Worth Every Penny

Browsing through the sports pages and I come across the above headline. No shit he's going to stay with the Dodgers after having a season like he just had in 2009. He would never come close to that on the open market especially when Jason Bay and Matt Holliday are available, plus add in the current economic situation.

What a difference a year makes. At this time last year, super agent Boras was trying to land a 3-5 year guaranteed deal worth $25mil or so a year for his precious client Manny Ramirez. We all know the Dodgers took a hard stance and didn't cave into the aging slugger's outrageous demands...kind of. Instead, the Dodgers and Manny agreed to their current deal, 2-years worth $40mil.

After suffering through a female fertility drug suspension and a 104AB, .290avg, 19HRs, and 63RBIs, the Dodgers are now kind of stuck.

Looking back the Dodgers didn't have a choice last year. They were stuck with Manny because they had no one else to throw their money at. In my eyes, this aging slugger still has some power left in him. If Manny came out and batted .310 with 30+HRs and batted in 100+, it wouldn't surprise me one bit. He is that great of a pure hitter that producing at the age of 37-38 wouldn't shock/surprise any true baseball fan. On the other hand, he could produce numbers comparable to Vernon Wells in 2009 (minus the 17SBs) and that wouldn't surprise me either. What ever happens, the Dodgers are stuck with their dreadlocks slugger.

This is what $20mil buys you these days in the big leagues. A 37 going on 38 year old slugger who is might be clean now, jogging and shagging balls in left field (during games). Where did the days go when giving a player $20mil gave guaranteed you .320avg, 40HRs, and 130RBIs?

Guess money doesn't buy happiness. It's LA, the land of outrageous everything. Maybe 2010 will bring some happiness to Manny Land.

#2

Win number two! Clawing our way back into the playoffs. One win at a time.

I never would have thought that the Leafs would get their second win of the season in November. I hope the return of Kessel to the ice will add some needed offence.

Out of Luck

Coming off a 17 win season, the Kings hoped for an improvement but I guess they are out of luck. Kevin Martin, their leading scorer and in many respects their only scorer, is out for the next 6-8 weeks with a fracture to his left wrist. This isn't what I have a little beef with.

The Kings are a terrible organization. Take a look at their depth chart and you'll see a team that has absolutely nothing more than a D-League lineup. I'm not knocking the D-League but when an NBA team has a roster that can be easily beaten by a D-League team, there is something wrong. How did the Kings get to this point? I still remember the day when the Kings were a team that was mentioned in the same breath as the Lakers and the Mavs.

How quickly teams can fall.

It is always sad to see teams completely fall apart over a short period of 2-3 years. Seeing teams finish dead last and 20 odd games out of a playoff spot is pathetic and a black eye on the league. Letting a team fall that far out of contention should only happen if all the stars are aligned against you with key injuries and bad bounces.

Hopefully the Kings, and every dead last team in sports, find a way to compete and finish the season with a respectable record even if they are dead last in the league.

Worth $1,751,732?

2009 opening day payrolls according to USA Today.
Yankees - $201,449,189
Blue Jays - $80,538,300

Number of regular season victories.
Yankees - 103
Blue Jays - 75

Money spent per victory.
Yankees - $1,955,817
Yankees - $1,751,732 (World Series)
Blue Jays - $1,073,710

Difference per victory.
$678,022

A difference of $678,022 per win. Oh yeah, that includes a World Series championship. The old business mentality, "To make money, you need to spend money" holds true yet again. The Yankees go out and spend like crazy on talent and guess what happens, they bring home a championship. Not only are they bringing home a championship but they are giving themselves different revenue streams. Adding playoff games increases ticket revenue, all the merchandise from AL East champs, ALDS/ALDS champs, and of course the big one World Series champions gives the Yankees an opportunity to spend big time money on free agents and on their high salaries.

That is life and for all those fans who cheer for a losing team that spend almost nothing on salaries, you should be complaining to the owners instead of bitching about all the money the Yanks are spending.

If I was a rich S.O.B, I'd spend the extra $678,022 per game to win a championship, I'd do it in a heart beat. With the extra $678,022 spent on salaries, I'd recoup that in a second with TV rights, merchandise, and tickets sold. Actually, I would be making it all back and more.

Back on Top

The 2009 Yankees are officially the World Series champions.

For fans in New York this is a day that they have been waiting for since 2000, nine long years of not bringing home the championship. I'm still not 100% if I enjoy watching the Yanks taking home another title.

On one hand, I think it shows that with the proper owner with the proper attitude, any team can win the World Series. George Steinbrenner has deep pockets and is not afraid to show it by signing the best talent available on the open market. We all know owners from around the league have the money and resources available to them to sign the big time free agents but have chosen to penny pinch and make a respectable profit, not caring if the product on the field adds to the win column. Steinbrenner is great for baseball because he proves that the passion for winning will find it's path to the World Series trophy.

