June 30th: Holding Out for a (Football) Hero

Hockey season is over. Basketball season is over. Too much of America is baseball illiterate. Which means it is officially time to start beating the football horse to death.

Training camp is right around the corner, and teams begin to get their first look at what the 2015 season will look like on the turf, as well as on paper. This is, of course, assuming the players show up.

Some don’t, you see. Some players are going through contract negotiations, and choose to sit out of training camps and workouts, in favor of holding out for a bigger contract. Some are worried about their health, and don’t want to hurt themselves during an active contract conversation. Others feel under-valued, and are going to remain off the field until they get what they believe they so rightly deserve.

Adrian Peterson tried the tactic, hoping to get traded by the Minnesota Vikings, a team he felt didn’t do enough for him while he was experiencing legal problems last season. Martellus Bryant, the Bears Tight End, stayed (loudly) away from optional mini camp, telling reporters that he was looking for a new deal. Dez Bryant, after being franchise tagged by the Cowboys, feels slighted that he isn’t able to provide for his family (yeah, he tweeted about how 13 million won’t cut it because, ya know, #Family1).

As a football player, you are being paid millions of dollars to play the sport you love. You sign a contract to play ball and come to practice, and are asked to do your job. For these men to refuse to play or participate because they are engaged in discussions for their NEXT contract is ridiculous. You have a job to do, and you should be executing on it.

If I were an executive for a day, I wouldn’t entertain the notion of a holdout. You want to take yourself off the field to get more money out of my team? Good luck with that. Teams should have no faith in a player who is willing to put his own paycheck ahead of the team that he is already under contract to play for.

You don’t see baseball players hold out. Baseball players talk contract during the off-season, then put it on hold from March to October. Hockey players and basketball players don’t hold out. They wait until the offseason to do their contract work. Sure, football is a more violent sport, with a much greater chance for injury, but that doesn’t change the fact that players know what they sign up for.

Even more importantly for the sports world: fans don’t hold out. You don’t get to stop going to work because you don’t think you get paid enough or don’t think you have enough job security. Go ahead and try it if you want; you’re going to get fired. Football players should be held to the same standard. You signed a contract to play football. So go play football. If not, don’t expect to play football later.

I understand the need to take care of one’s family, especially in a sport as violent as football. Football players have an average career length 3.3 seasons long (according to the NFL Players Association), so players have to do everything they can to line up their contract before injury catches up to them. That can’t come at the expense of the team dynamic, though, and should be all squared away by the time players are ready to take the field. If they aren’t, then it is time to play out the contract you have, and prepare for next off-season, when you can get the chance to look for a new one. Any player who holds his team hostage because he is unhappy with his current deal isn’t really aware of the way the business world works, and should not be expected to contribute to the team in a positive way.

Players are a vital part of the football experience, of course, and teams should be doing what they can to look out for the individuals that make the game what it is. That being said, the players need to remember that a contract is their agreement to be on the field when they are expected to be there, and should be honored, regardless of a desire to get a new, better one.

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June 24th: Not Rosey, but Fishy

We already knew Pete Rose bet on baseball games. We already knew he bet on baseball games while he managed. We already knew that Pete Rose bet on baseball games THAT he managed. So yesterday’s news that he bet on games as a player-manager really doesn’t change much of anything.

After a special report by ESPN’s “Outside the Lines,” it was revealed that notebooks kept by Rose’s bookie show that his betting included games during his final year as a player for the Reds, and included bets that were on the games that the Reds played in. This is in contrast with the many reports by Rose himself that, while he did bet on baseball, he never bet during his playing days, only while he was a manager.

The timing of the report is curious, as it comes right before the All Star Game which is being played in Cincinnati, an event that Rose was planning to participate in in some role, at the permission of the Commissioner of Baseball, Rob Manfred. Rose was even set to sit down with Manfred to discuss the possibility of lifting his life-time ban and becoming eligible for induction into the MLB Hall of Fame.

Many within the baseball community are critical of Rose, saying that he deserves the ban that he is currently serving. Some say this new revelation slams the door on any hopes for Rose to ever get back into the game. Angels manager Mike Scioscia said that the game survived steroids but that it would never survive gambling.

