrating as each day passes.”

In a typical year, Bonner said, Tuesday would have been a day full of nervous energy, followed by a fitful night’s sleep and a full game-day schedule.

There would be a shootaround this morning. Maybe a film session, and a midday nap. Then warmups, a pregame meal and, at last, game time.

This year, Bonner’s new opening-night itinerary sums up the current state of the NBA.

“I really don’t have anything going on,” he said.

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Matt Bonner’s charity golf tournament

Spurs forward Matt Bonner (right) drives a ball on the No. 1 tee box as he hosts the 2011 Matt Bonner Charity Golf Tournament for Kids Sports Network at Canyon Springs Golf Club on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011. Bonner, who is also the vice president of the NBA Players Association and on break from the contentious negotiations, took time to meet with golfers who donated to the 13th annual charity tournament which benefits youth athletics. (Kin Man Hui / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)

Spurs forward Matt Bonner (foreground) tracks the direction of his tee shot from the No. 1 tee box as he hosts the 2011 Matt Bonner Charity Golf Tournament for Kids Sports Network at Canyon Springs Golf Club on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011. Bonner, who is also the vice president of the NBA Players Association and on break from the contentious negotiations, took time to meet with golfers who donated to the 13th annual charity tournament which benefits youth athletics. (Kin Man Hui / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)

Spurs forward Matt Bonner (center) tracks his tee shot from the No. 1 tee box as he hosts the 2011 Matt Bonner Charity Golf Tournament for Kids Sports Network at Canyon Springs Golf Club on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011. Bonner, who is also the vice president of the NBA Players Association and on break from the contentious negotiations, took time to meet with golfers who donated to the 13th annual charity tournament which benefits youth athletics. (Kin Man Hui / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)

Spurs forward Matt Bonner (center) and Boston Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett (left) wish one another well on the golf course as Bonner hosts the 2011 Matt Bonner Charity Golf Tournament for Kids Sports Network at Canyon Springs Golf Club on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011. Bonner, who is also the vice president of the NBA Players Association and on break from the contentious negotiations, took time to meet with golfers who donated to the 13th annual charity tournament which benefits youth athletics. (Kin Man Hui / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)

UTSA football head coach Larry Coker (right) shares a laugh with Boston Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett (left) and Kids Sports Network CEO Brandon Parrott (second from right) prior to the start of the 2011 Matt Bonner Charity Golf Tournament for Kids Sports Network at Canyon Springs Golf Club on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011. Bonner, who is also the vice president of the NBA Players Association and on break from the contentious negotiations, appeared at the tournament and took time to meet with golfers who donated to the 13th annual charity tournament which benefits youth athletics. (Kin Man Hui / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)

Spurs forward Matt Bonner (second from right) poses for a photo with golfers at the 2011 Matt Bonner Charity Golf Tournament for Kids Sports Network at Canyon Springs Golf Club on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011. Bonner, who is also the vice president of the NBA Players Association and on break from the contentious negotiations, took time to meet with the golfers who donated to the 13th annual charity tournament which benefits youth athletics. (Kin Man Hui / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)

Spurs forward Matt Bonner (center) chats with Kids Sports Network CEO Brandon Parrott (left) before taking a swing on the tee box as he hosts the 2011 Matt Bonner Charity Golf Tournament for Kids Sports Network at Canyon Springs Golf Club on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011. Bonner, who is also the vice president of the NBA Players Association and on break from the contentious negotiations, took time to meet with golfers who donated to the 13th annual charity tournament which benefits youth athletics. (Kin Man Hui / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)

Spurs forward Matt Bonner (second from right) and former Spur Coby Dietrick (left) take directions from a tournament photographer as Bonner hosts the 2011 Matt Bonner Charity Golf Tournament for Kids Sports Network at Canyon Springs Golf Club on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011. Bonner, who is also the vice president of the NBA Players Association and on break from the contentious negotiations, took time to meet with golfers who donated to the 13th annual charity tournament which benefits youth athletics. (Kin Man Hui / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)

Spurs forward Matt Bonner (left) watches his tee shot off the No. 1 tee box during the 2011 Matt Bonner Charity Golf Tournament for Kids Sports Network at Canyon Springs Golf Club on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011. Bonner, who is also the vice president of the NBA Players Association and on break from the contentious negotiations, took time to meet with golfers who donated to the 13th annual charity tournament which benefits youth athletics. (Kin Man Hui / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)

Stern details specifics of ultimatum in letter

By Howard Beck, New York Times

NEW YORK — The ultimatum issued by the NBA to its players over the weekend not only threatens them with a worse labor deal but also a massive pay cut if they do not make a deal by Wednesday afternoon.

