It's official: Sacramento, Denver, and Utah have become farm teams of major city franchises. Apparently, the NBA has decided to follow Major League Baseball's business model by making small market teams irrelevant and nothing more than minor league teams for the big glamour city franchises. Naysayers to this reasonable observation will say, "But wait! What about San Antonio? What about the NBA salary cap that MLB does not have?" Are you serious?
Yes, San Antonio is an anomaly with great ownership, management, and coaching. They've also been lucky with draft picks and foreign players. More importantly, they have Texas money in a smaller population base and American glamour in its proximity to hipster boomtown Austin. Filling luxury suites is a non-issue for the Spurs.
As for the salary cap, it's true that the NBA has one. However, a rich franchise can easily work around it by paying a luxury tax for excessive payroll (which arena and multimedia revenues take care of). Meanwhile, a relatively poor team has to stay within the cap boundaries to avoid the penalties it can ill afford.
More importantly, by not following the NFL business model which adheres to stricter salary caps, revenue sharing and media exposure equality, the NBA encourages superstar players to flee provincial markets for the big glamour-party central cities where endorsement revenues can be much higher to more than pay for the ultra-luxury lifestyles found in such metropolises.
Yes, even the NFL has problems with spoiled draftees who demand to settle in certain cities (attention Eli Manning and John Elway) or headstrong free agents demanding to be treated like kings. Still, with the NFL most free agents desire a great team over a great city. That makes sense since the contracts don't differ greatly and the season is short enough so they can still live in the glamour city for over half the year if they are stuck in Cleveland or Green Bay.
Specifically, Denver, Sacramento, and Utah have become irrelevant in the NBA with recent trades and fire sales. Like the Oakland A's, Florida Marlins, and San Diego Padres, they've confessed they are nothing but farm teams for the big city franchises. If I lived there, I would stop attending games and stop watching or listening on TV or radio. It doesn't matter, unless you live in San Antonio.
Encourage contraction. In the NBA, at least ten teams could go away with no shedding of tears. Of coure, it's the support staff that gets hurt in this. The less talented players can find good-paying work in Europe. The vendors, security, and parking staffers? No such luck.
Denver gave Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony to the New York Knicks. Utah gave Deron Williams to the New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets. NBA toadies like Colin Cowherd say the trades were good for the smaller-market teams. Of course he would say that. He is paid by ESPN which is heavily invested in the league. The propaganda sounds eerily similar to that espoused in defense of the BCS inequities.
Worst of all, Sacramento gave Carl Landry to another troubled franchise, New Orleans, in its continuing quest to reduce the Kings to rubble in order to reduce the public complaints when the Maloof owners declare they are moving the team to Anaheim. A move has been in the works for years. The cash-strapped Maloofs wanted cash-strapped Sacramento to pay for a new arena for the team. You see, Arco Arena is an ancient building of about twenty years. They want more luxury boxes and an excuse for higher ticket prices for general seating during a recession. Hey, Tower Records used to have a luxury suite, and as Napster's founder says in the movie THE SOCIAL NETWORK, try to buy a CD at Tower today.
David Stern must worship Bud Selig when Selig says baseball has never been healthier. Tell that to Kansas City and Pittsburgh fans. The propaganda continues. . .
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Valentine's Day: Ten Loves of a Sports Fan (in no particular order)
On Valentine's Day, 2011, I present my ten favorite sports, why I love them, and minor irritants associated therewith.
1. I love college football for its excitement, intensity, and mirror of capitalism where almost every coach and school is a mercenary always looking for the better deal. That being said, I wish the inequitable BCS system would just go away and Boise State could be treated with real justice.
2. I love Major League Baseball for its tradition, long season, player ethnic diversity, chess-like strategy, and slow pace in a game that doesn't rely on a clock. That being said, I wish the league would quit focusing on the steroids smokescreen when the real scandalous issues are a lack of true revenue sharing and payroll caps making many small-market teams nothing but farm teams for the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Dodgers, and Angels of the world. The Giants victory was a beautiful thing, but when will the Yankees be raiding their pitching staff?
