The haves and the have nots. That is the world of professional sports. I live in a small market sports city, Cleveland, OH. You know we have had our share of heartache. I have written in previous blogs about my shriveled Cleveland sports heart. However this post is not unique to Cleveland but the whole balance of competitiveness.
Cities like Cleveland, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh in sports like baseball and basketball have the odds definitely stacked against them even with the “luxury tax” and the “salary cap”. New York has multiple individual players that make more than the entire Cleveland baseball team. So every few years the team is forced to unload and reload.
Think about it that Cleveland has had two recent Cy Young award winners in CC Sabbathia and Cliff Lee. Had they had any reasonable chance of signing them, they would not have traded them. I am drooling thinking of what having those two would have meant to our team. Most recently, the Indians went on a trading binge dumping 5 of their veteran players to contenders. So we now have a minor league team playing in a major league ballpark and charging major league prices. Well if I am going to watch a minor league team, I will go up the road to Eastlake or Akron and watch one for far less money. I think baseball in particular is in for a really rough patch when it becomes the big cities and the rest of the teams are there for batting practice.
At least with football you get to see guys hitting each other at high speed. Browns training camp started this week. Oh, I digress.
If Only It Was Colder
6 years ago
2 comments:
I've been a couple of times to see minor league baseball in NJ. I like it better. For one thing, the stadium is smaller and you can see the players well from any seat in the joint. And... there's more action. More hits, more runs, more plays, more interest. Frankly, I think the major leagues in every sport pay their players too much...and have taken the joy out of the game. It's all business and no fun.
I would personally like to start a 6 foot and under basketball league. Make things more interesting...and also allow more guys to play. What do you think?
Anne,I concur with your thoughts. We have been to a few Akron Aeros games and feel the same way. Plus I still play the game and it is a blast. I like your idea about the under 6 ft. basketball league.
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