In regards to the baseball. I know many people say that fans that say they aren't coming back, are usually the first. I remember being 14, and hearing how the players were going on strike (more like locked out) and not completely understanding why. Now at 21, I completely understand the reasons behind baseball dying. There is a trifecta killing baseball: 1) Players 2) Owners 3) Agents And actually it can all be summed up under greed. Thats the problem with the game. Its been corrupted by greed. The owners will outpay each other for players, but then half way into the season cry about how they are so far in debt. There are two examples that stick out in my mind: Example #1 Wayne Huzienga says that he cannot make money as the owner of the Florida Marlins and doesn't see how any owner is able to turn a profit. So he sells to the at-the-time owner of the Montreal Expos, Jeffrey Loria. Loria LETS MLB buy the Expos away from him. Then Huzienga contradicts himself, and with a group of investors and buys the Boston Red Sox for a record $800 million dollars. Example #2 Our very own Drayton McLane Jr. knows all about greed. How can a businessman like McLane make millions upon millions in his grocery and shipping business, but lose over $100 million dollars over the last ten years? It doesn't add up. How can he still say that he hasn't made a profit when he has all the revenue from a new stadium downtown? He inked one of the richest naming rights deals in baseball. Wasn't he the one who called the Astrodome a world-class facility when Bud Adams refused to have the Oilers play that preseason game, and then ultimately say they needed a new football stadium, then turn around 14 months later and threaten to sell the team to a north Virginian businessman if a new baseball stadium wasn't built? Drayton refuses to let Hunsicker make trades to upgrade the team because he doesn't want to take on more salary. How can the team become a contender? The players are just as greedy, and think with their pride and egos. These guys make an average of $2.4 million a season, and yet want to go on strike because they don't want a limit on how much they can make. Players also say there is more than just the money issue... really? When then enlighten me? What else is there?.....................Thats right, there isn't anything else. Something I saw on the BDSSP, where Chris Rose, John Kruk, and two radio personalities were discussing the impending end of baseball. And John Kruk, a former big-leaguer, is completely off his hinges when one of the radio personalities suggests that the players give something up. Kruk retorts that its the owners fault that baseball is in dire straits and that its the owners who need to figure out how to fix it. Well if a former player thinks like this, then what does a current player think about the situation. The NBA and NFL have installed salary caps to allow competitve balance, why is it so hard for baseball to do the same thing. Many of us who have jobs know that when we take a position there is a limit to what we are going to make. Why is it so hard for grown men who make millions and play a childs' game to accept the same circumstances as the rest of us, the ones who make the players larger than life, the fans. As for the agents, they are looking to make their % as large as possible. Do you really think Scott Boras was thinking,"Gee, Hicks is going too high to pay for Alex, maybe we should just take less.",? Hell no. Agents will compare their player to another high paid player whom their client's statistics are comparable to, if not exceed theirs. Agents are all about greed, they are not looking out for their client, they are looking out for his bank account and his own. If by midnight tonight the players and owners haven't reached an agreement, then I will not come back and be a fan. If the strike comes and the game is fixed, I mean completely overhauled, where there is a salary cap, veteran minimums, maximum contracts, competitive balance, a less powerful players' unoin, etc. then I'll come back, but since I know that all of that makes sense it'll never happen. So its football, basketball, and whatever else I can find to get me through the summer, but when midnight strikes tonight, and the players do strike, I'll consider baseball dead.
Strong points...I know I'll be back, though. I love the game itself way too much. As for the agents...hate to sound like a lawyer, but I do think they represent they clients quite diligently. They are looking out for their client...it's just a win-win for the player and the agent when they cash in (like A-Rod's deal). A-Rod probably has NO complaints about Scott Boras! Also...this time, it's more about the players than it has ever been. It's summed up in your quotes from Kruk and the incessant whining that it's not just about the money...yeah, right! The game is falling apart...we're literally months away from seeing teams fold, I believe. That means jobs lost for the players' union. They better wake up pretty damn quick and realize that other leagues have done pretty well with salary caps and luxury taxes. But they're completely inflexible on the issue....that's why there will be a strike...and that's why it will last a while.
How can a businessman like McLane make millions upon millions in his grocery and shipping business, but lose over $100 million dollars over the last ten years? It doesn't add up. Sure it does. Baseball is a losing proposition annually. The hope is that the money can be gained back in long-term value, which isn't governed by market forces. How can he still say that he hasn't made a profit when he has all the revenue from a new stadium downtown? He inked one of the richest naming rights deals in baseball. Naming rights bring in ~$3 million a year. That doesn't even pay for Vizcaino and Merced. The complaint about Drayton is that's not willing to raise payroll and take losses anymore (which he was doing with the Astrodome but got near break-even with Enron). Is that greedy? That's up to you. New stadiums are only magical cures if the economics of rising wages is reasonable (which they were in the early 90's). If you double your stadium revenues, but salaries also double, then that stadium just lets you keep up, at best, while the other teams fall behind. That's exactly what we're seeing. Drayton is one of the few owners NOT contributing to the problem by not signing players to these ridiculous contracts that just inflate wages more.