3. I love NCAA basketball for its fast pace, drama, athleticism, colorful coaches, and March Madness. That being said, I wish student-athletes had to stay until age 21 just like in football, so top programs would have more continuity than a-year-of-Kevin-Love UCLA or a-year-of-John-Wall Kentucky.
4. I love the NBA for its athleticism, endurance, 24-second clock, and great broadcasters from Chick Hearn to Bill King. That being said, I wish the league would enact contraction (fewer teams and fewer regular-season games) to make every game count, every team count, and every player's health count. I also wish the refs were straighter (see Kings-Lakers playoffs) and the league's edict that every player's ego counts would be dismissed so great coaches like Jerry Sloan wouldn't be sent out to pasture prematurely due to chronic run-ins with star players.
5. I love NCAA women's volleyball for its athleticism, action, emotion, grace, and long rallies/volleys. That being said, I wish middle-school recruiting and easy transferring rules were abolished in order to enforce integrity and program continuity while discouraging unscrupulous, over-aggressive coaches from raiding/luring recruits too young or too uncommitted to their less prestigious collegiate programs. I also wish the game would go back to 30-point sets and a full 30-point fifth set if necessary. You don't see other sports cutting down the competition time to save a little electricity while using "Olympic match compliance" as an excuse.
6. I love the NFL for its revenue sharing, skills, short season, DVR-compatible play spacing, all-weather-welcome conditions, and hits. That being said, I wish the owners and players would use foresight and a little humility to settle on a new CBA before a lockout becomes a 2011 non-season. Non-play didn't do Major League Baseball or the NHL any favors. Like wedging temporary bleachers into an already huge and sold-out stadium for a heavily watched Super Bowl, greed isn't always good. In that same Super Bowl, little-market but tradition-rich Green Bay walked off with the title, a claim no other city of comparable size could make in any other major team sport in America.
7. I love rugby (particularly Australian National Rugby League and European Super League) for its intensity, strategy, kicks, laterals, scrums, idiosyncratic scoring, lack-of-padding hits, and international competition. That being said, I wish it had a higher profile in the U.S.A., at least a profile high enough to spare a great program like Cal-Berkeley's from the budget-cutter's knife. Fortunately, fundraising has saved the team for now, but where is the NCAA when a criminally ignored sport is on the chopping block? Why doesn't it award the sport more status and recognition with regard to its championship tournament? At least the IOC has decided to recognize rugby (the 7-per-side version) for the first time since 1924 in 2016.
8. I love international soccer, including Champions League, Premier League, and World Cup events (proving a love of American football and a love of world football are compatible) for its non-stop action, fitness, scarcity of goals, huge pitch, and fan rabidity. The constantly tough defense makes a goal like Wayne Rooney's bicycle kick for Manchester United last weekend that much more dramatic. That being said, I wish the American version of pro soccer would just go away. Attending a Real Salt Lake game is like attending a single-A or double-A baseball game: it's fun but strictly minor league. Why watch that when the Soccer Channel is available bringing the American viewer the best from Europe and South America? I also wish World Cup referees would stop training by watching NBA games and instead opt for a more virtuous style of blowing or not blowing whistles.
9. I love professional golf (PGA, LPGA, Champions, and European tours) for its traditions, nerves, skills, finesse, beautiful courses, and personalities (although some would say non-personalities). That being said, I wish both the European and PGA tours would cut enough minor tournaments so the two tours could merge effectively, putting the best players in one league (as with the Champions and LPGA). I also wish tournament names would go back to their non-corporate roots. Even when only 8 of the top 40 world golfers showed up for the Bing Crosby, I mean A T&T, at Carmel-Pebble Beach, it was a great event because of the celebrities, the beautiful setting, and the magical shots of D.A. Points, a previous unknown. Additionally, I wish there was more Johnny Miller-style ascerbic NBC broadcasting and less Jim Nance-style gush-to-the-max CBS broadcasting.
