Are the labor issues in the NBA as bad as David Stern would have us believe?  We have no opportunity to view the books but we can assume expenses have increased since the last collective bargaining agreement.  Think about this if ownership is such a loser why are perspective owners always lining up to purchase a team?  Over the last three years the Nets, Warriors and now the Pistons have new ownership.  Despite the pronouncements of Stern and company the only team to date suffering appears to be the Kings.  Would you retain ownership of a business that loses large sums of money every year?  Wouldn't seem practical to be the owner of the Titanic.   

While on the subject of college ball other than money the other hot button issue is the "one n done" rule.  At this juncture is anybody really happy with it?  Chief among the reasons Tubby Smith was asked to leave Kentucky, he refused to recruit players he felt were headed to the NBA after one year.  To my knowledge Bobby Knight was probably the first person I heard mention this.  Knight claimed these one n done players didn't attend spring semester classes and after checking requirements I found out he was correct.  If a player passes his fall classes and enrolls for spring there is no requirement to attend class.  I have flip-plopped on this 1-year of college rule ever since it was approved.  The rule is intended for general managers to avoid drafting players not ready for the NBA, a better question might be shouldn't your scouts be able to determine a players ability?  We've witnessed player after player with four years of college (other than injury) wind up being a bust.  My football friends inform me there are numerous physical reasons why a high school player is not ready for the NFL.  The same criteria that prohibits a high school football player don't exist for basketball.  Let 'em play! 

Last week we witnessed possibly the worst championship game in NCAA history!  UConn and Coach Calhoun won however the rest of us (including Butler and it's fans) suffered through the worst championship game in history.  Butler was to shot a horrible 18.8% from the floor as a team, shot after shot many layups were missed.  Of course some of the poor shooting by Butler can be attributed to UConn's height difference and defense.  I read an article that pointed out since the NCAA has mandated dome stadiums for these games the shooting has suffered.  There might be something to the statement, players are on a standard floor with standard baskets.  The problem, depth perception.  It's got to be extremely different shooting a basketball in a dome stadium versus a regulation collegiate arena.  Domes were meant to play football not basketball, but why these games are played in domes----$$$$$$$.

Where is Kansas City?  I don't mean geographically I'm referring to it's sports mentality.  Many of us remember a time when the media would refer to the metro as "well rounded in it's sport appetite."  I'm not really sure that statement holds true today.  In the 50s and 60s Kansas City had an appetite for collegiate basketball, major league baseball and later the Chiefs.  This pattern continued as the A's left town and were replaced by the expansion Royals, divided loyalty at one time KU basketball became bigger in Missouri (Kansas City) than Mizzou.  Beginning in the 80s the Chiefs surpassed all sports and continue to lead in popularity.  The Kings, they had a core number of fans but never seemed to gain the acceptance of the other sports, at the same time their general lack of success on the basketball court probably contributed to acceptance as well.  In any event the point, I watched the recent McDonald's High School All-Star game played in Chicago.  I was shocked when the announcer mentioned there were over 20,000 fans at the United Center.  The 1989 game was held in Kemper Arena before 9,419 souls, considering Kemper could accommodate 17,500 that's pretty sad indeed for a national game.  Is it fair to compare the Chicago attendance to Kansas City?  It's probably not fair the point is only the Chiefs can just open the gates and fans come flocking in.  After all wherever you are at a sporting event in the metro this is the only place in the county at the conclusion of the national anthem you hear "home of the Chiefs."

I'm not sure if you will buy into my explanation.  I've now gained a degree of comfort with the Frank Haith hire, the Kansas City Star ran a story on Haith's formative years.  Raised by a grandmother when his mother died at age 11.  With 10 siblings it was decided his father would remain in New York with 5 while the other 5 moved to North Carolina and be raised by the grandmother.  Adversity in life can be a stumbling block or a beginning, thanks to a strong grandmother figure the adversity would not be an impediment to rising above his humble start.  Last week I listened to an ESPN podcast, one of their collegiate writers basically gave Mizzou an F for hiring Haith.  Here's the key for me within a short period Haith will have the opportunity to remake this team in his image.  The 2012-13 season the bulk of the team will be Haith recruits, if he fails then shame on him and Mike Alden.