Pryor to OSU

With superstar Terrelle Pryor coming from my neck of the woods back in Pennsylvania, and being the strong supporter of Nittany Lion football that I am, I was really hoping, in a way, that young Pryor was going to choose PSU. In other ways, I was hoping he wouldn't choose PSU.

I guess I had the same concerns that OSU does now, as cited an article posted on SI.com here. Apparently, OSU personnel have worries that Pryor's head has grown too big throughout the recruiting process. This brings to mind OSU's handling of Maurice Clarrett and what became of that young man. To his credit, I did read that Pryor expects to take a back up role as qb of the Buckeyes going into this season.
Additionally, I hear from my mom's manicurist whose son plays with Pryor, that he is a very grounded young man (don't you love small town life).

What Was Guillen Thinking?

This past Sunday, Chicago White Sox manager, Ozzie Guillen, said that if his team performs poorly, like it did last year, that he'd be willing to tear up his extension and work on a short-term deal. First, I have to sit down for a second. When was the last time you heard a player or manager actually accept responsibility for his performance and accept less money if he performs poorly? This may truly be first and it should be applauded on some levels.

However, it must be asked what was Guillen thinking, or even was Guillen thinking when he made these comments. On first blush, it seems that this may be just another of Guillen's statements made off the top of his head, with no forethought and all emotion. But after thinking about it, maybe this comment had great thought behind it after all. Here's a list of the possible takes on this statement as I see it:

1. Giving Guillen the benefit of the doubt, perhaps he really meant it. Perhaps he really is willing to renegotiate his deal, accept less money and less security. But from a pure business angle this is not wise. Less money and less security is not what we strive for when we agree to the terms of employment. Further, a contract is a contract. Each team understands that when it agrees to terms with a coach or player that it may not all be roses. The player could underperform or get hurt and the coach may just not be able to develop a relationship with the players. This risk is already part of the mutual meeting of the minds when the parties agree to terms. There is no business or legal obligation for Guillen to give up his extension. But if he does underperform it will be interesting to see if Guillen puts his money where his mouth is.

2. Guillen is smart like a fox. He knows there is a possibility that his team could be in some trouble again this year and he is talking tough and putting his money where his mouth his to ingratiate himself with fans. He is making a statement that "I am here to win, not to make money," which fans absolutely eat up and frankly is quite refreshing to hear. If his team underperforms, he knows the fans will have his back and that will effectively give him all of the security that he needs.

3. He is taking the same approach as in #2 to show his team that he is there for them and he is using that as a motivational tool to get them to win. If his team wins, he doesn't have to worry about the silly words that came out of his mouth.

4. Guillen put no thought behind this statement. Perhaps he was speaking on pure emotion, which we have seen before.

Regardless of the reasons, it was refreshing to hear Guillen's pledge. As a fan, I'd love to see more of this from the players and coaches. But as a sports lawyer, it makes me think twice about Guillen's true intentions behind his words.

Collusion? More like Confusion.

A news report published on SI.com today states that Donald Fehr and the MLBPA will look into why Barry Bonds, the new Home Run King, still does not have a job. As part of the inquiry, Donald Fehr says he wants to look into the possibility of collusion amongst owners as one reason why Bonds is slamming more twinkies while sitting on his couch and watching the View these days than home runs.

Wow, I am confused. Did the MLBPA just toss a softball to those cynics of Major League Baseball's ways (pun very much intended) or what? Yes, I thought many in Major League Baseball circles have been clueless for years, which is just one reason why the sport has gone from America's greatest pastime to a sport that is just another runner up to the NFL, but I didn't know they were delusional.

But, once again, the leaders of the MLB and MLBPA set forth more evidence that they are about as far away from reality as the astronaut who wore diapers while driving cross country in an attempt make claim to her man. Yes, from the same man who isn't sure that drug testing makes sense for his players - after the recent drug abuse scandals amongst some of his players has marred the reputation of many of the game's greatest and perhaps hardest working innocent players and has absolutely shredded the integrity of the game - now comes the suggestion that collusion...yes, COLLUSION...is the reason why Barry Bonds doesn't yet have a job.

(snap, snap) Hey Donald! I know, I may not have sat in the same seat as you all of these years. I may just be another average guy off the street, with a reasonable but not great IQ, without all the inside knowledge that you have, but even at that I can tell you why Barry doesn't have a job. And it sure as heck ain't collusion.

If you have paid attention to baseball over the past fifteen to twenty years, you would know that Barry isn't the easiest guy with whom to get along. He can be cantankerous, obstreperous, recalcitrant, and just a plain 'ol pain in the butt towards management, fans, and the media. He is grossly overpaid and is likely to be under worked, as his ability to play the field on a regular basis no longer exists. He is a public relations nightmare, with plenty of baggage that contains stories of mistresses posing for Playboy and abuse of illegal drugs. Tto top it all off, Bonds was indicted in November on four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice, stemming from 2003 grand jury testimony in which he denied knowingly using illegal performance-enhancing drugs.

