that included the league's best and most well-known player (how many fans can name a Dodger or Brave?) with baseball's semi-final. In addition, although baseball didn't start and stop, it began the season long after it normally would. A lot of baseball fans get involved with baseball in early April when no other sports are in high gear. By starting so late in the summer, you could argue baseball lost a lot of its more loyal fans. But no matter how you slice it, the unmistakable conclusion is that the NBA lost more fans than the other major sports. I think the NBA understands why this happened, which is why it announced two weeks ago that it will stop putting slogans on the floors and jerseys of its players next season.