Looks like scab refs for this coming NBA season....

[salsadancer7]

....Wow..!! Didn't know it was THIS bad.....

Refs expecting Oct. 1 lockout

Updated: September 10, 2009, 5:40 PM ET

By Marc Stein

ESPN.com

The lead negotiator and spokesman for NBA referees announced Thursday that the referees expect to be locked out when exhibition play starts Oct. 1 after contract negotiations with the league broke down this week.

Lamell McMorris, in a press release, also asserts that the NBA has begun to contact replacement referees to work in the preseason and perhaps the early part of the regular season.

NBA lead negotiator Rick Buchanan, in response, said Thursday that talks collapsed because the referees' union changed its mind after agreeing to accept the league's proposals on retirement benefits. Buchanan added that "all the union has offered to us is minimal concessions that are neither consistent with economic reality nor with the information it is currently distributing to the media."

The statements were issued in the wake of an ESPN.com report Tuesday, when the latest negotiating session between the referees and league executives came to an abrupt end in New York, significantly increasing the possibility that replacement refs will be needed in the NBA for the first time since the 1995-96 season.

"We understand that everyone in the country is facing tough times, but the NBA is continuing to make money, sign large marketing and television contracts and expand their business internationally," McMorris said. "We have attempted to negotiate in good faith and give substantial cuts to get the referees back to work."

[ame="http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4463154"]Marc Stein: NBA referees expect to be locked out on Oct. 1 - ESPN[/ame]

 

[BillD1984]

That sucks!! I hope they can reach an agreement before the season starts.

 

[Ramy]

Why you guys worried? Scab refs can suck just as much as the ones that are there now.

 

[Skyhi]

Why you guys worried? Scab refs can suck just as much as the ones that are there now.

I'm sure the scabs will be even worse and they'll get ZERO respect from a lot of the players and coaches.....I hope a deal can be reached.

 

[HD MM]

oh great. Anything to derail the potential for my Cavs '09-'10 season is not good.

 

[mccoyrj]

On a positive note, maybe this will improve NBA ratings this year with people tuning in to see how pissed off players will get with even more poor calls.

 

[Vic_Mackey]

oh great. Anything to derail the potential for my Cavs '09-'10 season is not good.

Don't worry I am sure one of the first thing they will be taught is the Lebron rules.

 

[salsadancer7]

Don't worry I am sure one of the first thing they will be taught is the Lebron rules.

Ya had to go there....

 

[Davedirectv]

Don't worry I am sure one of the first thing they will be taught is the Lebron/Kobe/D-Wade rules.

Fixed it for ya.

 

[CharlesO]

Fixed it for ya.

You forgot about Shaq.

 

[Paul Wozniak]

Why you guys worried? Scab refs can suck just as much as the ones that are there now.

:up:up:up
What makes any of you think you will know the difference?

 

[Lkr]

I'm with ramy...refs will suck no matter who it is

 

[SamCdbs]

1 - "Scab" is offensive. The vast majority of people, including myself, choose to work union-free. Why cannot people express themselves without calling other's names?

2 - This shows how phony these sports unions are. Down at the plant (mine, construction site, etc) if the pipefitters are on strike, nobody crosses the line. Not the delivery people, not the other workers in other unions. Nobody. And, if someone does, they, and their families, are the most likely people in the USA to be the victim of organized terrorism. But these ballplayers? Like the baseball and football players before them, they will not notice. Because sports unions are illigitimate.

 

[goreds2]

Maybe there may be some traveling plays called now.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji-cT58rgNc]YouTube - Ed McMahon Hiyo[/ame]