We look upon this as a rite of passage. Unions are an accouterment of major league sports. To that extent, it s not a surprise we re bargaining. I guess we're on the fast track. This is a start-up business.
People tend to forget that.
I'm not aware of any other league which would restrict eligibility on that basis. The players have shown themselves willing to sacrifice in order to build the league. They were loyal and now they expect some loyalty in return. That's the unfortunate part, that this had to come up right after the NBA trouble. We're very optimistic that we'll get a deal done because we're not that far apart on the issues.