The NBA Lockout is Over

So it appears that the NBA lockout may be a thing of the past and labor peace is on the horizon. Well not quite, because the players still have to ratify the agreement. But that is most likely pro forma at this point. A sign of how things are going is the action of the players association, which just put the brakes on its antitrust suit against the owners.

Following a frantic camp opening and free-agent frenzy on December 9th, the season will be set to start with a 66-game season on Christmas Day. Traditionally that has been the NBA's biggest audience of the season. I have missed the NBA, missed wondering how my Bulls were going to get help for Derek Rose; missed seeing how LeBron and company deal with the "agony of defeat" following their poor showing in the finals to the Mavs.

But all that us about to change come December 9, with the delayed start of a new season. What is left unsaid, like the elephant in the room, is what the league intends to do about 32 teams, which I feel is too many to be sustained by the current economics of the NBA.

There are teams in trouble all over the league, which admits losing $300 million dollars in 2010-11. There is a team tottering in Sacramento, and the league owns and runs the New Orleans franchise because it can't find buyers. Other teams are certainly marginal in terms of financial health, but nobody is talking contraction yet. That needs to be on the table for the long-term survivability of this league.

What also needs to be part of continuing discussion is the minimum age for NBA eligibility. Yes Hall of Fame basketball players have come into the league right out of high school, but there is not a LeBron James in every draft. When kids are allowed to skip college and enter the NBA draft what is essentially does is gut college programs. Or worse, kids commit to a school, stay one year and then bolt. At the very least it's a bad public image black eye for the NBA and they ought to fix that. Raise that age to 20, please!

They did manage to divvy up a smaller economic pie and the owners caved on a hard salary cap; I just don't want to see this league and its players six years down the road in worse shape because of moves they made during this bargaining season. Either side can opt out of the deal in that time frame. That's not reassuring either.

As a fan of NBA basketball I am glad they will be on the court again soon, but what will this cost in the long run in ticket prices, cable/satellite TV costs and the overall viability of the league? We'll see, because ultimately we'll be the ones paying the higher costs that will be passed on to us.

SHS Concert

We debuted our jazz band this fall in a concert on Friday night, November 18th, along with our combined choirs, orchestra and a new ensemble this year - our middle school choir.

The show moved along well, with each performing group allotted fifteen minutes onstage, including set up, tuning and performance. There were great moments by all of our groups, as well as opportunities to improve. Our jazz band is an example. This was a good moment for them, playing a rock song that they liked and would have some audience appeal as well. Oh that's me playing third trumpet, because we are very short handed this semester. In January three more senior kids join and that will beef up the sound back there greatly.

I'm so pleased with our rhythm section this year, made up of mostly juniors and seniors. Next year will be a challenge to grow that group from underclassmen, so we'd better do all that we can to enjoy their work and dedication to the band.

Our choirs have been growing musically as well; they sang some serious literature this fall that demanded much from them in terms of phrasing, diction and pitch, to say nothing of vocal projection over medium to soft dynamic levels - very tough for students at this level, but they pulled it off.

This concert was billed as the Winter Arts Concert, even though it came this year before Thanksgiving. We deliberately did this in order to free up the December auditorium schedule for all of the other district music programs. We are growing, with another high school sharing this space as well as more robust music programs in our existing schools. We all use the district auditorium, requiring a booking of dates a year before. We're already looking at planning for Winter 2012, and that's a new phenomenon for us.

Will There Be An NBA Season?

The NBA players this week voted to "disclaim" their union this week, as opposed to de-certification. This thing has reached a point now that even unnamed sources right out of Commissioner Stern's office are saying the season is lost. At this point the outcome of an antitrust lawsuit on behalf of the players would seem the only hope of forcing the owners into real negotiating.

ESPN's Lester Munson writes: "Among the rhetoric being exchanged on Monday was this from David Stern about the union's move to disclaim: "It's just a big charade and it's really irresponsible given the timing of it." Is the commissioner right or wrong?

He is wrong. Stern may wish the players' action was a charade, but it is a serious legal action against an obvious monopoly that is using its total control of the market to take money and benefits from players. Stern and the owners have been worried about this since they began their lockout. The timing shows only that the players patiently negotiated until they realized the owners were asking for too much.

It is complicated, but the players have concluded that there is no chance to reach an acceptable bargain with the owners until they, the players, have more leverage. The antitrust lawsuit should give them that leverage. It could lead to an injunction that would stop the lockout. It could lead to discovery of accurate financial data from the owners. And it could lead to billions of dollars of damages for the players if they suffer the loss of a season. With these possible outcomes, many players and many of their agents have been demanding that the union take this step. It is the path that allowed NFL players to achieve free agency and massive increases in salaries and benefits when bargaining collapsed during their negotiations in the early '90s."

