Hunter characterized the small-market owners as being inflexible in negotiation.

From Selig, it can expect the small-minded logic from a small-market owner.

That's when the big-market owners and small-market owners will meet in Chicago.

The large-market owners against the small-market owners, and the middle-market owners somewhere in between.

In the long run, Selig was a small-market owner, with his own needs, and he did not have enough persuasion or insight to get a consensus from the other owners.

But I also respect the position he's in as a small-market owner.

But the real linkage is the big-market owners won't share with small-market owners unless the players give them back the money.

He is a small-market owner, whose every move and emotion are shaped by coming from the city north of Chicago and southeast of the Twin Cities.

But, for now, it's possible that David Stern has brought about the exact situation he and the small-market owners he represents were trying to avoid.

"What they really want is for the players to give away their money to the small-market owners through a very, very rigid, punitive salary tax."