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sdelmonteI'm an unrepentant baseball fan, and that's not an easy thing to be right now. This week has been odd, and disheartening. The death of Ted Williams, sad though it may be, is not something that was a surprise (and the less said about his family's behavipr, the better). But the news of this week is something that makes me wonder if anyone in the game has a brain. And it makes me wonder why I really don't care what they do so long as they get back to playing after the next strike.
For there will be a strike. The pronouncements of Bud Selig, the "commissioner" of baseball, make that clear. He pleads poverty for the sport, and will apparently demand that the players stop accepting all that money the owners of the teams are being forced to give over. A strike would be devastating to the popularity of the game, as most fans hold both owners and players in contempt, seeing them as greedy SOBs who don't care about us.
At least, this is what the sportswriters and reporters are saying.
Me, I'm depressed because I think I am the only person in America, aside from the players, who sees the union as in the right. I don't care how much the players get - at the end of the day, they are still contract workers, dependent on the teams' owners and entitled to the same rights as anyone else in that situation. Just because you are rich doesn't mean you can't be exploited. Just because you are rich doesn't mean that your boss can't be an idiot. That's why, when all is said and done, I will happily start rooting for my team again once the strike is done.
But that doesn't make me happy. My favorite sport is a mess. Aside from labor issues, there is the question of steroids. If a sizeable percentage of players really are using them, the game has real troubles, and here the players are to blame. Of course, we would have to wonder how many athletes in other sports (aside from football, which tests for them all the tme) are also using them.
And then there is the All-Star Game. This prime-time showcase of the game's best ended in a draw. The teams ran out of pitchers, and the game was called. How stupid is that? It was Selig's decision to call it, so he gets some of the blame, but didn't it occur to the managers that extra innings were a possibility? The key word to describe this is "short-sightedness." Which is a good word to remember.
Why would players use steroids? Short-sightedness, in that they don't stop and think about the long-term health effects.
Why would the owners sign players to quarter-billion contracts? Short-sightedness, in terms of not planning for the financial or competitve futures of their teams, or the future of the sport itself.
Why would the players make little effort to convince the general public of the rightness of their worries about a bad collective bargaining agreement? Short-sightedness, in that they figure all the fans love the game as much as I do, and will come back. After all, we did after the 1994 strike.
Why would sports reporters go on and on day after day about the woeful condition of baseball? OK, that is not short-sightedness, but rather a sign of the times. Apparently, if you can't find something negative to say, even as a sports reporter, don't say anything at all. But in a way this is short-sighted as well, as it undermines the credibility of the writers and reporters to be fair in their coverage.
Why will there be a strike? Short-sightedness on the part of everyone involved. The short-term gains each side seeks to make will be offset by the long-term decline in attendance and revenue. While I support and agree with the players' grievances, I cannot see any good coming of a strike. Another fall without a World Series will simply lead more people to watch NASCAR or get serious about football sooner.
Lastly, a thought about the fans. Many have said that the players owe the fans something, and that by striking they are hurting us. I'm not sure that is true. Yes, without us, there'd be no professional game, but given how we treat our suerpstars, how we demand they be stars in the first place, I don't know how much they owe anyone. The one thing they owe us is an explanation fo why a strike is necessary. That's all. We fans like to think we are what really counts. Maybe we should be, but ask any athlete, or any actor or writer or anyone in the public eye, and they will tell you they do X or Y because they love it, or for the money. We are fooling ourselves if we think we matter all that much. This isn't to say that the fans don't matter at all, or that the players don't care about the fans, or that it wouldn't be nice if the fans could make the two sides settle their vast differences. But we have to remember that we are not dealing with ministers or doctors or teachers. These are just athletes, and as long as we remember that, we won't get all that bent out of shape by anything they say or do.
But that's just my opinion.
For there will be a strike. The pronouncements of Bud Selig, the "commissioner" of baseball, make that clear. He pleads poverty for the sport, and will apparently demand that the players stop accepting all that money the owners of the teams are being forced to give over. A strike would be devastating to the popularity of the game, as most fans hold both owners and players in contempt, seeing them as greedy SOBs who don't care about us.
At least, this is what the sportswriters and reporters are saying.
Me, I'm depressed because I think I am the only person in America, aside from the players, who sees the union as in the right. I don't care how much the players get - at the end of the day, they are still contract workers, dependent on the teams' owners and entitled to the same rights as anyone else in that situation. Just because you are rich doesn't mean you can't be exploited. Just because you are rich doesn't mean that your boss can't be an idiot. That's why, when all is said and done, I will happily start rooting for my team again once the strike is done.
But that doesn't make me happy. My favorite sport is a mess. Aside from labor issues, there is the question of steroids. If a sizeable percentage of players really are using them, the game has real troubles, and here the players are to blame. Of course, we would have to wonder how many athletes in other sports (aside from football, which tests for them all the tme) are also using them.
And then there is the All-Star Game. This prime-time showcase of the game's best ended in a draw. The teams ran out of pitchers, and the game was called. How stupid is that? It was Selig's decision to call it, so he gets some of the blame, but didn't it occur to the managers that extra innings were a possibility? The key word to describe this is "short-sightedness." Which is a good word to remember.
Why would players use steroids? Short-sightedness, in that they don't stop and think about the long-term health effects.
Why would the owners sign players to quarter-billion contracts? Short-sightedness, in terms of not planning for the financial or competitve futures of their teams, or the future of the sport itself.
Why would the players make little effort to convince the general public of the rightness of their worries about a bad collective bargaining agreement? Short-sightedness, in that they figure all the fans love the game as much as I do, and will come back. After all, we did after the 1994 strike.
Why would sports reporters go on and on day after day about the woeful condition of baseball? OK, that is not short-sightedness, but rather a sign of the times. Apparently, if you can't find something negative to say, even as a sports reporter, don't say anything at all. But in a way this is short-sighted as well, as it undermines the credibility of the writers and reporters to be fair in their coverage.
Why will there be a strike? Short-sightedness on the part of everyone involved. The short-term gains each side seeks to make will be offset by the long-term decline in attendance and revenue. While I support and agree with the players' grievances, I cannot see any good coming of a strike. Another fall without a World Series will simply lead more people to watch NASCAR or get serious about football sooner.
Lastly, a thought about the fans. Many have said that the players owe the fans something, and that by striking they are hurting us. I'm not sure that is true. Yes, without us, there'd be no professional game, but given how we treat our suerpstars, how we demand they be stars in the first place, I don't know how much they owe anyone. The one thing they owe us is an explanation fo why a strike is necessary. That's all. We fans like to think we are what really counts. Maybe we should be, but ask any athlete, or any actor or writer or anyone in the public eye, and they will tell you they do X or Y because they love it, or for the money. We are fooling ourselves if we think we matter all that much. This isn't to say that the fans don't matter at all, or that the players don't care about the fans, or that it wouldn't be nice if the fans could make the two sides settle their vast differences. But we have to remember that we are not dealing with ministers or doctors or teachers. These are just athletes, and as long as we remember that, we won't get all that bent out of shape by anything they say or do.
But that's just my opinion.