This is hyperbole, to say the least, and fails to understand the gravity of steroids on the game, as opposed to what Rose did. Rose never once bet against a team he participated with. He never bet for his Reds to lose, or let his gambling impact the performance on the field. If anything, Rose betting on himself was a showing of the effort with which he attacked the game. You don’t bet on yourself unless you’re bringing your all, and isn’t that really what we want out of our ballplayers? As a fan, I don’t want players on my team that WOULDN’T be willing to bet on themselves (ignoring the fact that it is against the rules).

Yes, Pete Rose broke the rules by betting on baseball. And yes, he lied about gambling during his career as a player. The revelations of yesterday, though, should have no bearing on whether or not Rose is allowed to re-enter the baseball community and find his permanent place in Cooperstown.

Alex Rodriguez lied about his steroid use, and cheated in a way that tarnished his on-field production. He did irreparable damage to his career and to the credibility of the game while he played it. Yet, we celebrate him today, forgiving him and moving on only two years after he was baseball’s Great Satan. How can it be that Pete Rose, who was part of baseball’s greatest era in Cincinnati, cannot be forgiven for a mistake he made that had no impact on his production on the field?

Rose needs to be immediately reinstated into the game, allowed to participate in any way teams or networks choose, and allowed to be on the ballot into the hall of fame as both a player and manager. It is up to the voters whether to enshrine him, but if I had my vote, he would get it.

June 11th: Prime Time Bias

A weekend, nationally televised, primetime broadcast is a hot commodity for any MLB team and city. Every Sunday night, two teams square off on ESPN, earning the spoils of a little extra spotlight and attention from those outside of the home market. For fans across the country, it may be the only opportunity to see a team that isn’t local. Fans of National League teams might get the chance to see AL matchups, and vice versa. The biggest stars can showcase their skills to viewers who otherwise might not get to see them.

Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much diversity on Sunday night baseball for the first nine weeks of this season. So far, there have been ten teams featured on Sunday night baseball. That alone wouldn’t be a huge problem, as it represents one third of the league. The bigger issue is that, of the nine games, seven of them have featured either the Cardinals or the Yankees. The other two? The Detroit Tigers. While there has been some diversity in the opponents, the overall skew of the telecasts doesn’t bode well for the rest of the league.

There may be some reasons for this bias toward big market teams. First, it is just the beginning of the series. By the middle of June, ESPN will have had the chance to see who are the teams with some life to them, which will allow them to select the most interesting prime-time matchups. At least for the first 10 weeks, it isn’t a bad idea to select St. Louis and New York, as you are pretty much guaranteed to see some good baseball. This week, the Cubs and Reds square off at Wrigley, the first game to buck the Cardinals/Yankees/Tigers trend of late.

Additionally, larger markets are going to have more viewer draw than small town teams. You won’t see the same rate of viewership with a game between Houston and Oakland, no matter what direction those teams are going. It benefits ESPN to wind up in a big market where more fans are likely to tune in.

This is a trend to keep an eye on throughout the season. There is plenty of baseball to be played, but ESPN should be using Sunday Night Baseball to promote the very best that the MLB has to offer, not just a Cardinals or Yankees game every week. That being said, here are my picks for three teams that deserve a little extra television love in the next few weeks:

1. 
   Houston Astros

This club has been a shock to almost everyone. While they’ve received some nice attention from the baseball media, it would be great for the American public to see exactly who these guys are and what is going into their success. If Dallas Keuchel could be on the mound, that would be even better, as he is emerging as one of the top pitchers in the American League. This team is good. Let’s show them off.

2. Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates are scary good, and they are led by one of the best young stars in the game. The staff is absolutely dealing, and this team is heating up just in time to give the Cardinals a headache as the year goes on. Pittsburgh is a market that could be the beginning of a baseball super power, and a little bit of spotlight could do the city wonders.

3. Arizona Diamondbacks

Maybe an odd choice, considering they are a sub-.500 team playing in a division with the mighty Dodgers and defending World Champion Giants, but they have, arguably, the greatest player in the game right now. Paul Goldschmidt is tearing the cover off the baseball, and a trip to primetime (possibly against a better opponent) would allow fans across the country to experience the treat that is Goldy.

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