Slam Dunk Central

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The sports that have come to be known in the USA as the “Big Four”?have four very different types of leaders. Gary Bettman, the NHL Commissioner is probably the one with the lowest profile. Coming to the NHL from the NBA, Bettman has not been very visible? to either his constituency, or the media. His time in the spotlight mostly came when the NHL was on strike a couple of years ago, and he was the point man for management. NHL owners basically got most of what they desired in the deal, and the League in?spite of the year layoff seems to have regained most of their fan base. So although he is still relatively unknown comparatively to the?three other “Sports Czars” he would probably be right up near the top when it comes to competency to run his?sport.

MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, was the owner and C.O.O. of the Milwaukee Brewers when he took over the Commissioners spot, in what the powers that be in baseball?thought would just be a temporary fill-in until everybody could come up with a consensus candidate to replace former Commissioner Fay Vincent. But a funny thing happened, as Selig went from a temporary fill in to become the man who has run the show for quite a long time. Good and?bad things have happened during his watch; preventing a work stoppage twice since the new millennium started is definitely a feather in his cap. The “lockout” during the 1994 season which resulted in the first year without a World Series?since the early 20th Century left a black eye on the game, and they were extremely lucky to bounce back from it. But the “steroid era”, or the “juiced era” also took place on his watch.?If not for a book by Jose Canseco, and a subsequent Congressional Investigation with a threat by the politicos to get your house in order or we will do it for you it would still be going on today. MLB owners and Management at the very least looked the other way, while their players were ingesting these substances that made them look like “Cover Boys” for weight lifting magazines. And judging by how the MLB “braintrust” has reacted to an interview that New York Yankees player Jason Giambi had with USA Today, it may have been a lot more insidious role than just looking the other way.? Bottom line with Bud Selig as a former owner with guys like Chicago’s Jerry Reinsdorf whispering in one ear, and guys like George Steinbrenner screaming in the other very little was expected of him as Commissioner. He has had no problems meeting those expectations.

Roger Goodell is the new kid on the block, as he is just taking over for former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue. However you have to like the decisiveness, and the toughness he showed with the “Pacman” Jones and “Tank” Johnson cases. Goodell gives off the vibes that he will be a good leader for the NFL, but to make any determination right now one way or the other would be pure speculation.

The NBA has had four men at the helm since the inception of the league in 1947. The NBA’s first President?was Maurice Podoloff who joined two rival leagues the Basketball Association of America, and the National Basketball League into the modern NBA. Podoloff was an innovator, he instituted the 24 second clock as well as the collegiate draft, and was the perfect man to nurture the infant league for it’s first 16 years retiring in 1963. The man who replaced Podoloff was Walter Kennedy a man with a background as Media Relations Director for the Harlem Globetrotters, as well as a former Mayor of Stamford, Connecticut. Kennedy was a genial fellow who was in a lot of ways a “show biz guy.” He took the league from what was really a glorified minor league into the big time expanding from nine teams in 1963 to 18 by the time he retired in 1975. He also negotiated the first big television contract for the league to put it more even footing with the institution known as Baseball the rapidly ascending NFL. He was League President from 1963-1967, and then was the Sport’s first Commissioner from 1967-1975.

Larry O’Brien was the former Chairman of the Democratic Party when he took over the league in 1975. And he probably dealt with as many diverse personalities in the NBA as he did while Chairman of the Democrats. O’Brien saw the Association through some pretty rough waters,?ushering in the age of free agency as well as the merger between the NBA, and the ABA. He negotiated television contracts with the then newly formed cable networks TBS and ESPN. He also expanded the league from 18 to 23 teams. But the league was turning off much of “Middle America” who associated the NBA with drugs much more so than they did with either MLB or the NFL. Whether it was true or not, that was the perception, and unfortunately many times perception is reality. But after seeing the Association hit it’s low point in the early 1980’s when CBS broadcast the NBA Finals on a tape delayed basis at 11:30 PM he saw the league recover mainly due to players like Julius “Dr. J” Erving,?Larry Bird, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, and Michael Jordan. When O’Brien passed the baton to the next Commissioner David Stern in 1984, the Sport was at it’s Zenith.

In many ways David Stern has been Sports most powerful Commissioner than Baseball’s first Commissioner Kennesaw “Mountain” Landis. Stern who was the league’s General Counsel before assuming the helm has run the Association with an iron fist.? He is a “New York Lawyer” and fits the stereotype to a “T.” Extremely intelligent (he’d probably the first one to tell you!) and extremely arrogant. When someone questions him on any thing whether it is an Owner, a player, or a member of the media he becomes very defensive. It’s as if he is offended that you are questioning his knowledge, when maybe all you want is clarification. I have participated in a few group interviews with Commissioner Stern, and the air always seems to be fraught with tension at some point during these sessions. He always has an answer at the ready and always seems to want to be in control. Unlike Kennedy, and O’Brien Stern is not a politician, he is a Bureaucrat.

Stern is an up front hands on Micro-manager, you get the feeling that very little goes on without his okay. From the insipid act of making sure NBA players shorts are not too long (I mean come on now, would you? rather see the “hot-pants” shorts that poor John Havlicek, Rick Barry, and Jerry West used to wear?) to the institution of the Lottery. Stern gives off the impression that he checks into each and every pot that simmers in “the NBA Kitchen.”

Because of this perception will the crisis that threatens to rock the NBA, the investigation into NBA referee Tim Donaghy hit Stern harder than any of his peers from the other leagues? In case you have been under a rock since last Friday, NBA veteran referee Tim Donaghy is being investigated by a Federal Grand Jury convening in Brooklyn, New York as well as Federal Investigators on whether or not he was involved?any illegal activity. Reports started surfacing last Friday, that Donaghy is suspected of betting on games, and possibly “fixing games” by making improper calls as an on court official. If these allegations prove to be correct, they have the capacity to destroy most of the Associations credibility.

Because Stern is so much of a hands on leader, will he be held more accountable by the public than any of the other three sports leaders? And if so should he be? David Stern probably in most Sports Fans minds is more closely associated with his Sport than any of the other three commissioners, and that’s the way he has always wanted it to be. But it is a double edged sword, when good times come you get more of the glory and get to bask in the spotlight. However when bad times come that spotlight turns into a glare, and points out all those little flaws and imperfections. The old saying is those who live by the sword must die by the sword. Stern may find himself having to fall on the sword in order to save the league.

? Copyright thesackattack.com 2007