The hockey owners stood their ground and shut down the industry and waited out the players, which was unprecedented in the past century of North American major league sports. No matter how much he was derided, Commissioner Bettman never wavered from what he set out to do years ago: Change the NHL's economic system.

Do American delegates want cities who already have facilities done or will they trust local politicians and business leaders who promise that they can deliver stadiums, arenas, international broadcast centers, Olympic villages and housing and venues?

The news that new high school graduates will no longer be eligible to play in the NBA came the same week that the Defense Department began assembling a database on 16- and 17-year-old high school students in the hopes of identifying candidates who might want to join the military when they graduate.