10. I love grand slam tennis for its sudden-death tension, endurance, athleticism, magic shots, and diva-esque egos (male and female alike) of competitors, coaches, and parents. That being said, I wish the prevalence of limited-field events and ludicrous team tennis leagues would vanish from the Earth. I also wish tennis would add two more majors (one in Asia and one in Africa or South America, for example) so there would be fewer large gaps in the grand slam calendar.
1. I love college football for its excitement, intensity, and mirror of capitalism where almost every coach and school is a mercenary always looking for the better deal. That being said, I wish the inequitable BCS system would just go away and Boise State could be treated with real justice.
2. I love Major League Baseball for its tradition, long season, player ethnic diversity, chess-like strategy, and slow pace in a game that doesn't rely on a clock. That being said, I wish the league would quit focusing on the steroids smokescreen when the real scandalous issues are a lack of true revenue sharing and payroll caps making many small-market teams nothing but farm teams for the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Dodgers, and Angels of the world. The Giants victory was a beautiful thing, but when will the Yankees be raiding their pitching staff?
3. I love NCAA basketball for its fast pace, drama, athleticism, colorful coaches, and March Madness. That being said, I wish student-athletes had to stay until age 21 just like in football, so top programs would have more continuity than a-year-of-Kevin-Love UCLA or a-year-of-John-Wall Kentucky.
4. I love the NBA for its athleticism, endurance, 24-second clock, and great broadcasters from Chick Hearn to Bill King. That being said, I wish the league would enact contraction (fewer teams and fewer regular-season games) to make every game count, every team count, and every player's health count. I also wish the refs were straighter (see Kings-Lakers playoffs) and the league's edict that every player's ego counts would be dismissed so great coaches like Jerry Sloan wouldn't be sent out to pasture prematurely due to chronic run-ins with star players.
5. I love NCAA women's volleyball for its athleticism, action, emotion, grace, and long rallies/volleys. That being said, I wish middle-school recruiting and easy transferring rules were abolished in order to enforce integrity and program continuity while discouraging unscrupulous, over-aggressive coaches from raiding/luring recruits too young or too uncommitted to their less prestigious collegiate programs. I also wish the game would go back to 30-point sets and a full 30-point fifth set if necessary. You don't see other sports cutting down the competition time to save a little electricity while using "Olympic match compliance" as an excuse.
6. I love the NFL for its revenue sharing, skills, short season, DVR-compatible play spacing, all-weather-welcome conditions, and hits. That being said, I wish the owners and players would use foresight and a little humility to settle on a new CBA before a lockout becomes a 2011 non-season. Non-play didn't do Major League Baseball or the NHL any favors. Like wedging temporary bleachers into an already huge and sold-out stadium for a heavily watched Super Bowl, greed isn't always good. In that same Super Bowl, little-market but tradition-rich Green Bay walked off with the title, a claim no other city of comparable size could make in any other major team sport in America.
7. I love rugby (particularly Australian National Rugby League and European Super League) for its intensity, strategy, kicks, laterals, scrums, idiosyncratic scoring, lack-of-padding hits, and international competition. That being said, I wish it had a higher profile in the U.S.A., at least a profile high enough to spare a great program like Cal-Berkeley's from the budget-cutter's knife. Fortunately, fundraising has saved the team for now, but where is the NCAA when a criminally ignored sport is on the chopping block? Why doesn't it award the sport more status and recognition with regard to its championship tournament? At least the IOC has decided to recognize rugby (the 7-per-side version) for the first time since 1924 in 2016.
8. I love international soccer, including Champions League, Premier League, and World Cup events (proving a love of American football and a love of world football are compatible) for its non-stop action, fitness, scarcity of goals, huge pitch, and fan rabidity. The constantly tough defense makes a goal like Wayne Rooney's bicycle kick for Manchester United last weekend that much more dramatic. That being said, I wish the American version of pro soccer would just go away. Attending a Real Salt Lake game is like attending a single-A or double-A baseball game: it's fun but strictly minor league. Why watch that when the Soccer Channel is available bringing the American viewer the best from Europe and South America? I also wish World Cup referees would stop training by watching NBA games and instead opt for a more virtuous style of blowing or not blowing whistles.
