Sports Curmudgeon

As the baseball season winds to its conclusion, here are a couple of items that need comment. Much has been made of the Expos' inability to draw fans to their games in Montreal and the suggestion that the franchise will be moved soon. However, here is something scary. They play 81 home games; they drew over 15,000 to a game only 12 times all season. That calls for a small variation on the old Burns and Allen routine:

"Au revoir."

Even at the top of the standings, baseball attendance is in trouble. The Atlanta Braves have won their division 11 consecutive years. Their attendance peaked in 1997 at an average of 42,750 per game. Attendance has dropped every season since then and this year it was only 32,150 per game. Now the Expos - and more than a few other teams too - would think they died and went to Heaven for one season with that kind of average attendance, but for the Braves it means that revenues have dropped significantly since 1997. If there are 10,600 fewer people per game, that means total attendance dropped by almost 859,000 for the year and if each person drops a total of $25 per game for tickets and a hot dog and a beer, that means that about $21.5M does not show up in the Braves coffers. And this team is winning!!! No wonder they are looking to be frugal with payroll in the future. The Expos payroll for the season was not double the revenue that the Braves have lost over the past 5 years as attendance went into the tank.

The Arizona Republic reports that the Diamondbacks will lose at least $40M and maybe as much as $50M this year even though they had an attendance increase and they will be in the playoffs again. The paper says that since 1999, the teams operating losses total $125M and the team is on a long-range plan to show a profit in 10 years. Now if they lose an average of $30M per year at the end of 10 years they will be $300M in the hole. So how many years of profitability do they plan to have in order to make up that kind of loss?

Ernie Harwell called his last game in Detroit and was given home plate as a souvenir of all his work there. The Tigers are naming the press box at Comerica Park the Ernie Harwell Media Center. Other than the season when then GM Bo "as in Bonehead" Shembechler got rid of Harwell because he was not "happening", Harwell has been a fixture doing baseball since he was hired as a backup to Red Barber in NY in the 1940s. He's already in the Hall of Fame and will continue to do some TV work and write some columns for a Detroit newspaper. We are losing good broadcasters faster than they are being replaced…

In late June, the LA Dodgers were 50-29 and led the NL West by 4 games. Now they are 88-69 and trail the Giants by 2 games for the wild card spot with 5 games to play. Since about July 1st, they are twelve games under .500.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays had a fan appreciation day for their final home game and the outfield seats were $1.00. The team was not required - even under the truth in advertising laws - to warn fans that they would get what they paid for.

Writing in the Rocky Mountain News about the career and the retirement of Patrick Ewing, Bernie Lincicome said:

"Ewing was the Jim Lovell of basketball players, close enough to the moon to reach out and touch it, but forced ultimately to say, '(Alan) Houston, we have a problem.' Ewing's arms were never long enough to grab the biggest prize, not when he was carrying the Knicks nor ultimately when Ewing became the luggage."

In an interview with some of the local media folks in Orlando, Doc Rivers said that he is hoping that Shawn Kemp shows up at camp in great shape and begins the season at 290 lbs or less. To reach that weight by that date would probably require Kemp to have a limb amputated and it may not be easy for Doc Rivers to work a one-armed guy into the substitution rotation. However, it might lead to a great promotion by the Magic. They could hold a "Richard Kimball Night" where anyone with that name can show up and be certain to find a one-armed man…

To prove I don't make this stuff up, go to "worlddodgeball.com" and see that they are holding a tournament/event/whatever in the Chicago area in two weeks. One of the US carmakers is sponsoring the Dodgeball event. I think you can figure it out before you go to the website and find the answer.

Here we go into the final weekend of September; and if you look at these NFL QBs, something strange has happened. David Carr has more wins as a starting QB than Kordell Stewart, Kurt Warner and Duante Culpepper added together. Prior to the season, the odds on that happening would have been astronomical - even higher than the odds that Rosie O'Donnell would take the lead in a boycott of Krispy Kreme donuts.

The Vikings have been pretty miserable this year and they have a lot of "dead money" on their cap this year that will disappear next year. Supposedly, they will be about $30M under the cap during the off-season meaning they could be major players in the free agency market. Of course, the team is rumored to be on the market and may move out of Minneapolis given all the stadium shenanigans going on there so top flight players may not want to cast their lot with the Vikings.

And Randy Moss ain't gonna draw them there either. As I understood the contract that Moss signed with the Vikes, he is supposed to get a "roster bonus" of $8-9M next March or April. Now if he is not on the roster then… Why won't he be on the roster you ask? Well Rocket Scientist Randy was arrested yesterday for "nudging" a police officer with his car when the officer tried to prevent Moss from making an illegal turn. When asked for a comment, coach Mike Tice said, "I'm still trying to figure out what's going on." Truer words were never spoken.

Browsing through the Atlanta Journal-Constitution webpage, I saw a headline that read, "Moss' Coming of Age". Wondering how they could possibly conclude that Randy Moss was growing up, I opened the article to find that it was about Braves' pitcher Damian Moss. It felt like I had just returned from a parallel universe.

Money under the cap is not a guarantee that a team will sign a bunch of good players. The Cards will be almost $36M under the cap for next year and they will still nickel and dime everyone there.

Finally, the Cal State - Long Beach baseball team is nicknamed the Dirtbags. Imagine the pride some of these folks must take in telling their children, "I'm so glad that I was a dirtbag when I was in college."

But don't get me wrong, I love sports...