The players actually have to file an antitrust suit to force the owners into honest negotiation and disclosure of the real financial picture of the league. That they have been holding back in their negotiations with the players is now apparent; and here I was ready to jump down the players throats! They are still culpable in their endless greed, but the owners do not have clean hands either.

If the players can force the owners to negotiate in good faith - in the face treble damages in a federal case, we may yet see pro basketball this season, but I am not holding my breath for that.

More On the Penn State Scandal

There are times in this age of cyber news that you wonder just what people are thinking. Sometimes things slip, sometimes thoughts are leaked purposefully, and sometimes stupidity reigns. Like last night's Bob Costas' television interview with Jerry Sandusky.

Wait! His lawyer actually allowed him to talk to a journalist while the criminal case is pending? Oh it's worse than that - his counsel even suggested that Costas interview his client. I don't understand what happened there, because everything he said is admissible in court, unless counsel later intends to file a motion to suppress his client's statement. It makes no sense.

This was supposed to be an interview of Sandusky's lawyer, Joseph Amendola. About twenty minutes before the interview was to air, Amendola asked Costas if he would rather do a phone interview with his client. Of course Costas agreed, and later said that the lawyer placed no restrictions on the conversation.

When Mr. Amendola was asked why he was letting his client speak, he told Costas that Sandusky had already been tried and convicted in the court of public opinion and that they wanted their story out. So the interview proceeds and Sandusky admits to showering with young boys, placing his hand on their legs and general "horseplay", but with no sexual intent. He even admitted to being in the shower with the young boy in 2002 when McCreery, the coach-intern, found them in the shower. But he denied any wrongdoing.

I am sorry, but what is "right" about a 55 year old man showering with minor boys? Admitting that he was in that shower I would think damages his case badly, because it is only a small step to connecting that now established fact with sexual contact. And they have an eye-witness who now says he took steps to intervene and stop Sandusky from raping the child.

While not evidence I would say that Sandusky's tone and voice reflections were even creepy over the phone. If anyone could sound like a pedophile, he surely did. Why his lawyer would want to expose all this is beyond me. Maybe they are banking on a biased judge and jury. The prosecution is certainly thinking about this because they want a change of venue. How many people in that community are not tied to Penn State in one way or another?

What I am waiting for is the other shoe to drop - the Feds. There are allegations that Sandusky took boys across state lines to see the Nittany Lions play on the road. Look for federal indictments in this case at some point. Penalties are much stiffer in the Federal jurisdiction and the rules of evidence are somewhat less strict, even if Sandusky's lawyer should later move to suppress it in state court and the judge agrees. Stay tuned, because there is much more to come in this story.

The Penn State Scandal

I am afraid that the pedophile scandal which has rocked Penn State, shocked the nation and led to the firing of a true college coaching icon is yet more evidence of our willingness to let sports overrule common sense, and yes the law.

We learned in horror through the findings of the Grand Jury that former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky is culpable in alleged child sexual abuse, rape and sodomy cases at his home, in the facilities of Penn State and also at a local high school while coaching and also after retirement. Sandusky had emeritus status and thus access to the univeesity's facilities. Indeed he maintained an office there.

It seems sadly apparent that the charitable organization founded by Mr. Sandusky, The Second Mile, for wayward youth was his chief instrument through which the former coach could gain contact with young boys. These children were mostly from troubled homes and likely see as perfect targets for his predatory behavior.

It is tragic enough that Sandusky was able to prey on these children for so long; what is shocking was the apparent attitude of the immediate coaching staff and the school's administration, who knew of at least one witnessed rape, yet failed to report the incidents to police. There is a documented report in which an assistant coach actually saw Sandusky raping a 10 year old boy in a locker room shower. His response - he told his father! Why didn't he intervene, kick Sandusky's butt and protect the child by getting him out of there? And I don't buy for a moment that this coach was only a graduate assistant at the time. He was 28 years old!

Oh yes, he told Paterno the next day what he saw, and that went up the chain to the University president, but still no police report was made and Sandusky, then retired, was told to not bring young boys on campus again, following a university-led "investigation". Shameful, absolutely shameful.

Not once did any of these esteemed gentlemen I believe think about the well being of the child in question. It was apparent from the outset that their main focus was on the integrity of the Penn State Football program. This is the attitude which is endemic to our society. We don't hold successful athletes and programs responsible for their actions.

