HEAR ME WEEPING

 Over coffee this morning, I read The Athletic NBA News' article about the costs of watching this coming season's NBA games on television. By the end of the article, I was weeping. True. Tears in my eyes, tear drops down down my cheeks. Commissioner Adam Silvers made in clear that in reality we will no longer be watchin basketball games, we will be watching CONTENT. The Athletic article broke down the costs per platforms. It added up to much higher costs than in the past. The costs are in the nature of subscriptions over and above what we fans are now paying for our monthly cable television package. I will not try to explain what I could barely absorb myself, but read The Athletic or other NBA sources for the details. 

What made me weep was that all this portended for the future of televised sports in general and the NBA in particular. Commissioner Silver is asking us to walk down the aisles of the NBA/Media store and select our PROCUCTS/CONTENT. Each ITEM/GAME will have a label with a price printed on it, like any can of Pork and Beans in your local grocery store. You can shop by the month or the year. You can go cheap or go Whole Paycheck. However you chose, be certain that you will be paying considerably MORE than you did last season. 

It is not that I'm thinking entirely of myself when I say I am weeping. I weep for what this portends for the future for my children and my grandchildren. At my age, I will not be on this planet when this degradation is complete. It does not take much imagination to see the THEME of the movie, Rollerball Madness--when corporations will rule all aspects of the world. I am alarmed and dismayed. Listen and you will hear more people than me weeping. 

NFL Last night I watched a very impressive Green Bay Defense. Micah Parsons is one heck of a defensive end. I'm perplexed why the Cowboys would trade him. But since I'm not a super knowledgeable NFL blogger, I'll just leave the answer to to the experts. I personally believe the Cowboys have been cursed ever since Jerry Jones fired Jimmy Johnson. 

To finish this off, I'm excited that my new mystery novel in my Brovelli Brothers series: The Case of the Volkswagen Hippy Bus will launch on October 14 as 14 was my jersey number during my years playing for the Golden State Warriors.