On the other side, how can baseball survive if only a few teams get all the big time free agents. The casual fan from the smaller markets, these are the ones that matter most, will stop attending games and basically take away the revenue source that is so badly needed by the owners. These teams will continually make a loss which may lead to a bankrupt team or one less baseball team for the Yanks to compete against.

I've thrown some thoughts out there but I still have plenty to say on this topic because it seems this topic goes on forever. It could go into salary caps, revenue sharing, aren't all teams "buying" championships, and the real reason for all this hatred towards the Yanks.

This team from day one was built to bring home a championship and they did. Now, the offseason will bring some changes to the pinstripes. Will they bring Matsui and his bad knees back? I doubt it. What about Damon? Maybe. They went with 3 starters for the playoffs. Can they do that again and succeed? I personally think they won't. Who are they going to sign to help AJ and Sabathia. Tons of questions to answer but we all know the Yanks won't have any problems finding money to sign them.

Funny and Dumb

I have never ever seen anything like this before in my life. Tackling your own player in the open field?!?! What the hell was the guy thinking.

Time to Grow Up

The Answer (a.k.a Allen Iverson) made his Memphis debut in a loss to the bottom feeders commonly referred to as the Kings. AI came off the bench to play around 17 minutes and scored 11pts. This wasn't the big news of the day that caught my attention.

When AI signed with the Grizzlies in the off-season, I was a little surprised a team like Memphis would offer him a contract. A team going nowhere soon signing a troublesome guard, who has proven to sink teams faster than Isiah sinking entire organizations, completely boggled my mind. NBA teams are businesses and for a business to succeed they need revenue and with AI dressing, jerseys and tickets would be sold. We all know AI can still draw a crowd.

When Iverson met with reporters after the loss, he voiced his displeasure with what was happening, AFTER HIS FIRST GAME!!! He came off the bench and was pulled when it was crunch time. AI needs to wake up and learn that he is not going to win a championship ring if he continues playing like he's been playing over his entire career. Just listen to what he said.

"In all the other years of my career, it’s never come up. I’ve been a starter on All-Star teams, Olympic teams and NBA Finals teams. It’s just a big deal now. I think it is something people should let go. To answer your question, no, I’m not a bench player or the sixth man. Go look at my resume, it will show you that I’m not a sixth man."

AI, listen to me...seriously, listen to what I have to say. What you just said summed up everything everyone wants to say to your face but doesn't have the balls to say. Yes, you were all those things on all those teams but they all have ONE thing in common, no one hoisted a big time trophy at the end of any of those teams. You are an individual playing in a team sport. You are a great individual player. You are a scoring champion. But you are NOT a champion. You drag your teams down and with your attitude, no team you play on will EVER win a championship.

You have made the money most people would die for. You have the life people can only dream of. If you want to continue to be that selfish AI we all know and don't love, go ahead. But don't complain about winning games and championships because you are the only one that can control where your team goes.

AI, sit your ass down and shut your damn mouth. Play the system your coach implements and be a team player. I know this is completely foreign to you and you might need to practice this but look at some great individual players who finally grew up and became a man and what they achieved. Look at Randy Moss and Dennis Rodman.

The season is still young and you only have a 1-year contract. If you want to continue to play in the NBA you need to grow up because no team will ever consider signing you for the 2010-2011 season.

WINNERS

Who the hell wants to go 0-16 in a season. I would be absolutely disgusted if my Rams went winless in a NFL season. Well, I don't have to think about that until next season. I have nothing to say except that I am very happy to see the Rams win, even if it was against the Lions.

Props goes out to Steven Jackson for being the only bright spot during this dark season. Rushing for 149 yards and running in a TD, first of the season, in a sloppy and messy game.

Bye Week is next!

Let's Go Rams!

This is probably the only game where my beloved Rams have a legitimate chance at a win. The Lions and the Rams will battle it out in Detroit. Come on Rams. I need a victory!!!

Free Swinger

We all know that Ryan Howard is going to strikeout a lot over the course of any season. With 186Ks in the regular season the Phillies accepted the fact he was going to strikeout but only if he continued to produce long shots like he did 45 times in the regular season and 2 more in the post season.

The World Series has not treated him well. With all the talk about A-Rod striking out some have left Howard out of the discussion. Howard's 14 plate appearances have produced 2 hits (both doubles) and a whopping 9Ks. Since he played and won the World Series last season, pressure isn't the problem. I think it all has to do with the good scouting report and execution by the Yanks. Knowing Howard is a free swinger and having him chase is what the Yanks are continually doing for each at bat.

Howard needs to turn it around because it is boring watching people strikeout. I want to see some hits and plenty of runs put on the board.