Posted on 08/16/2002 1:18:47 PM PDT by Recovering_Democrat
My opinion? The entire lot of you: owner and players are idiots. You're dumping on your own product, do you know that? Both groups have plenty of blame to go 'round.
You haven't had the guts to get a real commissioner since Bart G. died. My instinct is you wanted to run the show: a show in which you've been given anti-trust exemption. Instead, you gave the job to a fellow owner.
You guys rake in billions, yes, but have you noticed your market share? Among most Americans, if I recall my Gallup Poll readings correctly, you're running 2nd place to the NFL and among the urban youth, you are probably behind the NBA.
So you've added intra-league regular season games and added a team per league to the playoffs. Great. You've also expanded the league to preposterous proportions: how many non-competitive markets are there now? Too many. You're not the only idiots though.
Your league minimum is $200,000. Your average salary, if the cable news show I saw is correct, is $2.4 million. The stars among you CHARGE FOR AUTOGRAPHS. Your pension isn't an Enron-styled black hole. The celebrity you enjoy is rare.
How much more do you need to be happy? Believe me, I am all for the individual getting what he can for his work. I do not begrudge A-Rod his millions: he negotiated it, and you all should get what the market will bear. So why do you need this union garbage anyway? How about letting your talents determine the salary, and not some union suit? Forget about the lack of loyalty between a team and a player or a city and a player: I'm not even going to ask for that--how about just all of you negotiating your own deals without the union structure? Then you can get paid as much or as little as you're worth. Here's a crazy idea: negotiate a deal where your pay is equal to your performance. Insane, eh?
I just think you guys, like the owners, are spittin' on the fans for the sake of a few more million. Most of the people who pay your salary are baseball fans who just like watching a game. You're doing your image a real disservice by whining "it ain't enough!"
2. Seattle @ 2,853,561
(Source for attendance and payroll numbers: espn.com)
Disney math?
Drag racing. No labor disputes, no cocaine, no misplaced political activism, just toxic fumes and ground-shaking,bone-rattling excitement watching teams compete for corporate-sponsored jackpots with little to no taxpayer support.
Got Nitro?
Even better, show up for the game, buy nothing (food, drinks, hats, etc.), take a seat silently, stand and sing the National Anthem, and then walk out en masse.
Chilling theatre.
2. Seattle @ 2,853,561
(Source for attendance and payroll numbers: espn.com)
Disney math?
DOH!, my mistake.
The numbers are correct, but the teams were ranked by attendance AND number of games played at home.
Seattle does have the higher number at over 2.8 Million, but this is after 66 home games.
New York is 350,000+ less, but that's with only 56 home games.
Thanks j_tull for pointing that out to me.
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