So far, not looking too positive!

Negotiators for NBA & its players met for
2 hours Tuesday & will be talking again soon.
They say they are making an effort to end the
lockout, but it is not looking too promising right now.
The lockout has been going on for 3 months.
Both sides said neither concern nor optimism
ought to be read into the brevity of this meeting.
Time is needed for owners and players to simply
take the time out to think about what all has
been discussed. David Stern hinted the session
will determine when more discussions might be
warranted. It is expected that today there might
be a possibility of some form of negotiation,
however the members on both sides realize that
the Jewish calendar observes this time to be
a holiday. Deputy commissioner Adam Silver told
the owners labor relations committee all should be
prepared to come to the table and consider their
concepts. Lakers Derek Fisher, President of the
players association told reporters "we are trying
to see if we really can get a deal done".
Meanwhile, Lakers Kobe Bryant is considering
four different offers and Italian team Virtus
Bologna has made the offer to him of $5 million
for a one-year contract. Their main sponsor
is Canadian Solar. Another mention was that
they would offer him $900,000 to play only one game!
All the offers are pre-tax & would allow Kobe to
return to the Lakers immediately if the lockout
should end. Kobe lived in Italy for 7 years
in his youth while his father, Joe Bryant, played
pro-basketball there and Kobe speaks fluent Italian.
It has been rumored that the entire basketball season
of 2011 and 2012 could very well be canceled.
David Stern is in control pretty much for making
that sort of a decision so regular games as we
the spectators know them to be, are at stake here
but perhaps some better news will appear this week end.
Granted, it is a risk and a new collective bargaining
agreement would have to be put on the table.
Training camps already have been postponed and 43
games scheduled for the first week of the preseason
have been canceled. The league has said it will
make decisions about the remainder of exhibition play
as warranted, and those could come shortly.
And so fans, the long and short of it is really not
new to us, is it? We are eager for all parties
to come to a more friendly agreement so we
can begin to cheer on our Lakers...Please?!
Babs Wells