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07/16/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There is an adage in politics - never let a serious crisis go to waste.
In these tough economic times, rank and file workers across America have never been more suspicious of management.
Most agree that the world's largest economy is not running on all cylinders right now and some even argue that it's come off the tracks completely, but most middle class employees can't help but get the feeling that management is using a bad situation to take advantage of them by scaling back on benefits and salary.
That kind of suspicion is about the only thing NBA players have in common with the middle class.
Since the league instituted a salary cap in 1984, it has grown from $3.6 million per team to a staggering a $57.7 million last season. In turn, player salaries have exploded, climbing from an average of $330,000 in '84 to $5.2 million by 2007-08. The numbers have stagnated a bit since then, but the average NBA salary has stayed above the $5 million mark.
That growth had the NBA crying poverty at every turn when the economy went south. Before the 2008-09 season, commissioner David Stern slashed 9 percent of his office staff in New York and played hardball with his officials, gaining significant reductions in the referees' retirement packages after threatening a lockout.
During the NBA's annual owners meeting in Las Vegas, buried among all the hoopla over the "Summer of LeBron," Stern claimed his league lost a combined $370 million thanks to the recession, a figure NBA Players Association executive director Billy Hunter balked at.
With the current collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and its players set to end on June 30, 2011, Hunter thinks Stern is using fuzzy math in an attempt to control salaries and make other changes to the CBA.
"David's numbers are unfounded," Hunter told ESPN. "It's a severe exaggeration."
Stern cited slowing ticket sales in some markets and a hit in both television and merchandising revenue to back his claim, while Hunter pointed to the league's overall increase in ticket sales and a much-increased television audience for the NBA playoffs to bolster his case.
Recent empirical evidence supports Hunter and the players.
A doom-and-gloom prediction by the NBA that predicted the salary cap would decrease from $57.7 million to $50.4 million in 2010 was way off and the league announced that the cap would actually increase next season to $58 million, a development that actually upset a number of the league's owners, who were taken by surprise.
"As soon as we get it, we spend it," Stern said of the league's still solid revenue streams. "That is the current system. We try to compete. Our fans love that. So we'd like to keep the league as competitive as possible, give all of our teams the opportunity to tell their fans they have a chance to win, and have some profit in it for the owners."
Those same owners are continuing to spend at a breakneck pace despite the sour economy and Stern's moribund words, giving even pedestrian players like Chris Duhon and Hakim Warrick big paydays.
Meanwhile, the Golden State Warriors, not exactly the gold standard in the league, are set to sell for a record price. The Warriors. who were a disappointing 26-56 last season, are a lot closer to the Los Angeles Clippers than the Los Angeles Lakers or Boston Celtics, but that didn't stop an investment group led by Joseph Lacob to pony up a record price $450 million for the franchise, exceeding the $401 million Robert Sarver needed to buy the Phoenix Suns in 2004.
Both sides are distrustful of each other and are hunkering down and preparing for the worst work stoppage since the 1998-99 lockout.
"I'm preparing for a lockout right now, and I haven't seen anything to change that notion," Hunter said.
Don't expect Stern, a master negotiator, to blink and let this crisis go to waste.
"I don't know how many collective bargainings I've participated in over the last too many years," the commissioner said. "We've thus far only had one failure to reach a deal in 1998. And many of the others have started out poorly, had predictions of doom and gloom, et cetera. You just keep on plugging. I think we've got a long way to go, but we have a lot of time to get there. That's the optimism
"Judging from (the players') proposal, which basically embraces the current system, we haven't closed any gap yet. But we're going to be resilient and prepared to spend the time necessary to see whether there's a deal to be had here, and we're going to do it for as long as possible."
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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout
An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.
Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off. Randy was not impressed though. Paula thought he started off fantastic. "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either.
Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed. Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact. He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition.
Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula. Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.
Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next. Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential. Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell. He sang "Careless Whisper".
22 year old Chris Richardson was up next. He was listed with +1100 odds coming in. He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great.
Nick was boring and pitchy. Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week. Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition.
Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds . These of course were the early odds. He was considered original for picking an "odd song". He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night.
Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good.
Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds. Great voice and a great sense of humor. He's a real standout. Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit. Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig".
Jared Cotter followed. He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition. The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good.
22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next. "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon. Though the judges felt he performed okay. Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.
Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition. He was the last to perform. He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start.
Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys. Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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