Column Part 3

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-wojnarowski_dwight_howard_magic_nets_121411

-Trade talks about Dwight Howard ended, despite a proposal to trade Brook Lopez, Gerald Wallace, Jordan Farmer, and a first round draft pick for Dwight Howard.

-Dwight Howard displayed personal interest in the trade, but the Magic ownership disapproved and "killed" the trade deal

-Teams tried to extend interest in Howard, especially the New Jersey Nets, where they tried to influence Howard to join Deron Williams and the Nets in the new stadium in Brooklyn, during the 2012-2013 season.

Writer's Position:  Supportive of players' personal and professional interests, despite the officials' dominance in all negotiations.

Examples of Officials with power:


"Magic ownership did not approve of the trade, and general manager Otis Smith then informed teams Howard had been removed from the market."


“Dwight’s not a happy camper,” one league source told Y! Sports


Howard has warned the Magic if they don’t move him by the March 15 trade deadline, they’ll lose him for nothing in free agency

The Columnist communicates his position by highlighting the player's dissatisfaction with the overwhemling control of owners in the NBA. With players like Dwight Howard retaliating with trade negotiations, we still see disputes of trade, even after the lockout settlement

Column Part Two

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-wojnarowski_nba_chris_paul_trade_david_stern_veto_120911

-The three-team deal involving Houston, New Orleans, and the Los Angeles Lakers was vetoed by Commissioner Stern, creating conflict that shows the "emperor" side of the commissioner and the futility of the proposed rules set post-lockout

-Examples are shown of Stern's reduction of the NBA officials to rubble, where there is no reasoning with this man, even with his power tantrums. Stern deemed the Paul trade unacceptable because it was unacceptable for "basketball reasons," yet not all the officials have played basketball.

-New Orleans GM, Dell Demp, feels betrayed and humiliated. Being the GM of a team in New Orleans, facing hardship from Hurricane Katrina, never had a chance to keep Paul in the trade negotiation. Stern promised to let a "franchise make a plan, take a course of action, let them trade [Chris Paul] when they believe they have the best possible deal." Yet, Stern's veto shows no possibility for a franchise to have trades.

Back in Business

The NBA is back in full swing.

A Very Early Christmas Present now that the lockout is over.
December 25, 2011, mark your calendars.

Let's swing things with a piece from columnist, Adrian Wojnarowski, concerning free agencies

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-wojnarowski_nba_free_agency_113011

-With the salary cap in mind, various teams may have certain salary space to sign free agents, such as the Los Angeles Clippers
-Teams will use advantages of their salary space to sign potential players, such as Nene, to persuade other players to join the same team. Deron Williams may find a future with the center at New Jersey
-The Amnesty Clause allowing teams to release players and pay them off is being used by the teams to their advantage, seeing as how the Wizards will still cling to forward Rashard Lewis.

Final Perspective on Current Events (late)

Using the events based upon political leaders on their decisions, in relation to negotiations about the NBA officials and the players in the lockout, here are my opinions.

-In negotiations, both sides being addressed are effective, rather than one side calling all the shots. Though officials are the ones heading operations, the general public (the players in the Lockout, for example) should contribute a vital part in decisions.
Another contributing factor is the assessment of values and rules. Because of the diversity of people, values and rules pose differences that can cause tension for coming at a conclusion. Still, both the officials and public must be innovative and ready for action for disputes to be settled. In our society, the government is comprised of elected officials and the common people. For disputes to be effectively settled, matters should be discussed as a whole body, where the values of the sides are taken in mind. Problems like calling war soldiers back home, or economic bailouts will almost always have differing viewpoints on the situation and solution. Even if the solution promises benefit, it may be temporary and might entail consequences, such as calling back troops to America, leaving no units to train those in the Middle East for defense. However, it's best to be prepared for action and try hard to settle conflicts.

Now if only consensus is reached in the lockout...even with all the promises of equalizing the percentage of four billion dollar salary, the prohibition of exceeding finances for signing players, and salary cap, the negotiators must retain their action.

No Unity in the Lockout, and Perhaps in Other Topics.

Well, The Lockout is going nowhere. Commissioner Stern postpones the season yet again, this time to the end of November. There still hasn't been consensus.

Branching off from that, unity is beneficial, especially in governing a society. Even more so, cohesion, or logically consistent, allows governance to be supported by the public.

David Brooks writes about his conference involving talk of Israel's situation, and how it relates to the Obama Administration

http://brooks.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/22/governing-in-the-gap/

Ideas:


-Appearances of high stature and loftiness mean nothing when it comes to governing a society. Having only high hopes without action can produce unfortunate occurrences, such as the financial crisis, or Israel's turmoil.

-Identity of enduring hardships and continuing similar to the Civil Rights Movement is fading. What's the new identity in the 2012 Campaign. Brooks suggests that the government watches "Cinderella Man" to understand pushing through and persevering through hardships.

-Incongruity between values and political actions and situations can create a rift between the government and the public. This adds more insult to injury to societies. It creates different systems, which disrupts the overall identity of a society. No cohesion or unity.

