Blog 6

When Kenny Mauer came into class to speak about his current situation of the NBA Referee lockout, it got me thinking about the management and business side of sports. As Mauer stated on the business side of the sport can be a cruel function of business. Any way to save money and create more for the owners and the league is what David Stern will do to increase his profits. The information that Mauer explained to the class can also be related to the movie that we watched on the Seattle Supersonics. The NBA is interested in making profits and they will take a team out of town and threaten their Referee's in any way possible to ensure that the NBA can save money. The organization of a major business conglomerate coupled with an attitude to get as much revenue as possible can lead to these types of issues where money is all that matters and it does not matter how you treat your employees. The hiring of replacement Referee's is a slap in the face to the actual ref's that have worked their way up through the ranks for many years. The one thing that helps the Referee's is the fact that they have a committee of senior ref's that make decisions for the group. Since Mauer is on the committee he gets to witness all the decisions made that will affect the younger ref's. This is a critical position as he stated because of the fact that it can change the completion of someone's life. As an organization the NBA has had lockouts before this and the most noted one came in 1995 when the players locked out until the season was half over. During that year four different contracts were offered and finally the last one was put into place. The recurring theme was the fact that this offer was the "final offer." This was not the case as the league continued to make offers to get basketball players back on the court. I feel that this situation is a prime example of the fact that you need to set yourself worth and value before you take a job. You need to understand what the stakes are and what you are willing to accept for a contract offer. If you are part of a union then you cannot sell yourself out as well as your fellow workers. You need to stick to your guns. Always prepare for a raining day in which you may be on strike or be locked out. This will prevent you from making a decision that only benefits you and is not carefully thought out. In the end make sure you know what you are signing before you lock into a contract.