The Business of Sports

Over the years professional sports has been more and more business like and less loyal to players and fans. Salary caps are huge, and salaries are disproportionate with reality. This has turned what was once something players did for the love of the game into a multi-billion dollar a year industry.

It used to be that your team drafted a player and he was your guy for years to come. Most of my pro sports memories from childhood are Detroit related, but I think the experience holds true across the board. Steve Yzerman played his whole 22 year career with the winged wheel on his chest, Joe Dumars retired a Piston and moved into their front office, Barry Sanders retired from the lions (albeit early and on bad terms, but one team none the less).

Now it seems you can hardly get used to a guy on your team before he gets caught in the business dealings that have become all too common. Today, the Tigers traded Pudge Rodriguez to the Yankees for a pitcher who used to play for Detroit. A couple of years ago Ben Wallace walked away from the Pistons to take more money from the Bulls (how did that one work out for ya big fella?). The Lions cut starting running back Kevin Jones (a money move) and have been through more coaches in the past decade than some franchise's have had since their inception.

The result? I have a growing stack of jerseys from my favorite players hanging in my closet that I no longer wear because they don't play for my team anymore. A friend of mine is a Marlins fan and loves Pudge Rodriguez. He spent big money on a sweet authentic Pudge Marlins jersey during their heyday. What happened after FL won the World Series? Fire sale. Traded away all of their big talent. Pudge eventually wound up in Detroit, my friend’s jersey collecting dust in his closet. As it turns out, he is also a diehard Yankees fan so now he has his boy back behind the plate. I wonder…will he spend any money on a Pudge Yankees jersey?

Now you can say that the players are just as guilty as the franchise, and I agree with you. When you have $100 million dollars you are not likely to starve (**he takes a shot at Latrel Sprewell who infamously turned down millions in an effort to get more money to quote 'feed his family'**). Sometimes the franchise just has to mitigate risk as Detroit did with Pudge today. The contract was expiring and they were likely to get nothing in return as Ivan would have bolted this summer.

I don't blame GM's for playing the game because they have no choice. What I would like to see is these whiny, rich beyond my wildest dreams, ordinary men with gifted physical ability, shut up and play the game. Be loyal to the fan who can hardly afford the inflated ticket prices teams charge to pay your ridiculous salary. Not to mention you make a stupid amount of money to play games while some of us struggle just to stay employed at $10 per hour. When was the last time you had to sweat over paying $4 a gallon so you could get to a job you hate? Suck it up and take that paltry $60 million to play a game you claim to love.