The Knox Student

Editor’s note: In this edition of the Haze, Nate and Gabe are joined by guest panelist Pat McGinty.

Nate Williams: I forgot what I was going to say so this is just a Tribute … to the greatest song in the world?

Al Davis

Gabe Ayers: Actually this is a tribute, to one of the greatest owners/people in all of football. Al Davis of the Oakland Raiders passed away the other day in what was truly a sad day for the NFL. He was a big supporter of “winning” and most people today know him as an old man who was never happy, but those who grew up when he was younger know him as a fierce competitor and some may compare him to Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks.

N: Let’s have a moment of silence.

(Moment observed.)

Pat McGinty: Most people only remember Al Davis for firing everyone every year, but most people don’t know that Al Davis did it all. He did everything in the NFL other than a player; he was an assistant coach, head coach, general manager, Commissioner of the AFL and owner.

N: The Raiders were able to get the win over the Texans in memoriam of Davis. That was great to see on such an emotional day for all of the NFL.

G: We wish nothing but good things for the Oakland Raiders franchise and the friends and family of Al Davis.

NBA Lockout

N: It is official. The NBA season is now in peril.

G: Last week David Stern announced that all of the preseason games will be cancelled and to true basketball fans that is a big deal but to everyone else it really isn’t that big. No one really cares about the preseason much like they don’t care about the NFL or the MLB preseasons.

N: It was announced Monday that the first two weeks of the regular season have also been lost.

G: One has to wonder if that just means that the entire season is really in jeopardy now.

N: It is really tough for the young guys, especially the rookies and the undrafted rookies. You also need to be concerned for players’ careers here. Not just the young guys, but the veterans and their quests for Championships a la LeBron, Kobe and Rose.

G: Kobe is still trying to go against the “is he better than MJ” idea and you have to worry about this season being taken away from him. He has had injury problems in the last couple years so who knows if he can still be healthy over this break or not.

P: I feel that this drastic move will be good for the lockout because it’s going to force a move right away. Unlike the NFL, where both sides were worried about hurting each other’s feelings and just dragged negotiations on and on. This will cause the NBA to make a decision now or lose their season.

G: I don’t know about that, you would think that with the threat of ending the season the two sides would find a way to figure this out but nothing has really been done about it.

N: Both sides are very far apart. The owners are looking to cut salaries and have a much stricter salary cap limiting the spending done by teams. The stricter salary cap a NBA fan should be a fan of, though. It will only make the NBA game better on the whole, because the wealth of talent in the league would hopefully be spread out evenly.

G: I am a NBA fan and a fan of basketball but I was a fan of the NFL season not happening and I feel the same way about the NBA. A whole year without the NBA could be a good thing for a bunch of other professional leagues like the MLS or NHL to step up into the lime light.

Random Bit of News!

N: How about the WNBA Finals?!? The Minnesota Lynx and Seimone Augustus won the title over the weekend.

G: Minnesota Lynx doing good work this post-season, they dominated shall I say? They took the WNBA to the next level! We may as well start the season back up! They only play about 30 games a season, let’s see what these girls can do!

N: Yeah, especially since that was probably the last professional basketball we will see for a while.

G: Either way, congrats to the Lynx!

If there is anything you would like the guys from the Haze to discuss just email Nate at nwilliam@knox.edu or Gabe at gjayers@knox.edu.