51.   But the two leagues have done things very differently.

52.   Could the league have done better by starting up in early spring, as the USFL and WFL did?

53.   NBA commissioner David Stern conceded Wednesday that the league has not done enough to quiet all the talk of playoff conspiracy theories.

54.   No one outside the NFL, however, seems certain what the league will do.

55.   She did not say what the league would do if the deadline was not met.

56.   That would enable the league to do more volume with companies and press for higher margins.