Rebuffing my hero

Mitch Albom is sort of a hero to me. Not the kind that saves babies from burning buildings, and I don't think he wears a cape, but he is none the less a man I respect.

I have followed Mitch in the Free Press since I was 10 years old. I used to tape his articles on the Bad Boys (Pistons of the 80's and 90's) to my bedroom wall. He has written books including "Tuesdays with Morrie" and "The Five People you Meet in Heaven". All good reads. He also is a regular on the Sunday morning sports talk show called "The Sports Reporters" hosted by fellow WMU alum John Saunders.

Today when I saw his article on the recent moves by the Detroit Lions I had to disagree. He claims that John Kitna deserved better. See the article here:
http://www.freep.com/article/20081014/COL01/81014093/1082/rss12

And my response:
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Mitch,

I have loved reading your books and columns, followed you since the bad boys era. It pains me to say it, but you are dead wrong on Kitna.

Is he a great guy? No doubt. Hard worker? Unquestionably. Team leader? To be sure. But here is the part you got wrong: John Kitna directly contributed to most of the losses incurred by this team in the last two plus seasons.

How many times did a costly fumble, interception or sack from Kitna cost us a game we should have won? I lost count...How many wide open receivers never got the ball because Kitna could not avoid the rush? Again, too many to count.

Even if you say Kitna is not to blame for this year’s debacle, and I don't think anyone can pin it all on him, there is still one lingering problem. Kitna is not the future of this franchise. I don't care how much you like the guy. We need to move in another direction, and we have two young QB's on the bench who would never see action without moving Kitna.

I applaud the recent moves by the Lions brass. Finally they are showing a commitment to move forward. With Kitna on the field we achieve nothing, even if we win. It is highly doubtful that we can salvage this season and we need to start evaluating what we have for the future.

Now, if your argument is that Kitna deserves better than IR, well I can almost agree with you. However, the best situation for all parties here would have been a trade, and clearly no GM out there was willing to give up any picks or prospects for an aging journeyman QB with back problems (Matt Millen is out of work you know).

From all accounts I have read, the Lions tried to arrange a trade to no avail. The only other option then is to put Kitna on IR. I am sure he would never admit the extent of the damage to his back, and we could not play the wait and see game. It's over for him in Detroit. Take a vacation John, we will see about landing you with another team this off season.

So, thanks Kitna for your time and effort, you are a helluva guy and we wish you the best. But this is a business, and we need to move on. Sorry Mitch, you got that one wrong...

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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.