In a move that surprised no one, the commissioner David Stern has cancelled the first two weeks of the regular season due to the prolonged labor dispute. That means all games that were scheduled for Nov. 1-14th have been lost. In the past two days the sides have met for over 21 hours. After those meetings Stern said, “The gap is so significant we just can’t bridge it at this time.” That is bad news for NBA fans. Forget the first two weeks, the entire season is now in jeopardy.

The news is worse for the league because it comes on the tail end of last season’s record success. Fan involvement had never been higher since the turn of the century and this certainly does not help. The last time a strike occurred was before the 1998-99 season, which had to be shortened to 50 games.  Due to the lack of a training camp and to cramping of schedules that season resulted in sub-par play. The Players Union and the League will continue to meet and hopefully strike a deal before more games have to be cancelled.

The news is not all bad for sports fans however, ESPN has outlined a contingency plan to fill the void of NBA games with college football and basketball games.

-Mike McCabe

The NBA lockout is at a standstill with no foreseeable end in sight.  The season will most likely not begin on time, if it even gets played at all.  So then what is the casual fan to do?  Well here in Philly, they should head to the Palestra on Sunday night to see “Team Melo” face off against “Team Philly.”  Think about it.  NBA stars playing in the greatest building in College basketball history.  Locker rooms no bigger than a dorm room, no replay board and a barely existent press box.  This could get out of control (in a totally awesome kind of way)  There is no bad seat inside the Palestra and I count myself grateful for being able to witness a handful of games during my collegiate experience, but this game has the potential to be even better.

“Team Philly” led by Hakim Warrick is, as reported by ESPN.com, close to adding one of the most popular players in Sixers history to the squad.  All signs point to Allen Iverson being included as Philly squares off against LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul and captain Carmelo Anthony (among others). While “Team Philly” is at a slight talent and age disadvantage (being made up of rookies, the Morris twins, and vets like Iverson), how awesome would it be to see Iverson lace up his sneaks one more time?  “Team Philly” make this happen.

-Mike McCabe