Bootstrapping myself for the week is harder today, I'm not entirely sure I know why this is, but it just ain't flowin'.
This weekend was fun, being an FA Cup weekend. This probably doesn't interest most readers of use Perl journals, but to me its great stuff. David vs. Goliath, Bad Guy vs. Good Guy, all that kinda thing makes for terrific entertainment. And of course with lots of the big teams knocked out of the competition already, there is room for the lower divisions to shine.
Of course its Super Bowl time, which I do watch every year, but I have to admit I've never understood the North American sports franchaising system. If a team is having a poor season, the incentive is actually to do as badly as possible and get the early draft picks. With European football (err soccer) leagues if you do poorly, you drop to a lower division which generally results in low attendence and less TV airtime. Of course this all adds up to lower revenue, which means you can't get the shit-hot players.
Also of course, in English football at least, I could start up a local team that played in the park next door, and be playing Manchester United in the cup that year. Unlikely, but possible. Its just nicer I think.
The National Football League is basically socialism, where teams are locked into salary caps, which are standard across the league.
Overall, though, I find it very sickening how much we pay athletes for their performance. Barry Bonds (the US Baseball player that recently broke the home run season record) signed a deal for $80MM for 5 years. $18MM a year for one person. Is he worth that? It trickles down to the consumer, who wants to buy tickets to see a game, but can't afford the $100 per ticket to see him play. Right now, the tickets are mostly sold to corporations for their own use (taking clients/sales leads to games, employee [err, more like executive] perks, etc).
Then you have the problem with stadiums/arenas falling out of shape or style and then the ownership or players take the team "hostage" and try & co-erce the city/taxpayers into building them a sparkling-new arena. I saw it happen in San Antonio with Tim Duncan making a fool out of himself, but eventually getting his way. Locally, we lost our NBA franchise (Charlotte Hornets) because we wouldn't build a new arena in the middle of downtown. Best of luck, New Orleans (which lost their NBA team back in the 70's - Utah Jazz, anyone?).
The whole system needs a reboot - prolly won't happen in my lifetime, but it should when the average consumer reins in the system.
Jason
Re:Not sure if I want to go down this road... but.
james on 2002-01-29T09:39:49
> Not all N. American sports franchises are the
> same. Many would compare ML Baseball to your
> soccer concept, where it's basically capitalism > at its finest - the NY Yankees are pretty much
> locked into the World Series, better airplay/TV > Contracts, for the next few years, based on
> their spending to acquire the top talent.
This is good -- its the way it should be -- but the teams at the bottom are guaranteed to get better players over time (although I know they often trade away draft picks for More Experience Now!).
> a fool out of himself, but eventually getting
> his way. Locally, we lost our NBA franchise
> (Charlotte Hornets) because we wouldn't build a > new arena in the middle of downtown. Best of
> luck, New Orleans (which lost their NBA team
> back in the 70's - Utah Jazz, anyone?).
One of the things that happens incredibly rarely in esp. English Football is that a team would move (although the recent events surrounding Wimbledon leave that statement smacking of a slight untruth).
Wimbledon want to pick up and move about 100 miles north of where they currently play (and would effectivly no longer be Wimbledon). This has caused absolute outrage -- its inconceivable. The sports governing body (the FA) are having an inquiry into if such a thing is even allowed.
I think the crux of the difference lies in that European sports are about the team, where as North American sports have become about the players. This isn't a bad thing, its just different - personally I think I prefer our system of growing up with a team and never, ever, ever changing who you support no come hell 'nor high water (Manchester United fans being the exception).
Re:There is an option
james on 2002-01-29T09:41:20
I generally do watch first division sides more than premiership sides, my team by birthright being the super reds.Re:There is an option
pdcawley on 2002-02-01T14:55:07
I generally don't give a bugger about the football. But then, given that my home team is Doncaster Rovers what do you expect.My fav. option
Purdy on 2002-01-29T13:37:27
I wholeheartedly agree - I enjoy going & seeing my local Durham Bulls team, a Triple-A minor league baseball team, one step away from the majors. Here, you see folks scraping for their chance in the majors and some really good talent. And for at most, $6/seat (and awesome concessions [you can find microbrews, burritos, etc]), you can't beat it!Jason
