For the past week or so, there has been an obvious and necessary focus on Barry Bonds’ progress toward breaking the all-time home run record. It doesn’t matter if you think he achieved the record with “chemical enhancement” or not; it is a huge milestone and the chase to break that record should be followed closely. At the same time, there has also been a large and largely unnecessary focus on Alex Rodriguez’ efforts to hit his 500th career home run. I don’t mean to diminish that feat; not many players ever get to that level, but it isn’t so exclusive a “club” that it needs such intense media attention. And it gets worse…
Commentators are talking about how A-Rod can project to hitting more than 800 home runs in his career and that he might surpass Barry Bonds in 2012 or 2013. If that is a portent of things to come – meaning that A-Rod’s chase to catch Barry Bonds – is going to start as soon as Bonds hits his 756th home run, I’d like to get off that train right now. I surely don’t need to hear about this in any level of detail for the next five or six or seven years. I’d like to propose a moratorium on this as soon as A-Rod hits his 500th and lift that moratorium only when he is about to hit his 600th and/or 700th. Then maybe the next “home run chase” can start up again.
Michael Strahan is not in training camp with the Giants. He says he is considering retirement; others have suggested he wants to renegotiate his contract with the Giants because he is playing “below market value” now that the cap has expanded; still others have said that this is merely a ploy by a veteran who just doesn’t need all the hassle of another training camp run by a martinet of a coach. Since I do not read minds, I have no idea what is actually going on within his cranium or between him and his agent. Here is what I do know about Michael Strahan’s finances.
A court ordered him to hand over $15.3M to his ex-wife as a result of their hugely nasty divorce proceedings; and in addition, the court ordered child support payments of $18K per month. [That’s $216K per year in case the batteries in your calculator are dead.] People say Strahan will head to the broadcast booth when he is finished playing. If he gets with a network, he will make a nice salary but it will be quite a while in that industry until he surpasses the $4M+ he will make this year and next year as a defensive end. I haven’t yet heard him say anything along the lines of “It’s not about the money.” If I hear him say that, then I’ll conclude that it is only about the money.
Strahan’s argument that he is playing “below market value” does have merit. Gaines Adams is a rookie defensive end for the Bucs; he was taken very early in the NFL Draft in April and has never played a single down for any team in the NFL. Adams signed a contract for the next 6 years that will pay him up to $45M with a signing bonus of $15M. Gaines Adams may become a Hall of Fame caliber player some day; on the other hand, he could become a journeyman defensive end; time will tell. But in 2007, he cashed a $15M check and will earn more as his salary for the season. Michael Strahan will cash checks from the Giants in the amount of $4M or so. Strahan isn’t making “market value money” because the market has gone haywire.
Here’s a thought. Maybe it’s time for Gene Upshaw and Roger Goodell to think about an amendment to the CBA that would adapt the NBA concept of a rookie salary schedule to the NFL. That change could serve two positive purposes from the standpoint of the union and the league:
1. Rookies would tend to sign more quickly and be in training camp on time. Quarterbacks JaMarcus Russell and Brady Quinn are still not in camp because they are haggling over contract terms. The numbers being tossed around in Russell’s case seem to indicate that his agent is looking for guaranteed money over the life of the contract in excess of $30M – - for someone who has never taken a snap in the NFL.
2. Current players – the veterans who have “paid their dues” in the league – would have to get more money since there is a salary floor for every team in addition to a salary cap. If the Raiders, for example, don’t spend all of that $30M on JaMarcus Russell, they’ll have to spend it on other players such as the ones already on their team or other free agents.
Owners of sports teams have been known to say some really stupid things. Leon Hess said he was in his eighties and didn’t have a lot of time left to win a Super Bowl and that was why he hired Richie Kotite to coach the Jets. Marge Schott called Dave Parker her “million dollar [n-word]” and opined that Adolf Hitler did good things in the beginning but “just went too far.” Those are classically stupid comments. Now we have another potential entry in this race to infamy simply because of its insensitivity and self-absorption. In the wake of the bridge collapse in Minneapolis, here’s what Zygi Wilf had to say:
“We all understand that there has to be a focus on the infrastructure, that we have to dedicate ourselves to make transportation a priority for the sake of safety and for the sake of a growing community that needs transportation infrastructure that will move us into the 21st century. That does not exclude the fact that we understand that the Metrodome is also one of the oldest facilities in the league, and we want to make sure that we have a facility that meets the standards of the 21st century.”
Now, if you are a legislator in Minnesota or a civic leader, do those comments make you more willing to work to find a way to build him a new football stadium or less willing? Is Wilf trying to assure that there is no new stadium built there so he can move the team somewhere? Or did he just run blindfolded through the Forest of Stupidity without missing a single tree? You make the call.
Finally, two observations from Scott Ostler in the San Francisco Chronicle:
1. “If steroids don’t help you hit a baseball better, or pitch a baseball better, they must be awfully damn tasty, because a lot of guys risked their dignity, health and careers to take ‘em.”
2. “Every time [Barry] Bonds sits out so he can ‘freshen up’ [manager Bruce Bochy’s phrase], I think of the line from Airplane – ‘Looks like I picked the wrong week to give up amphetamines.’ “
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports…