By Jared TrexlerA snowflake fell just outside the steps of Fanneuil Hall in downtown Boston. It was significant because it was the first flake of the season -- and as tradition, lovebirds are supposed to seal the occasion with a kiss.
That was the dilemma facing a young gentleman in his mid 20s, sporting a brown overcoat, a five o'clock shadow and a large pin on his right chest that read,"John Kerry for President."
So, he was slightly behind the times, yet the pin wasn't his political statement. As he walked closer, his shirt's slogan became quite clear.
"Don't hate me. I love a Yankee fan."
Without further adieu, a quick-walking, dark-haired girl with a NYU sweatshirt sprinted toward the young man with passionate glee. She had seen the snow on her way to meet him, and she obviously was big on tradition.
Donning a New York Yankee hat, snugly holding together a bun in the back, the girl jumped into the guy's arms. It could have been a scene from Serendipity.
Except the man turned the other cheek, refusing to greet his woman with a kiss. She knew what he wanted, begrudgingly removing the cap.
Anyone within a shouting distance of the two could hear him explain his rationale.
"I don't hate the Yankees. I hate what they represent."
They represent big business. And greed. Yet, fans from Brooklyn to Manhattan will argue they also represent desire. Hard work. Will to win.
All fair and just adjectives, but I'll go a proclamation better.
The New York Yankees, by some of their own doing but also through no complete fault of their own, represent the worst of sports.
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As of Opening Day 2006, the Yankees payroll sat at $198,662,180, almost $80 million or a Powerball jackpot ahead of the next closest spender -- the Boston Red Sox.
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As of Opening Day 2006, the Yankees payroll sat at $198,662,180, almost $80 million or a Powerball jackpot ahead of the next closest spender -- the Boston Red Sox.
New York's never-ending checkbook has been well documented. It's been rehashed in various novels, on Tampa Bay Devil Rays broadcasts (as they are getting pounded 13-1 in the fourth frame) and even on Seinfeld.
And it truly is no complete fault of their own. They pay luxury tax, giving countless millions to Kansas City and Pittsburgh, only to see that money enter the pocket without an increase in small-market payroll.
This isn't meant to be a history lesson on Bud Selig's tenure as MLB Commissioner or the evolution of the luxury tax.
It's more an overarching argument that the Yankees -- led by the "Boss" upstairs down through the manager in the dugout and the players on the field-- exude a sense of entitlement that comes from a river of cash as long as the Nile.
It's like spending $1000 for a hooker and expecting her to "perform her duties" like a champ. Or buying a $500,000 boat and expecting the motor to purr like a cat. Or buying an All-Star baseball team and expecting it to filter to the top after a lengthy 162-game season.
With money comes expectations, but also arrogance. Excellence, but also cockiness. A good record, b
ut also a bad message sent to today's youth.
ut also a bad message sent to today's youth. Money can be a great Band-Aid. If Alex Rodriguez gets hurt -- aka breaks a nail -- New York can go out and swing a deal for Miguel Cabrera. Could any other team feasibly, financially pull off such a move?
No.
Parity is no longer a dirty word in the National Football League, where a Super Bowl champion can quickly become a .500 club and a storied franchise (Oakland) can quickly become the laughingstock of the league.
Fans of almost every team enter each season with promise and hope. New Orleans was an en vogue 4-12 pick before the season commenced, then went out and won the NFC South.
Think fans filtering into PNC Park can say the same thing? Not a chance, and it's bad for sports.
Again, not to say it's completely the Yankees' fault, but the pinstripes have become the image of Major League Baseball's core deficiencies -- a corporation structured behind the ideals of the Republican party where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
"Major League baseball as it stands is a poorly run business economically," said an area college professor. "The NFL has proven that the level playing field has provided more excitement. The NFL has almost become a large scale March Madness, where anything can happen.
"It's a great product," he continued. "And MLB just isn't there. The league will point to an 83-win club winning the World Series (St. Louis). It's the exception to the rule. More often than not it's the Yankees then everyone else."