And here we have a Drayton apologist in Major. Its okay if you want to defend a penny-pinching miser for not wanting to spend extra to pull in a guy the Astros could use. I'm not saying be the Yankees, but hell, try to be a little like St. Louis, and Cincy. You even said it yourself, baseball is a losing proposition, baseball teams are expensive toys. If Drayton is going to complain that he can't keep up with the Joneses, then sell the team, quit whining, and quit putting a subpar product on the field. Drayton did not make enough in the Dome, granted. However, he is making money hand over fist in MMP. So how can you tell me that he isn't making money now, when payroll has gone up $8 million. The Astros payroll hasn't doubled. If it did, the Astros would be where the Yankees are at. You're right Drayton isn't one of these owners paying these players ludicrous amounts of money (oh wait, isn't Jeff Bagwell in the top ten players paid, with an annual salary of $17 million a season). No what I am alluding to is the greedy owners wanting richer television contracts, and trying to keep the government off their ass when they lie about being in the red. If/when this whole debacle is over, the owners will open the books, and we'll see how they simply took attendance revenue minus payroll, and obviously its going to be in the red. Thats not accounting for concessions, parking, television money, memorabilia, team gear, etc. Its a pretty picture you paint, but sometimes you have to step back and look at the whole picture.
Jared -- the proof is in the pudding...the 'stros have won 4 of the last 5 division titles...they've been good enough on paper to advance in the playoffs...they just haven't gotten the job done in the playoffs. when your big money guys don't show up in the postseason, that's not the owner's fault. and he has spent money on this ballclub...he's developed one hell of an organization from top to bottom.
You are going to be hard pressed to find 30 Mark Cuban's to run baseball teams and not care if they lose money in the long run. The majority of people who buy these teams are business men, and as such expect little to no losses, if not some semblance of profit. That is not going to change anytime soon. The very rich men of the world didn't get that way by deciding to buy "expensive toys" to play with and lose millions of dollars a year. The only way to solve baseball's problems is to change the financial structure somehow so that teams aren't shelling out enormous and ridiculous contracts to players, and to share revenue so that teams in small markets actually have a chance. If changing to a system like that requires there to be a strike, I welcome it. I would much rather sacrifice a little baseball in my life to ensure a better product for the rest of my left.
Confession: I'm a sports nut. I absolutely love all levels of football and basketball. I respect soccer and hockey. I try to support women's athletics as much as I can. But I'm a front-running baseball fan. I guess that's because football season begins at the 'make or break' point of the baseball season, as in: 'Make a run for the pennant', or 'Break out the football schedule and see who's playing this week.' (Hey, I'm from Texas, sue me! ) So when they started talking about going on strike, that translated to: 'Football season begins earlier this year. YAHOO!' Let me know how it turns out.
I expect refman to come in here and tell us all that Drayton McLane is God. Bow down to him now, before refman forces us to.
Sorry Jared, you made some good points in your initial post, but calling the Astros a "subpar product" is pretty ******* stupid.
Its okay if you want to defend a penny-pinching miser for not wanting to spend extra to pull in a guy the Astros could use. I'm not saying be the Yankees, but hell, try to be a little like St. Louis, and Cincy. Wait a minute ... on one hand, you complain that players are getting paid too much: <I>Agents will compare their player to another high paid player whom their client's statistics are comparable to, if not exceed theirs. Agents are all about greed, they are not looking out for their client, they are looking out for his bank account and his own. </I> Then on the other, you whine that our owner isn't paying them those ridiculous salaries. Nice. You can't have it both ways. It's not the Yankees that are driving the payroll market up - they only can employ 25 players. It's the St Louises (Cinci has a relatively low payroll, by the way - much lower than the Astros) of the world that create enough teams willing to bid up player prices.
I think he's away on vacation, but I'll pick up the slack for him. By the way...I don't think he ever said anything other than Drayton does not suck...and that Drayton's record is pretty darn good as an owner. To that, I agree... again...if you're gonna fault an owner for playoff losses, you better damn well give him some credit for having his team in the playoffs for 4 times in 5 years. by the way...didn't you get "expelled" for your little "i'll donate sperm" comment??
Bob Costas was on the Jim Rome (Jim Grey was guest hosting)show the other day and he made a very persuasive case that the players need to make fundamental concessions. I also agree with him that a mere settlement to avoid a strike that doesn't address the competitive imbalance in baseball won't be good enough. I don't think the proposals from the owners or the players go far enough, either. I agree with Jared, I think there should be a salary cap and floor like the NBA and more broad revenue sharing. No matter what happens, though, I'll always come back to baseball. No sport comes close. The build up and release of each pitch, the explosion of action at the plate and in the field, the minute mental calculations that change with every pitch and batter, the grace of a center fielder tracking down a long fly ball, the rocket like throws from the mound, or right field, the suspense of a close pennant race, the daily summer companiopship and the great and ever-present history of the game are only a few reasons why I love baseball. There aren't enough Bud Seligs, Drayton McClanes and Donald Fhers in the world to keep me away.
