NBA Lockout Ends  Charles E. Sutton | , WI Staff Writer |
12/15/2011, 2:14 p.m.  What the NBA could be facing is a passion
deficit. The wave of excitement that was generated by last
season's Dallas Mavericks has vanished, in the midst of the
undefeated Packers, the unorthodox Tim Tebow, and the Penn State
crisis. Pro sports leagues have bounced back from work
stoppages. Major league baseball, the National Hockey League,
and the NFL have all done it. This year the NBA's season has
been reduced from 82 games to 66. If you ask me, this sounds
more reasonable than disappointing.  NBA arena workers have been
affected by the cancellation of games. However, there is no
historical significant impact on the economies of cities with
sports franchises affected by work stoppages. Explanations
include reduced local government spending on crowd and traffic
control, higher productivity by the general workforce without
the distraction of games, and consumer shifting of spending on
sporting events to other forms of entertainm