Everyone else can still win. Minnesota and Oakland are two examples of penny-thrift franchises that have used superb scouting departments and minor-league systems to build consistent winners.
It just doesn't happen often enough. And it won't until Major League Baseball realizes its faulty economic structure, nips the Yankees' spending spree in the bud and brings player development more into play.
The Yankees rarely develop talent anymore. Why bother when other people can do it for them. George's crew was the only front office willing to take on Bobby Abreu's contract at the trade deadline last season -- not because they wanted it more, but because they just plain had more.
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After explaining why he dissed the kiss, the young lady quickly backed away with a stare that could have melted a typical Boston Nor'easter.
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After explaining why he dissed the kiss, the young lady quickly backed away with a stare that could have melted a typical Boston Nor'easter.
Then he pointed to his button, bringing her smile back.
John Kerry was a uniting bond. Yankees-Red Sox was a topic not up for discussion.
"We don't need to earn it. We'll win because we spend more," quipped the girl, quick to get in the last word, as the two walked hand-in-hand away from the historic building.
It's 2007 thinking spreading nationwide. And the Yankees are to blame.
6 comments:
You are completely right. The Yankees represent everything that is wrong with sports.
The sweet revenge is that they are sure proving it true that you can't just buy your way to a world series anymore.
Uuuh. wrong mp. The fact remains that many owners have MORE MONEY than the Yankees'. THEY SIMPLY CHOOSE NOT TO SPEND IT. There is no rule against spending the most to get back the most on your product, save luxury tax.
So people bitching that the Yankees can unfairly spend money are dead wrong. The owners of SEVERAL TEAMS have plenty of money but don't want to spend it.
And after what the Sox did this offseason, no Boston fan can ever bring this argument up again.
In 1998, the year the Yankees won 114 regular season games and the first of three straight World Series, it was the Orioles, not the Yankees, who had the highest opening day salary. In 1999 and 2000, the payroll disparity between the Yankees and the other top teams was minimal. Those Yankees teams won more because of heart and determination than money. Since passing the $100 million mark in 2001, the Yankees have not won a World Series. From 1982-1995,the Yankees had plenty of resourses and yet they won nothing during those years.
Ofcourse, having a higher payroll puts them at an advantage over some teams. But, there are many other wealthy teams such as the Angles, Cubs, Dodgers, Mets, White Sox and Red Sox, just to name a few.
People look at the Yankees wealth as the cause of all that is wrong with the world. They assume that the Yankees money is the only reason for their success. Yet they fail to recognize that perhaps it could be the other way around - that their wealth is a byproduct of a nearly a century's worth of dominance. Why shouldn't their sustained success be rewarded? Why should the Yankees have to share their money, which they earn, with the Pittsburgs and Tampa Bays of the world? Why is it the Yankee's fault that the Pirates or the Brewers dont win?
The fact is that they are a scapegoat for fans of other teams who blame the Yankees for the failures of their own teams.
The way to get more readers is to rip New York..we Philadephians hate New York...we also hate Pittsburgh and anyone who has come from there.....
The worst New York fans are the Mets fans, not the Yankee fans. The Mets fans act like they are some power house in baseball when they haven't won in forever. Look at their payroll as well, they can't buy a championship either.
What an original idea...The Yankees spend $$$ so they are bad for not only baseball, but for all of sports. This probably was not the year to come up with this revelation since they shed nearly $50 mil in payroll.
You can pencil in the same four or five teams in the NFL playoffs every year just like you can in MLB. And just like in the NFL there are always a few surprise MLB teams that sneak their way in there.
Only one team in history -- the 1973 Mets (82-79) -- ever won fewer games than the Cardinals and made it to a World Series. No team, though, had ever won fewer games than the Cards and won a World Series.
Do you know how many times the team with the most wins in the regular season has won the World Series since the wild card became part of the equation in 1995? Just once and that was the 1998 New York Yankees.
The Cardinals were also the seventh different team to win the Fall Classic in the last seven years. When was the last time that happened in any of the other three major sports? I will give you a hint, it has never happened.
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