Announcements from the Big Man

Let's talk once again about decisions a leader makes, especially pertaining to the U.S. Government and President Obama.

According to the president's announcement, the Iraq War may be ended officially, ending years of fighting against Iraq.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/22/world/middleeast/president-obama-announces-end-of-war-in-iraq.html?ref=opinion

-There is concern about Iran and Iraq, and the ability of the forces trained by the Americans. The only reason for Americans to stay there was to prepare the military for levels of violence.

-Lots of disputes within the political system about the decision of pulling troops out. The question is if Obama was unable to negotiate with the Iraqi Government and had to order the troops back, or a miscalculation of political action occurred.

-The notion of nationalism comes to play. The Iraqi government is negotiating whether to keep the American presence in Iraq existing. There are ideas of sending Iraqi trainees to other countries in the Middle East to be trained by American Troops. Still, there still lies the hope that Iraq will be a strong democratic nation that will be a partner to the U.S. in the Middle East.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Different sides are arguing within the NBA. Now, the players are called to action, trying to solve the problem, which relates to the Steve Jobs post before.


The official authority has the responsibility of making decisions. He is judged by his actions affecting the public and himself.

A Controversial topic is how leaders rule the public. Let's read an editorial about Obama's humanitarian policy in Africa.

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/10/16/national-post-editorial-board-obamas-humanitarian-policy-in-uganda/

-Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord's Resistance Army in Central Africa, terrorizing the people. Obama dispatches 100 American soldiers to assist the public. Believes that Kony is well deserving of attention by Obama for humanitarian action

-American troops committed to helping the Africans. Situations like the eliminations of Osama Bin Ladin and Anwar al-Awlaki involved small forces achieving important results. Leaderless groups crumble, and the LRA will prove no different

-Troops deployed to Africa proves to be a small investment for America, but war costs can result in large dividends of payment for the population because of Obama's humanitarian decision. Interestingly, America is the only nation to have an interest in assisting saving children from the predatory LRA. Creates Reputation, but also Consequence

2 Weeks Cancelled? On Going Disputes Everywhere

NBA News indicate that two weeks of the regular season is cancelled, so not a whole bunch of progress on this so-called lockout. It's still all about labor disputes. Commissioner David Stern and other officials are still in the process of negotiation

In the meantime, let's talk about contemporary matters involving leaders themselves.


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/opinion/sunday/friedman-where-have-you-gone-joe-dimaggio.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Summary:

-Believes that leaders should embody the Steve Jobs ideal of leaders being innovative and ready for action, rather than viewing the polls and idling. It is necessary to be pushed out of the comfort zone in order to create action, and in the process, inspire others to fix any problems in society.

-Despite all the tax-cuts, bailouts, American leaders should "invent" their way to prosperity. It is better to use innovation to make the way to success. By creating an innovative path to solving disputes, the general public would feel inspired to also have their part in fixing the problems that plague society, whether they are economic or political.

-Due to the recession, the comfort zone of creating plans to solve economic, political or social problems can be intimidating. However, like Steve Jobs and other innovators, they should address the problems, AND create a plan of action. The innovators had "no word of a recession, foreign complications, etc" They just went out and created. Audacity and Innovation together produces prosperity, and through reinvigorating of the economic plan, more and more people will join and help.

No Basketball.. Rhetoric in a picture.

Sorry fans, no basketball this season.

LeBron's crying too don't worry.

Anyways, let's just check out this picture and check out some details.

Link

Analysis:

Tone: With the faces smiling, and the lights focused on the Dallas Maverick team, the tone is very elated, joyous, and momentous.

Pathos: This picture particularly appeals to fans of the Dallas Mavericks, bringing an excited emotion to the fans, and probably even more so to people who dislike the Miami Heat. The excitement is increased due to the fact that this is the first championship one by the Dallas Mavericks.

Structure: The whole team is gathered together, as the team should who won the championship together. The Finals Trophy is held by Dirk Nowitzki, but it is placed in the center, showing how important this event is. Under the trophy, the team raise their arms in victory, for they are among the prestige and honor of the trophy and championship now.

No Basketball on the Horizon??

Link
NBA Lockout seems to be prolonged even more.

• Ultimate reasons are salary caps and prowls for signing players and free agents. 
• Owners and Players are in conflict based on money matters in accordance with player deals and the owners' decisions. 
• It's an all-out dispute over salaries exceeding the cap.
• Players are acquired, putting other franchises at a limit to what they can get, which creates a competition that is "locked out" in order to somehow be settled.

Link

O'Neill, John "Salary caps not a good thing for NBA or fans." Editorial. http://detnews.com/article/20110831/OPINION01/108310347/Salary-caps-not-a-good-thing-for-NBA-or-fans. 31 Aug 11

Article of the Day

NBA Players heading to International Hotspots, but unable to officially play outside of the U.S. at China.

Is Dwight Howard going to China?!

Link to Official News

First Blog, starting with some NBA news

Hey everyone, my name's Michael.

What's basically going down is this blog is part of an assignment for my school.
Still, it'll still be pertaining to my current topic, which is the NBA lockout.

Hope everything goes well..so this blog starts now