Time and time again we see athletes and athletic programs caught engaging in illegal or unethical activities. Rather than demand that these transgressions by punished like they would be if John Q. Citizen had committed them. we wrist-slap, or some cases let these acts go altogether. And we keep watching those games on TV and showing up at the stadiums. This is where we fail, because if the legal system misses the mark, we have the power to hold them accountable at the box office. But we don't. Just look at the students' reaction to the Paterno firing. A riot!

I don't know what coach Paterno knew and when; I don't even know if there is any legal culpability for anyone on his staff. I do know that it boggles the imagine that as late as 2002 nobody knew of the predatory behavior of Jerry Sandusky. And even when he was caught in the act, law enforcement was not involved in what can only have been construed as child rape. That they did nothing to me condemns the entire coaching staff and the school's administration. Everyone must go, and those who chose to sweep it under the rug have to be prosecuted. Justice calls for nothing less.

Beer Making At Home Part II

This morning I completed bottling two new brew recipes - a Canadian Draft and a recipe entitled Whispering Wheat, a very light, mild tasting brew that is one of my very favorites. All told I bottled some three dozen 12 oz. brews, plus two liter bottles, using bottling materials purchased previously from the manufacturer.

This is the fun part; testing for potential alcohol content (about 4%), sterilizing, pouring and sealing the bottles for the conditioning period, which will take 7 to 10 days. After that period of time they may be refrigerated and will ready to serve. There is no rushing this process!

(Note: The glass you see in the picture is from a previous batch that produced a nice, semi-dark Viennese ale).

What causes the carbonation in a bottle of home-brewed beer? Sugar. The yeast in the brew is still active. Sugar feeds the yeast, which releases carbon dioxide as a waste product. This action gives the beer its "head". Of course commercial manufacturers can carbonate artificially (many do) but there is something to be said for the natural method. I'll update you on that moment of truth when I pop my first bottle to "test" the process before packaging these bottles as Christmas gifts!

Beer Making At Home

Home brewing has really come on in recent years with the availability of products which make the process fun, easy to use and quite tasty as an end result. I don't endorse one beer-making kit over any other because good results can be achieved it seems with all of them.

I've been brewing my own beer for about two years now. While I am not a big beer drinker I love that they make great gifts, especially during the holiday season. I use the Mr. Beer system, which can be purchased at places like Total Wine, Cost Plus, and directly through their website for about $40. You don't have to spend a lot of money to get started with this hobby. Typically a starter kit might feature two or three types of beers for the hobbyist to make. Mr. Beer offers many recipes in its catalog, including various lagers, red beers, wheat beers and stouts. Refills featuring such recipes can cost $10 to $30; most make upwards of two plus gallons of beer.

The Mr. Beer kit comes with clear instructions, a brew keg, one beer recipe (wort), plastic PETA Bottles and a no-rinse sanitizer which must be used in order to eliminate bacterial growth. Brewing a flavor is very straight forward. The keg and all utensils used are sterilized in solution provided. A fructose booster is brought to a boil in a sauce pan and the wort (containing the hops and other beer essentials) are added to the dissolved booster.

The sterilized keg is filled with two gallons of distilled water, the wort mixture and the brewers yeast that comes with each beer recipe. The liquids are given a gentle stir, the keg is sealed and then stored in a cool dark place for a minimum of 7 days to ferment. Best results are achieved if you let the brew ferment for up to 10 days.

Fore those of you worried about ferment odor, relax. There is no smell of any kind. I use the top shelf of a closet in my exercise room. It's no maintenance at this point; the yeast does all the work for you!

At the end of the fermentation you are ready for bottling. After sterilizing the bottles according to procedures outlined in the instruction, a specified amount of sugar is added to the bottles and beer from the keg is poured into each one and sealed. At this point it is flat beer. The sugar feeds the yeast in the beer, which results in natural carbonation. This process is called conditioning, which takes a minimum of four days. I let the beer condition for about 10 days, again in a cool, dark space. At the end of this period the beer can be chilled and is ready for drinking. The head on the beer is fantastic.

One must remember that this is unfiltered beer. There will be yeast at the bottom of the bottle. The longer the beer conditions the clearer it will be come. I've let beer condition for weeks before refrigerating it. That beer is as clear as commercial brands.

If you are looking for a fun and relatively in expensive hobby to undertake I do recommend home brewing. It is relatively easy to do, tasty and makes a great gift idea. Alcohol content? I've measured between 3.5% and 6% with an accessory I purchased from the manufacturer to determine alcohol content. The more sugar in the wort the higher the alcohol content will become. Do try this!