[Goose]

Just my 2 cents plus my old Chuck Taylor's thrown in for good measure.

Ahh, the NBA. The worst officiated pro league in the US of A.

Before bashing the ref's to death for their ineptness, let's look at the bigger picture.

1. The NBA exists not to exhibit basketball at a high level but to make money. The means to make this money is a game called basketball. Those who fail to recognize this little matter, should just stop now.

2. With point one being said, the sole purpose of the league is to generate money for the owners, period. And with that being said, the owners have collectively choosen to market their product in a certain manner.

3. This marketing has evolved into the fuzzy area that was once the sole property of the WWF, a.k.a., World Wide Wrestling Federation, who when pressed for explanations, billed themselves as "Sports Entertainment". Sadly, these are the depths to which the NBA has fallen.

4. In order to appeal to a mass audience apart from New York City, Chicago, and L.A., the NBA has adopted for quite some time, the mentality of putting entertainment above the actual game itself.

5. The entertainment factor has created several large scale problems though. One such problem is that no one really wants to plunk down 50 dollars to see Shaq, Lebron, or you put in the stars name, sit on the bench in the first quarter with 3 fouls, nor do they pay to see them foul out either. So, the stars have long received special treatment. Afterall, the ref's are hardly willing to bit the hand that is feeding them. This is also why crappy behavior is tolerated.

6. Again, in the NBA's quest for appeal, they have tweaked the game, underminded some rules all in the name of money. Yea, the ref's can be blamed for the way the game is called to a degree, but again, they surely don't want to crush the golden egg, nor the goose that is laying them. Everyone wants to see the monster dunk, but who really cares if he took a couple of extra steps? It was fun wasn't it?

Conversely, the College game has been somewhat different, although as of late, they are swinging to the trend of bringing in more money, hence more crappy officiating and more gimmicks to raise interest.

The college game used to be, and for my money still is the defacto standard. The game is called correctly and fairly with little reguard to star power. Some will argue that point, but it is more often than not, that a teams key player is in foul trouble, which causes the coach to actually coach... What a novel thought! The bench in college ball plays a far larger role in the game than we see in the NBA. This is a direct result of the game being called correctly. Guys are gonna foul and foul out and this is seen repeatedly in the college game. The NBA rarely has Shaq or Iverson foul out, and when it does happen, PTI or Sports Center will be all over it and questioning the ref's left and right.

The NBA is little more than the old Globetrotters, only these guys don't throw water on the fans. Well, at least they don't do it as a joke.

In my book, the NBA has sacrificed a great game all for the entertainment dollar which has only dumbed down the game and turned off many avid basketball fans. Then they wonder why their ratings are so poor. Hey stupids, play the game right and let the game speak for itself.

I could go on and on, but it is pointless. The NBA has merely drifted into the same arena as Wrestle Mania. Is it real or is it fake? I'll leave it up to you. But for my entertainment dollar, I'd much rather go and see the And-One mix tape tour than the crappy NBA. At least with the bozo's from the And-One tour, you know what you are getting, and they are quite "entertaining" afterall.

goose

p.s. the professor rules!