What if Wellington Mara had owned the Yankees, and not the Giants? ...
What would baseball look like now?
Would there be quite the disparity in payrolls that we have today?
When you think of baseball payrolls, you think of contrasts. Yankees/Red Sox vs. Royals/Rays.
In football, you exceed the cap. Then what? Your team spends some time in purgatory, then they return to the norm. No obvious discrepancies come to mind.
Maybe that's not fair to baseball. When Mara pooled the tv money in the 60's, the pot wasn't quite what it is today. Plus, the football money's came from pooling one source on a broadcast occuring on one day. Baseball's issue has more to do with the size differences between the markets, and the money that comes from that market alone.
I always felt Steinbrenner got a bad wrap for having a large payroll. They would kill the guy if he
didn't have that big a number on his roster.
Still, watching the obituary for Mara last night, I had to wonder. Maybe that's a little bit of a tribute for him also. Could the guy have fixed another sport?
Fantasy baseball ended with me clutching another silver medal. The whole fantasy thing's got me conflicted. I think I benefit from an enhanced interest level in sports I enjoy, by watching individual games I wouldn't otherwise have an interest in.
Jose Contreras versus the Royals, Grab Him!I'm getting indifferent from the fact that it's been so easy. Yes, a second place isn't exactly dominance. However, the end of seasons bring some dynamics that are difficult to control. Your playing a team that has Travis Hafner & Chase Utley go off while the Indians & Phillies scratch & claw to the last day. Meanwhile, Pujols has apparently quit trying about a month ago.
Football, I find myself either totally disinterested in
other games, or arguing with my son because he took out Priest Holmes & put in Julius Jones.
I guess I stick with it because without it, I might lead myself to the only other alternative, gambling. Maybe I should gamble on this.
I was watching George Shinn, the Hornets owner, on NBA Training Camp last night. Then I saw where the Rangers hired a 28 year old to be GM. I don't know, maybe the kid's qualified. The Magic drafted a stiff European who stiffed them, and stayed in Europe.
Where am I going with this?
I wouldn't go on Survivor. I don't have 35 days to spend picking nits out of my pubes. Not that I'd even want to. I wouldn't go on The Apprentice. I'm already paid well to do an easy job, and I don't have to kiss anybody's ass to do it.
But if they had some sports reality, where you got the chance to run the franchise, hell, I'd do that. I know it's harder than it looks. There's a lot of spots, though, where it would be hard for a qualified man on the street to do worse.