9. I love professional golf (PGA, LPGA, Champions, and European tours) for its traditions, nerves, skills, finesse, beautiful courses, and personalities (although some would say non-personalities). That being said, I wish both the European and PGA tours would cut enough minor tournaments so the two tours could merge effectively, putting the best players in one league (as with the Champions and LPGA). I also wish tournament names would go back to their non-corporate roots. Even when only 8 of the top 40 world golfers showed up for the Bing Crosby, I mean A T&T, at Carmel-Pebble Beach, it was a great event because of the celebrities, the beautiful setting, and the magical shots of D.A. Points, a previous unknown. Additionally, I wish there was more Johnny Miller-style ascerbic NBC broadcasting and less Jim Nance-style gush-to-the-max CBS broadcasting.
10. I love grand slam tennis for its sudden-death tension, endurance, athleticism, magic shots, and diva-esque egos (male and female alike) of competitors, coaches, and parents. That being said, I wish the prevalence of limited-field events and ludicrous team tennis leagues would vanish from the Earth. I also wish tennis would add two more majors (one in Asia and one in Africa or South America, for example) so there would be fewer large gaps in the grand slam calendar.
Friday, February 11, 2011
The Super Bowl: Winners and Losers
The Super Bowl is almost a week old, and the dust and snow have settled on Jerry's Palace. Fortunately for anybody who believes in justice, Green Bay held on to hand Pittsburgh the defeat that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger deserved. Does that make Roethlisberger a loser? No. He handled defeat like a man. From Coach Tomlin on down, the Steelers handled defeat like champions. They said what we all observed: the Packers were a better team on February 6, 2011. They made fewer mistakes and more big plays.
The noblest Steeler of them all was Troy Polamalu, who said, "I had some opportunities to make plays; I was just a step off here and there." He also said, "[The winning touchdown] was completely my fault. [On a previous play], they ran Jennings down the middle, and I was anticipating that same pass play; I guessed wrong."
Most Packer fans, players, and staff were winners, but the biggest winners were quarterback Aaron Rodgers and linebacker Clay Matthews. Both men were NOT five-star blue chip recruits out of high school, even though Matthews had a father and uncle with illustrious college and NFL careers. Rodgers went to Cal from Butte College in Northern California. After a solid college career, he was taken after Alex Smith and 22 other men on NFL draft day in 2006. He sat behind Favre for two years, then was an unpopular replacement for him in 2008.
Other winners and losers? Volkswagen, Coke, and the NFL had quality ads, Budweiser's were disappointing, and Dorito's were downright gruesome. In the luxury boxes, former President George W. Bush looked like a genuine fan, former broadcaster John Madden looked distracted with his cell phone, and Alex Rodriguez looked like a pampered superstar being hand-fed popcorn from fading big-screen actress Cameron Diaz.
More winners and losers? How about Christina Aguilera mucking up the National Anthem and the Black Eyed Peas making a travesty of the live music halftime show (where were the musicians exactly)? Just because last year's show featured the remnants of a great band 35 years past its prime (The Who) didn't mean the organizers had to over-react by hiring a vastly inferior, much younger band that nobody will know 35 years hence.
The NFL was good, bad, and ugly on Super Bowl Sunday. The game itself proved why professional football is the number one spectator sport in America. The NFL's ad utilizing computer-generated imagery atop scenes from classic TV shows was clever and touching. Unfortunately, the pomposity and self-importance of the league shone through with the inflated introduction to the game by fine actor Michael Douglas, comparing the Packers and Steelers players with other heroes like JFK and MLK. Really? How many players have served in the public sector, the military, or in combat? You don't want to go there, NFL.
The intro was just ugly. The seating debacle was just bad. Quoting one of Michael Douglas's most famous characters from a 1987 film, "Greed is good," the NFL and stadium host/Cowboys owner Jerry Jones oversold the stadium. They had sold about 1250 tickets for unusable seats in temporary bleachers that were not completed and up to safety code in time for the game. Can you spell shoehorn? The league said about 800 of those ticket holders were relocated (?) inside the stadium before game time (standing room?), while the other 400-450 were left standing outside with nothing except guaranteed free tickets, air fare, and hotel for a future Super Bowl . Did the league and Jones really need the additional revenue that those 1250 bleacher seats would provide them?
