To many of you, all of these subjects may resemble sports posts. While "sports" is an aspect of each topic below, it is far more peripheral than it is central. With this in mind, I'll order the following rants such that sports moves from the minor subject to the major. I'll also be titling each portion with the non-sports topic. Happy reading!
The above was my original intention for this post. But then word came down from on high that the worst possible situation had happened: Manny would now serve under Joe Torre! (Oh, wait. That would have been the worst possible situation had it been last year... but now they're both Dodgers.) So if this doesn't interest you, skip to the second heading.
Manny being a Dodger? : One of Boston's Icons is now dressed in blue. At the midnight hour before the trade deadline, Theo pulled the trigger on a three team deal to send Manny to the Dodgers. There is mixed emotion in Beantown. Some are happy to see Manny "the cancer" go. "He's someone else's problem now," they say. Others are not as thrilled. "It doesn't matter who we get, we aren't going to be able to replace his production in the line=up." Where do I stand? I'm not terribly upset that Manny is gone. I enjoyed his occasional comical slides in left. I'll miss his infectious smile. He was the cause of much seemingly innocuous controversy for the Boston faithful. What I am terribly upset about is the price we paid for Jason Bay. Here is the equation that made sense to Theo Epstein: Manny Ramirez + $7million (to the Dodgers to pay for the rest of his contract for the year) + Craig Hansen + Brandon Moss = Jason Bay. Not only that, but the Dodgers agreed not to take Manny's club option. That means that the Dodgers are paying $0 to their new acquisition, they sent third baseman Andy LaRoche and 1st Round Draft pick pitcher Bryan Morris to the Pittsburgh Pirates and they got Manny Ramirez. Steal! The supposed upside of this is Bay isn't in a contract year. Manny, Teixeira, and Rodriquez are and could fly their respective coops at the end of the year. So, we got Jason Bay for a ton vs Manny walking at the end of the year and we get nothing. (Of course, we tried to waive Manny almost every year [had someone picked him up we wouldn't have gotten anything] so I don't really know what's changed!) Although, when I think back to the last time we traded a "superstar" it was Nomar and that turned out alright. I mean, we did win our first World Series in 86 years and all... I guess trading him was the better way to go rather than letting him walk (possibly to NYY) at the end of the year. (Final thought: Even though we've traded him doesn't mean he won't end up with the NYY... but my prediction is that he signs with the Mets. The Yankees have seen the err of their ways in hiring too many aging A-listers and Omar loves the big names. Manny and Pedro reunited!) Update: Jason Bay hit a two out triple in the bottom of the twelfth and then scored the game winning run when Lowry beat out an in-field hit up the middle. Welcome to Boston, Jason.
Justice: Former NBA Referee Tim Donaghy was recently sentenced to 15 months in jail for betting on games that he officiated. Thus, obviously calling into question the objectivity of his work. While I find his actions to be unfathomable, I find his punishment to be unfitting. Prison? Really? Is this man violent that he needs to be removed from society? Is he a danger to himself or others? No. Was he dishonest? Underhanded? Greedy? Yes. Should we pay to house and feed him for 15 months? No. This is just an example of our justice department always resorting to the same punishment regardless of the crime! His offense was monetary, so should his punishment. Fines. Community service. Banishment from his chosen profession. House arrest without the possibility of ESPN. This man has no business being in jail. I felt the same way about Martha Stewart. Make her sell her stock at some discounted rate. Demand she not appear on TV for so many months. But prison? I've said it before, and I'll say it again. If we are going to continue to throw people behind bars haphazardly, we need to hearken back to the days of the Puritans when you had to pay for your own room and board while you were serving your time. Not only is this a deterrent to crime, but it's relief to the already over-taxed American family. We don't need to be paying to remove people from society who've done so very little to require it.
Work Ethic: As always, there is a rumor that Manny may be traded. The team to which he's going always changes but never the player. This was going to be a rant on how if I acted like Manny does where I work, regardless of my performance, I'd be gone, not making millions. Now Manny's gone... I guess I'll just move on.
Socialism: The Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim just acquired 1B Mark Teixeira from the Braves for 1B Casey Kotchman and a minor league prospect. The New York Yankees just traded Kyle "Let 'em on, let 'em score" Farnsworth for Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez from the Tigers. My first act is to balk at the sheer stupidity of these deals by the teams who gave up the superstars. Both "selling" teams got totally ripped off. And the buying teams (logically) practically stole these players from their former teams. Granted, both are in a contract year and would have to be resigned but neither buying team gave much up to acquire these players. Then I look at the Angels and Yankees (and Red Sox) and think I get so annoyed that these teams think they can buy a championship. Baseball needs a salary cap like the NFL. But, what is a salary cap if not a "level playing field?" Does capitalism promote a level playing field? I don't think so! Isn't baseball the very picture of capitalism as represented in sport? Players are traded and signed based on the supply and demand for talent at their position. There is not limit to what a team can spend. (For convenience sake we'll choose to ignore the luxury tax that is charged to those teams that spend over a certain amount and given to the teams that spend the least). But let this also be a lesson to capitalists, he who spends most does not always win (The Yankees, far and away the deepest pockets in MLB haven't been to the series since 2003 and haven't won it since 2000) it's the one who spends smartest! All this is to say that with the Angels and the Yankees potentially standing between the Red Sox and a repeat championship, I'm pretty peeved at the Braves and the Tigers for basically giving away the aforementioned players. Especially now, as I see what the Red Sox paid for Jason Bay!
So, mostly not about sports, and all Just my opinion.
3 comments:
Just a shout out to say "thanks" and "I read it." Nice post! Couldn't agree more on the stupid prison sentences -- more public hangings, less money spent on people behind bars! Have you watched any of the Black in America series on CNN recently? My favorite segment -- education at San Quinten (sp) -- you know big time maximum security prison with beds full of lifers and people waiting for execution.... evidently they are some of the most focused students around -- GREAATT! And how much is this costing me????? Oh and where is the scholarship money for my middle class white kids?????
and if they are "lifers" what good is the education doing? How are they going to better society with what they've learned?
read the following with sugary, thick sappy, fake empathy -- appparently it's very important that some inmates are able to relate to their high school aged children because they are finding common ground in taking the same course work and having something intelligent to talk about during visits. Evidently this encourages the children of inmates not to follow in their parents footsteps.... Uh-huh,and again, where is the money from all this coming?!!!!
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