Why is baseball such a collection of idiots?
I don’t mean the players, but the owners and the players union? C’mon! How hard is it to look at your league (MLB) and see declining attendance and ratings, and then to look at another league (NFL) and see the exact opposite, and figure out that the main reason is that 95% of the teams are out the playoff race by the end of July?
It’s great in the NFL now, because I know that my Ravens are going to challenge for the playoffs at least once every 3-5 years. Every team has a shot now. The Bengals look good for the coming year, so now maybe even the Cardinals may make a run.
But my poor Orioles, they make some good free agents signings this year (Tejada, Javy Lopez) and fall even farther behind the evil empire. How can this be good to anyone outside the major markets? Granted, you might get a team like the Marlins who put together a good year and make a run, but they’ll be the anomaly.
Who won the year before them? The Angels. Where are they now?
The year before that? The Diamondbacks. Where have they been?
(I love the fact that since Mike Mussina deserted us for the evil empire, he hasn’t won that ring yet. HAHAHAHA!!!)
So, the players union states that this is good for baseball and the players, to have the rich get richer. How? It’s almost like a whole other level to MLB, where if you’re good, you make the majors, but if you”re great, you make the evil empire!
Why not have the All-Stars from the AL & NL play the evil empire at the All-Star break? That would be as fair!
I’m done ranting. MLB should get a clue and share revenue and balance things out. Explore a salary cap. Learn from the success of the NFL.
My $.02 Steve
In the NHL, it’s the Players
Players are now reportedly accounting for 75% of the league’s costs. There’s only 10 teams out of the whole league that are in the black. That means that all those teams are out there, with revenue sharing, and still going under. Attendance is declining, ticket costs are rising, goal scoring is down, and the game isn’t as exciting in the regular season. And the Caps are terrible.
Here’s what I’ll never understand — why the league decided to expand franchises and deplete core talent on each team? Because what’s happened is that all these costs go to more players and there’s hardly any money for each team to go to marketing.
My hope is that, to avoid the lockout, the Players’ Union understands the need for a salary cap, and that in lieu of outrageous salaries, the excess money goes towards marketing. The outrageous salaries would only go to top players anyway, reducing their earning potential would be like a progessive tax on the uber-rich. I would also look at how the league can buy out teams that aren’t performing well; unfortunately, this might mean the Caps.
—
Sammy G
I have to keep my hopes alive…
The return of the king…
Joe Gibbs…
Hopefully with the return of a solid coach to the Washington Redskins we will be able to turn the team of could-be winners into winners. Gibbs has already begun to surround himself with some of his old coaching staff. We are picking up Mark brunnel (sp) to assist in our QB core. It will be interesting to see how the season unfolds. I am too excited for Summer camps to start. I will have to make a few more trips out to ashburn to watch practices.
Hail to the Redskins…
~Jon
Pie
I like pie.
—
Matthew P. Barnson
Yeah
Pie is yummy. So are cookies.
2 it squared or even cubed..
I like pi
Boulder’s
That’s a nice Boulder, I like that boulder
Fuzzy on this thing…
OK, so I’m obviously a bit fuzzy on sports. Why is it that NFL teams stay in the running longer for playoffs than MLB teams? And what’s this about people leaving for the “Evil Empire”? I’m utterly clueless, and obviously not much of a sports fan…
—
Matthew P. Barnson
Fuzzy No More
NFL — 16 games in the regular season and 12 teams make the playoffs out of 32(?) teams. Thus, every single game is a big deal and it usually comes down to the last week of the regular season to see who makes it in the postseason.
MLB — 162(?) games in the regular season and 8 teams make the playoffs out of 32(?) teams. Thus, the regular season is mostly meaningless, unless you just enjoy game-in, game-out competition.
Evil Empire refers to the NY Yankees and the fact that because of their popularity and market, they are buying the best players and always in contention.
One thing you shouldn’t be fuzzy on is that the most popular spectator sport in the U.S. is no longer football, hockey, baseball. It’s auto racing.
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Sammy G
Zoom Zoom
Mmmmm…. Nascar….
Sports 101
Matt,
Here’s the quick Cliff Notes to Sports:
The NFL has 100% balanced revenue-sharing, and a salary cap. This measn that all money coming into the league is split evenly between all teams, and that each team can only spend a certain amount on players per year.
MLB has meager revenue sharing, and no salary cap (just a laughable luxury tax). This means big revenue teams like the Yankees (aka the evil empire, my name for them), Red Sox, Cubs, Dodgers, etc can spend much more on players than the other teams.
So in the NFL, the talent is spread evenly, so as long as you have a decent coaching and scouting system in place, you should be as competitive as the next team and challenge for the playoffs.
But in MLB, the best players systematically leave for the big-money teams that can pay them what they’re worth. Ergo, the same teams consistently make the playoffs, and others simply hope they’ll put together a team of unproven young players or journeymen older players that can hit their stride and compete.
The evil empire is the Yankees, because they have the most money and buy all the best talent. For example, Alex Rodriguez has a $252 million dollar, 10 yeat contract. He signed it with the Texas Rangers, but after 3 years, the Rangers couldn’t afford it and still have any other players. So the Yankees traded and got him. The thing is, Alex Rodriguez is the REIGNING MVP of the league and the best shortstop in the league, and he’s moving to play third for the Yankees, because they already have a star shortstop.
Two Yankees players (Rodrigues and Giambi) have a compined payroll higher than most teams.
So because of the patity in the NFL, you more than likely won’t have any more dynasties like the Cowboys, Steelers, and Niners of old. This means your team has a better shot of having a good year and making a run than in the MLB, where it al depends whether your team is in a high-dollar market.
My $.02 Weed
NHL 3 years later
It’s been almost 3 years since our posting, and I have to commend the NHL for a kickin’ marketing approach: simulcasting live game video feed through ISPs. Via Comcast, I’m able to watch 2 games each day live over the internet. And the quality is pretty damn good.
The NHL has a different fan relations approach than other popular sports. Because it’s a sport in which the best experience is live, professional hockey has been given away for years via audio, and now for free via video.