A letter sent by David Stern, the commissioner of the NBA, to the players union Sunday contrasts the proposal on the table — highlighted by a 50-50 split of revenues — with a “reset” proposal that would cut the players’ share to 47 percent, roll back current contracts, impose a hard salary cap and reduce contract lengths.

The salary rollback, which was part of the NBA’s first controversial proposal in 2010, had not been included in any league proposal for many months, and it was not publicly mentioned by Stern when he announced the ultimatum Saturday.

But the rollback was included in the letter Stern sent to Billy Hunter, the union’s executive director. A copy of the letter was obtained by the New York Times.

The union has until 5 p.m. Wednesday to accept the NBA’s last proposal or have it replaced by the reset proposal, Stern wrote.

The NBA’s current proposal to the players includes a soft salary cap, a 50 percent share of revenues for players and these features:

• Salary-cap and luxury-tax levels in Years 1 and 2 of the new agreement will be no less than they were in 2010-11. By Year 3, they will be adjusted downward to conform to the new system.

• Sign-and-trade deals and the biannual exception will be available only to nontaxpaying teams.

• Extend-and-trade deals, like the one signed by Carmelo Anthony last season, won’t be allowed.

• The midlevel exception will be set at $5 million for nontaxpaying teams, with a maximum length between three and four years (alternating annually). The value of the exception will grow by 3 percent annually, starting in Year 3.

• The midlevel exception will be set at $2.5 million for taxpaying teams, with a maximum length of two years, and cannot be used in consecutive years.

• A 10 percent escrow tax will be withheld from player salaries, to ensure that player earnings do not exceed 50 percent of league revenues.

• Maximum contract lengths will be five years for “Bird” free agents and four years for others.

• Players will be paid a prorated share of their 2011-12 salaries, based on games played once the season starts.

• Team and player contract options will be prohibited in new contracts, other than rookie deals. But a player can opt out of the final year of a contract if he agrees to zero salary protection (i.e., if it is nonguaranteed).

The “reset” proposal features a flex-cap system that contains an absolute salary ceiling — to be set $5 million above the average team salary. In addition, the NBA would roll back existing contracts “in proportion to system changes in order to ensure sufficient market for free agents.”

Some of the other major differences in the “reset” proposal:

• The midlevel exception would be set at $3 million in Year 1, with a maximum length of three years, and would grow at 3 percent annually.

• Maximum salaries would be reduced.

• Contracts would be limited to four years for “Bird” free agents and three years for others, but each team could give a five-year deal to one designated player.

Both proposals include an “amnesty” provision that will allow every team to waive one player and have 100 percent of his salary removed from the cap.

Source says NBA talks to resume Wednesday

By Brian Mahoney
Associated Press

NEW YORK — Officials from the NBA and players’ association will meet Wednesday, less than a week after three days of talks with a federal mediator couldn’t produce a deal to end the lockout, a person with knowledge of the plans said.

Talks broke down last Thursday after players said owners insisted they agree to a 50-50 split of revenues before they would further discuss the salary cap system. By not reaching an agreement last week, the NBA will likely be forced to cancel more games to go with the two weeks that were already scrapped.

There was a far nastier tone than usual to the breakdown, with union president Derek Fisher of the Lakers accusing Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver and Spurs owner Peter Holt, chairman of the league’s labor relations committee, of lying during their press conference.

But just as they have multiple times this month when they walked away from the table without another meeting scheduled, the sides are getting back at it relatively quickly.

The meeting, first reported by the Daily News of New York, will be small groups from each side, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because details of the negotiations were to remain private. Commissioner David Stern will take part after he was forced to miss the session last Thursday because of an illness.

Stern said without a deal last week, he feared games could be lost right through Christmas. The sides tried, spending 30 hours together while meeting for three straight days for the first time since the lockout began July 1. They made some progress on minor issues, but continue to be stuck on the two main ones.

Players proposed lowering their guarantee of basketball-related income to 52.5 percent, leaving the sides about $100 million apart annually based on last season’s revenues. They are also sparring over the length of contracts and the raises attached to them, along with the penalties teams would face for exceeding the luxury tax level.