On being a Yankee fan
I was listening to WEEI this morning and they were all blowing each other because Theo's back and they knew he would be, blah, blah, blah. Additionally they were discussing where to go next. Do they spend a bunch of $$ and maybe some prospects to build a championship team this year, or do they go fully into retool mode? What I think they're going to do is something in the middle, getting middle valued big names on short contracts, so they can farm the system up, which is OK, I guess, except that it brings the likes of Clement, Wells and Miller to town.
I started thinking about the motivations of the front office. What impetus do they have to build a championship team? In most markets, ownership knows that they have to put the best possible team out there every year, in order to get the fans to come and the sponsors to pay, but for the Red Sox, the Yanks and a few other teams, the fans are there, regardless. The Sox can't sell more tickets by bringing a better team, they sell all their tickets already. They can't get bigger TV and radio contracts because they already have a ton there, too. In fact, they could blow away the whole team, and bring in a bunch of shit, and probably make just as much money as they do now. So what is their motivation? I think this is why Theo had to leave for a while. He actually wants to win, because deep down he's actually a fan. The ownership wants to make money, under the guise of trying to win.
This brings me to Steinbrenner. He, too, has no financial need to win. He doesn't need the money, he doesn't care about the money, he's going to make the money anyway. But he spends it like a retard in a gay bookstore regardless, since he's a complete fruitball. His moves are misguided, his team is uninteresting, but nobody can say that he ever steps in the way of a move that he thinks will help them win. This irrational and asinine approach to professional sports ownership, should be respected, because he's probably the owner closest to the athletes in terms of desire to win.
So cheers, MFGS, you're all right.
Still hate his team, mind you.
Someone took the Darth vader one, removed its head, and also took a John (sans NY) Damon stand in and removed it's head, and then swapped them: Darth Damon and John Vader. awesome.
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<img src="http://www.rideside.net:8080/~tgl/images/darth-damon.png">
Actually, there is some evidence that your quality of life decreases if you decide to take a job for more money over a job you personally enjoy. If Damon ends up enjoying the clubhouse atmosphere of the MFY (what are the odds on that?) then he's made a great choice, otherwise, maybe he should have stayed put.
I used to think that, like Scott Boras, the MFY were bad for baseball, making it all about money and essentially being better than anyone else can afford to be. But they've grown on me. Last season I loved hating the Yankees more than I loved the Red Sox. I think it's great having a team that is by it's very definition better than every other team. I like having the bogeyman out there. And the whole corporate image thing works with it so well. These guys are amazing, and they're going to go out there and play some really good ball. They are not going to wow you by playing like their life is on the line. They are going to go out there and do their job, and win games. Any team has the potential to beat them, and the team that beats them will always be the scrappy underdog. If no team steps up, the Yanks will win the World Series. Teams have stepped up every year this millenium. This is good for baseball. Every year is an underdog story. Every year, there are 29 teams that are underdogs, and one team that has a extremely boring fan base.
Johnny Damon was a scrappy underdog ball player. He puts up numbers that are way better than his talent should produce. He plays the game harder than almost anyone else. John Damon will be a little more low key, and like his friend, Jason Giambi, he will most likely turn into a shadow of his former self, with the love of the game beaten out of him. I'm sad for him, more than I am for the Sox for losing him.
I 'spose the full book of John Damon (coming soon to a BOOKSTORE NEAR YOU FOR 39.95 - RANDOMHOUSE TM) hasn't been fully written yet.
Until it has been, as tgl says, its extremely fun to goof on him.
My new favorite euphemism for getting off the juice: "the love of the game beaten out of him".
shit for NYC circa: Pronto!
"Every year, there are 29 teams that are underdogs, and one team that has a extremely boring fan base."