The fact of the matter is, Donald, Barry isn't such a nice person. And now that his talent is in decline, teams are less willing to put up with his moodiness and the distraction that he creates. Now that I have saved you all of that money on discovery, maybe you can invest the money and your time into putting a drug testing policy in place that makes sense and restores the integrity of this great game.

Baseball's State of the Union

It is my greatest hope that every year at this time, just as spring training begins, the commissioner of Major League Baseball would come before us and tell us all, honestly, that Baseball has never been stronger in America and that on day 1 of League play every team has a genuine shot to win it all.

However, this is certainly not the case today. Today, there are teams and fans of teams that know with certainty that their team will not have a chance at the World Championship or even the playoffs. Teams like the Pirates, Royals, Orioles, Rays, Reds, Nationals have no hope. And for the most part, these teams don't have a great future either.

To give you an idea of the hopelessness of the situation, I was listening to Baltimore talk radio yesterday and they were talking about the Orioles rebuilding plan under new GM, Andy McPhail. I don't know whether his plan is going to work or not, but fans were calling in to complain that blowing up a team is not the way to win. Rather, the team should build around its past starts like Tejada, Brian Roberts etc. The commentators' response to these complaints was essentially this, "Well, trying to add pieces hasn't worked for the last ten years, we have to try something, so let's try this." While the commentators were speaking with an optimistic tone, this to me is like throwing darts with a blindfold on and trying to hit a bulls eye. Basically, they are saying nothing else is working so why not. Maybe if this doesn't work, we'll try something else. In other words, it is desperation.

The Orioles have a much tougher situation than some of the teams, like the Pirates, because the Orioles have the unfortunate curse of having to play two of the most talented baseball teams year in and year out. But this fact just brings us to the point that baseball is doing it all wrong. Yes, Yes, I know ticket sales are up and people have finally come back to the game. I get that. But until you level the playing field a bit, what's the point in including teams like the Pirates, Royals, Rays, Orioles? These teams have essentially become farm teams. And without a real salary cap with penalties that have teeth, it will never get better.

It is no mystery that the Red Sox have had such great success recently. Just look at the numbers. They started spending, playing the Yankees' game, just recently. Even when the small market teams have success, it is often because they have sold themselves out for the short term to win a championship. After that, they have to go through a fire sale of sorts i.e. the Marlins.

On top of that, MLB has no real floors for spending by teams. This only encourages those Scrooges of Baseball, like the Pirate's ownership, to keep saving and hoarding at the expense of their fans.

I'd like to see a couple of changes happen. First, if you are going to allow teams like the Pirates and Royals to play with the big boys, the real teams of the MLB, then create a subdivision, much like the soccer leagues in Europe. The bottom team or two from each division must play in the second tier league the following year until they earn their way back to the top. Playing in the second tier will decrease revenue for the teams, which will encourage ownership to become competitive and spend money on talent. Additionally, the second tier teams will not have the opportunity to make the playoffs and receive that additional television revenue. This is surely enough to light a fire under any and every owner.

The next thing I would do is not allow second tier teams to trade away their best players. I don't know how you do this without more thought, but now you are encouraging them to build around a nucleus and not act simply as a decorated farm team for wealthier clubs like the Yankees.

I would also employ a real salary cap with floors and ceilings and add teeth to the overage rule. Perhaps, if you violate the ceiling of the cap, instead of simply being able to pay it off, which only helps teams like the Yankees, you mandate that violators must play the next season in the second tier league. I guarantee you the Steinbrenner family would not like playing in a second tier league.

Maybe this would work, maybe it wouldn't. All I know is that the NFL makes the MLB look silly both from the marketing and competition sides of things. Maybe it is time for the MLB to get tougher with balancing the playing field, like the NFL does. While artificially making things equal usually isn't the best answer in the marketplace, it does have its place in sports, where competition is what sells tickets.

Your thoughts?

My First Post

This being my first post, I'd like to set the expectations relatively low so it will seem that I am excelling in the future. My intent is that this blog will provide you with a much more current, frequent, and pithy coverage of interesting current events topics in sports law and business.

I was excited when I recently learned how to incorporate a blog into my already made website. It is something I have been trying to accomplish for years.

I hope that I am not the only one to contribute to this blog. In my mind, the best feature of a blog is the ability to get readers' feedback instantaneously and to be able to engage in a dialogue with those who you may not otherwise ever share ideas with or learn from.

Here's to many more interesting, topical, and current blog entries!