<< Back to the September Archives

= Home = Recent = Topical = Wagers =
= Archives = Pros = Scores = Contact =






		Sports Curmudgeon: 9/25/02

		As the baseball season winds to its conclusion, here are a couple of items that need comment. Much has been made of the Expos' inability to draw fans to their games in Montreal and the suggestion that the franchise will be moved soon. However, here is something scary. They play 81 home games; they drew over 15,000 to a game only 12 times all season. That calls for a small variation on the old Burns and Allen routine: "Say goodnight, Gracie." "Au revoir." Even at the top of the standings, baseball attendance is in trouble. The Atlanta Braves have won their division 11 consecutive years. Their attendance peaked in 1997 at an average of 42,750 per game. Attendance has dropped every season since then and this year it was only 32,150 per game. Now the Expos - and more than a few other teams too - would think they died and went to Heaven for one season with that kind of average attendance, but for the Braves it means that revenues have dropped significantly since 1997. If there are 10,600 fewer people per game, that means total attendance dropped by almost 859,000 for the year and if each person drops a total of $25 per game for tickets and a hot dog and a beer, that means that about $21.5M does not show up in the Braves coffers. And this team is winning!!! No wonder they are looking to be frugal with payroll in the future. The Expos payroll for the season was not double the revenue that the Braves have lost over the past 5 years as attendance went into the tank. The Arizona Republic reports that the Diamondbacks will lose at least $40M and maybe as much as $50M this year even though they had an attendance increase and they will be in the playoffs again. The paper says that since 1999, the teams operating losses total $125M and the team is on a long-range plan to show a profit in 10 years. Now if they lose an average of $30M per year at the end of 10 years they will be $300M in the hole. So how many years of profitability do they plan to have in order to make up that kind of loss? Ernie Harwell called his last game in Detroit and was given home plate as a souvenir of all his work there. The Tigers are naming the press box at Comerica Park the Ernie Harwell Media Center. Other than the season when then GM Bo "as in Bonehead" Shembechler got rid of Harwell because he was not "happening", Harwell has been a fixture doing baseball since he was hired as a backup to Red Barber in NY in the 1940s. He's already in the Hall of Fame and will continue to do some TV work and write some columns for a Detroit newspaper. We are losing good broadcasters faster than they are being replaced… In late June, the LA Dodgers were 50-29 and led the NL West by 4 games. Now they are 88-69 and trail the Giants by 2 games for the wild card spot with 5 games to play. Since about July 1st, they are twelve games under .500. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays had a fan appreciation day for their final home game and the outfield seats were $1.00. The team was not required - even under the truth in advertising laws - to warn fans that they would get what they paid for. Writing in the Rocky Mountain News about the career and the retirement of Patrick Ewing, Bernie Lincicome said: "Ewing was the Jim Lovell of basketball players, close enough to the moon to reach out and touch it, but forced ultimately to say, '(Alan) Houston, we have a problem.' Ewing's arms were never long enough to grab the biggest prize, not when he was carrying the Knicks nor ultimately when Ewing became the luggage." In an interview with some of the local media folks in Orlando, Doc Rivers said that he is hoping that Shawn Kemp shows up at camp in great shape and begins the season at 290 lbs or less. To reach that weight by that date would probably require Kemp to have a limb amputated and it may not be easy for Doc Rivers to work a one-armed guy into the substitution rotation. However, it might lead to a great promotion by the Magic. They could hold a "Richard Kimball Night" where anyone with that name can show up and be certain to find a one-armed man… To prove I don't make this stuff up, go to "worlddodgeball.com" and see that they are holding a tournament/event/whatever in the Chicago area in two weeks. One of the US carmakers is sponsoring the Dodgeball event. I think you can figure it out before you go to the website and find the answer. Here we go into the final weekend of September; and if you look at these NFL QBs, something strange has happened. David Carr has more wins as a starting QB than Kordell Stewart, Kurt Warner and Duante Culpepper added together. Prior to the season, the odds on that happening would have been astronomical - even higher than the odds that Rosie O'Donnell would take the lead in a boycott of Krispy Kreme donuts. The Vikings have been pretty miserable this year and they have a lot of "dead money" on their cap this year that will disappear next year. Supposedly, they will be about $30M under the cap during the off-season meaning they could be major players in the free agency market. Of course, the team is rumored to be on the market and may move out of Minneapolis given all the stadium shenanigans going on there so top flight players may not want to cast their lot with the Vikings. And Randy Moss ain't gonna draw them there either. As I understood the contract that Moss signed with the Vikes, he is supposed to get a "roster bonus" of $8-9M next March or April. Now if he is not on the roster then… Why won't he be on the roster you ask? Well Rocket Scientist Randy was arrested yesterday for "nudging" a police officer with his car when the officer tried to prevent Moss from making an illegal turn. When asked for a comment, coach Mike Tice said, "I'm still trying to figure out what's going on." Truer words were never spoken. Browsing through the Atlanta Journal-Constitution webpage, I saw a headline that read, "Moss' Coming of Age". Wondering how they could possibly conclude that Randy Moss was growing up, I opened the article to find that it was about Braves' pitcher Damian Moss. It felt like I had just returned from a parallel universe. Money under the cap is not a guarantee that a team will sign a bunch of good players. The Cards will be almost $36M under the cap for next year and they will still nickel and dime everyone there. Finally, the Cal State - Long Beach baseball team is nicknamed the Dirtbags. Imagine the pride some of these folks must take in telling their children, "I'm so glad that I was a dirtbag when I was in college." But don't get me wrong, I love sports... << Back to the September Archives = Home = Recent = Topical = Wagers = = Archives = Pros = Scores = Contact =