With the NBA All Star game here this weekend, there's rumors flying all over town about getting a team here permanently. Personally, I couldn' care less. Its the NBA, so do you really think the average joe is going to be able to go to a damn game? Hell no, too goddam expensive.
I just want to tell all these people to either shit or get off the toilet. This has been going on for years. So many teams talk about coming here, but in the end its just leverage to get a new stadium or arena in the city they're already in.
We have the Gladiators from Arena Football here, and they're doing great financially. The big issue is gambling. The Arena League hasn't had a problem with gambling at all, and all the games are on the boards for betting. The NBA is afraid of guys throwing games. So I ask you this:
Who is more likely to throw a game, an NBA player making millions, or an Arena guy who makes $30k a year?
Yep, the Arena guy. But guess what, it doesn't happen.
The NBA can basically take their collection of tattooed, corn-rowed thugs and shove them. Get the hell out of town. This All Star game is fucking up my traffic already. I'd much rather have the NHL anyway.
The preceding rant was brought to you by Las Vegans for Keeping the NBA out!
Sorry about the rant. I just sat in gridlock for an hour so TV trucks can invade the arena. Speaking of, how sophisticated and ready for a team is Las Vegas if the main street in and out of the arena has been under construction for 2 years, and still won't be finished in time for our "audition", which is this All Star game? Jackasses all around, including our drunk ass Mayor.
From SI.com:
LAS VEGAS -- NBA commissioner David Stern has asked Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman to come up with a compromise on sports betting -- the strongest signal yet of the NBA's intention to place a team in Las Vegas.
Stern made the request during a meeting Wednesday morning at the mayor's office, according to both Stern and Goodman.
Stern said he essentially laid his cards on the table, telling Goodman that the NBA's interest in his city was obvious, based on the league's presence in Las Vegas for All-Star Weekend. Stern added that the NBA recognizes that gambling has become an accepted recreation throughout the U.S. in the form of lotteries and Indian-reservation casinos.
It is understood, however, that Stern does not want legal bets to be wagered on a Las Vegas NBA franchise.
Stern concluded the meeting by telling the mayor that "the ball is in your court." He asked Goodman to bring forth his idea for a compromise that both the NBA and Nevada sports books could live with.
The obvious compromise would be a form of the old UNLV rule, in which the Vegas sports books would agree to take games involving the local NBA team off their boards -- though wagers on other NBA games would be permitted.
Earlier this week, Stern publicly conceded that he must yield to the wishes of his 30 franchise owners, who clearly want to see an NBA team playing in Las Vegas.
However, a source close to Stern emphatically states that the owners would not approve a move to Las Vegas unless a version of the old UNLV is applied. If Goodman is unwilling to compromise on sports betting, the source maintains, the NBA will not place a team in Las Vegas.
But some powerful people in Las Vegas have a different reading of the NBA owners, suggesting that a compromise may not even be needed in order for owners to approve a team in Vegas.
For now, though, the pressure is on Goodman to work out a compromise with the major casino operators in Nevada.
"I really want to go to the gaming industry to see where they stand, what concessions they feel they can make, and go from there," Goodman told SI.com on Wednesday. "I have a great feeling now that it's going to be in the hands of the owners. We're not going to have any kind of blockade as has been in existence in the past."
Stern told Goodman that he does not expect an answer this weekend. If the mayor comes back to Stern with an offer of compromise in one month, then Stern would put it on the agenda of the Board of Governors meeting in April, when the owners will hash out the Las Vegas proposal.
If the owners agree, the door will be wide open for the first major sports franchise to move a team into America's gambling capital.
I just want to tell all these people to either shit or get off the toilet. This has been going on for years. So many teams talk about coming here, but in the end its just leverage to get a new stadium or arena in the city they're already in.
We have the Gladiators from Arena Football here, and they're doing great financially. The big issue is gambling. The Arena League hasn't had a problem with gambling at all, and all the games are on the boards for betting. The NBA is afraid of guys throwing games. So I ask you this:
Who is more likely to throw a game, an NBA player making millions, or an Arena guy who makes $30k a year?
Yep, the Arena guy. But guess what, it doesn't happen.
The NBA can basically take their collection of tattooed, corn-rowed thugs and shove them. Get the hell out of town. This All Star game is fucking up my traffic already. I'd much rather have the NHL anyway.
The preceding rant was brought to you by Las Vegans for Keeping the NBA out!
Sorry about the rant. I just sat in gridlock for an hour so TV trucks can invade the arena. Speaking of, how sophisticated and ready for a team is Las Vegas if the main street in and out of the arena has been under construction for 2 years, and still won't be finished in time for our "audition", which is this All Star game? Jackasses all around, including our drunk ass Mayor.
From SI.com:
LAS VEGAS -- NBA commissioner David Stern has asked Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman to come up with a compromise on sports betting -- the strongest signal yet of the NBA's intention to place a team in Las Vegas.
Stern made the request during a meeting Wednesday morning at the mayor's office, according to both Stern and Goodman.
Stern said he essentially laid his cards on the table, telling Goodman that the NBA's interest in his city was obvious, based on the league's presence in Las Vegas for All-Star Weekend. Stern added that the NBA recognizes that gambling has become an accepted recreation throughout the U.S. in the form of lotteries and Indian-reservation casinos.
It is understood, however, that Stern does not want legal bets to be wagered on a Las Vegas NBA franchise.
Stern concluded the meeting by telling the mayor that "the ball is in your court." He asked Goodman to bring forth his idea for a compromise that both the NBA and Nevada sports books could live with.
The obvious compromise would be a form of the old UNLV rule, in which the Vegas sports books would agree to take games involving the local NBA team off their boards -- though wagers on other NBA games would be permitted.
Earlier this week, Stern publicly conceded that he must yield to the wishes of his 30 franchise owners, who clearly want to see an NBA team playing in Las Vegas.
However, a source close to Stern emphatically states that the owners would not approve a move to Las Vegas unless a version of the old UNLV is applied. If Goodman is unwilling to compromise on sports betting, the source maintains, the NBA will not place a team in Las Vegas.
But some powerful people in Las Vegas have a different reading of the NBA owners, suggesting that a compromise may not even be needed in order for owners to approve a team in Vegas.
For now, though, the pressure is on Goodman to work out a compromise with the major casino operators in Nevada.
"I really want to go to the gaming industry to see where they stand, what concessions they feel they can make, and go from there," Goodman told SI.com on Wednesday. "I have a great feeling now that it's going to be in the hands of the owners. We're not going to have any kind of blockade as has been in existence in the past."
Stern told Goodman that he does not expect an answer this weekend. If the mayor comes back to Stern with an offer of compromise in one month, then Stern would put it on the agenda of the Board of Governors meeting in April, when the owners will hash out the Las Vegas proposal.
If the owners agree, the door will be wide open for the first major sports franchise to move a team into America's gambling capital.
.