Those displaced fans didn't think so, as they have just filed a $5 million class-action lawsuit in Dallas against the NFL, the Cowboys, and Jerry Jones for breach of contract, fraud, and deceptive sales practices.
Now it's time for the lawyers to compete. Let the games begin!
Thursday, February 3, 2011
National Signing Day: Winners, Losers, and Observations
Is there a direct correlation between a university's recruiting success and the wealth, number, and enthusiasm of its alumni? Take USC, for example (Trojans, not Gamecocks). Not only does USC have a large alumni base, but it also has enthusiastic alumni. Oh, and it also has wealthy alums (see George Lucas doing the coin toss at the 2006 Rose Bowl if you don't believe me). Even in the 1920's, USC alums in the movie industry were hiring football players for summer work (see John Wayne and Ward Bond if you don't believe me). Anyway, USC just missed out on the Number One recruiting class for college football yesterday, but still wound up Number Four after DeAnthony Thomas (aka the Black Mamba) did a last-minute switch from the Trojans to the Ducks of Oregon. Speaking of wealthy alumni, see the Ducks' Phil Knight. Oregon stands at Number Nine right now after signing day.
Does the ranking of schools based on the recruiting of five-star, four-star, and three-star athletes really matter? Yes and no. It's true that some schools do well with their blue-chip athletes (see Alabama and Ohio State): they get better. It's also true that some schools get the great recruits and don't follow through with their development (see recent Notre Dame teams). How does one keep the pampered blue chipper hungry? That's just one of the challenges facing top college football coaches. Unlike their basketball counterparts, at least they're able to keep their players from turning pro for three years.
On the other hand, some football programs have great success without landing a host of prep superstars (see Boise State and Air Force). Still others have bad recruiting classes and bad teams (see Washington State and New Mexico).
Recruiting is only one aspect of coaching. Important, but not the only key to winning. Some coaches are repulsed by the recruiting process. They sicken of the kissing-babies, kissing-mothers, gladhanding fathers, promising-the-moon-to-prospects process and bolt to broadcasting jobs or the NFL while claiming they are doing it for the money, the challenge, or the family.
With that in mind, here are a few observations about yesterday's signings. While one can state the obvious, that Alabama is the biggest winner since it finished Number One on the list, I propose Florida State was the biggest winner, as Jimbo Fischer has the Seminoles back on track. FSU finished Number Two overall. The biggest loser? A formerly dominant team that lost some recruits to Florida State: Florida. The Gators finished Number Fourteen overall, but the fall-off is significant and the trend is alarming for Gators fans. At least Urban Meyer won't be kissing any babies soon.
While Cal-Berkeley had an awful season in 2010, they did muster up another Top 20 recruiting class, finishing Number Seventeen after signing day. We know the Golden Bears have an excellent strength and conditioning program and they recruit well since Jeff Tedford took over. What does that leave as a shortcoming? Just strategy, schemes, halftime adjustments, and attitude.
The good news for Utah fans is that the Utes are still trying to land a better quarterback than the over-rated Jordan Wynn. The Utes' biggest signing was the great Norm Chow as the new offensive coordinator. The bad news for BYU fans is that the Cougars had a lackluster signing day, especially painful since the team is going independent this fall. While they scored the same as Boise State for blue chip recruits, we already know which program does the most in developing its athletes.
Other big winners include Michigan, Clemson, Tennessee, and Stanford. Other big losers include UCLA, Iowa, Penn State, and Wisconsin.
To really find out which school had the best recruiting year, check the won-loss records in 2014 and 2015. That's when injuries, lazy work ethics, spoiled attitudes, and bad coaching will all factor in. That's when we find out the difference between a Terry Bradshaw/Ben Rothlisberger and a Ryan Leaf/Todd Marinovich.
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