Michael Wilbon quotes “a source” who claims the locked-out NBA referees may be willing to hold out “about a month” before heading back to the bargaining table. But this isn’t a hardship that’s going to endenger much sympathy on a day when the national unemployment rate reached its highest point — 9.8 percent — in 26 years:
“There are some referees who are already worried about mortgage payments and others who have already moved their kids from private to public schools.”
Another source tells Wilbon:
“You’ve got different owners than you had in 1995. You’ve got harsher economic times. You can’t sell sympathy for people making between $90,000 and $300,000-some dollars when some season ticket holders have lost their jobs. They’re in a helluva predicament. Owners wanted to fire 10 [referees] already. . . . There’s a segment of owners and some league executives who are quite willing to let this happen.”
