NBA Firestorm

So, you look at all the news outlets that cover Sports in any way, and you invariably see the opinion (from most of them) that Vince McMahon and the WWE are “overreacting” to the whole Pepsi Center/NBA playoffs debacle.

Give me a break. What would E. Stanley Kroenke do if the situation were reversed – allow his team to be rolled over? Or more likely, would he do what the WWE started to do (and changed thier mind), and insist that the contract be followed.

It’s easy to predict what he would have done, he would have flipped Vince the bird and insist that commitments were meant to be honored. The fact of the matter is, Denver has been in NBA post season play for 5 years. They KNEW that there was the potential for that date to be needed by the “home team” if they got to this point. In an “oversight” worthy of  any Congressional Committee, they ‘forgot’ to include a passage in the contract stating that this could happen.

Face it, this is business, and IF Vince TRULY wanted to overreact, he could have simply insisted that the Pepsi Center live up to the contract terms, the Rockies be damned. He had a legal contract on his side. But in true Vince fashion, he saw the problem for the opportunity it could be, so he allowed Kroenke to slide – in favor of using the NBA Western Conference Finals as a springboard for a PR boon. There’s no way Vince could pay for the sheer amount of FREE press he’s getting the WWE.

Even the NBA knows Vince was in the right. It’s VERY obvious that the Lakers organization also saw the PR possibilities, otherwise why would they have been SO willing to let Vince use THEIR home arena? Frankly, it’s a win/win for the WWE, Pepsi Center and the LA Laker Organization. The amount of Press they are receiving is worth far more than the pittance of money being exchanged between their group.

No, the only loser here is the Wrestling fans in Denver who purchased tickets to a live RAW showing. Of course, dear Mr Kroenke wanted things to turn out different – he even tried to have the WWE tape the “Live” show a day earlier – and they even issued a press release to that effect. But fans didn’t buy a ticket to a show TAPING – and believe me from long experience, a live TV is far different in feel – they wanted a Live experience. That KSE would try and spin this with their memo only further shows that they KNEW they had done wrong. The house Show alternative for the WWE show in August isn’t the same – but what else could the WWE do?

In a more humorous situation, TNA also seems to be hopping aboard the PR gravy train. In a nice gesture, they are offering a $10 discount for their show in Pueblo the 29th (Or Cheyenne, Wyoming the 30th) if the WWE fans show their unused WWE ticket. However, I believe their PR spin on it is a big mistake – they are siding clearly with Kroenke, and blame the WWE for the issue – by inviting the Denver Rockies to also attend. Now, I know what you’re thinking – TNA is simply duplicating the WWE, and are using Denver as “their” team to counterpoint LA as the “WWE team.”. Thing is, the WWE isn’t the villain here, as TNA portrays in their press release. KSE and the Pepsi Center are clearly at fault, and alienating people who obviously LIKE the WWE (Why else would they buy tickets?) could come back to bite them in the end.

No matter the outcome, I have to relate it to something NBA Commissioner Daniel Stern said in this article:

‘ “He is the premier showman and he demonstrates it again and again as he has here,” Stern said of McMahon, who he called a friend. “(He gets) lots of good ink and pub.”

Stern implied that the Nuggets are going to have to pay money to McMahon because of the double booking, but he said they could avoid it by letting the Lakers be the host for Game 4. He doesn’t think that will happen. ‘

Stern saw this happening, this much is obvious. And he was correct that a change of venue would be the answer – he just got it wrong on who would do the changing. Face it folks, the WWE and the NBA are making out like gangsters over this – only the Denver Nuggets are going to come out smelling like fertilizer instead of roses.