According to the Niners 10th overall pick in the 2009 draft, Michael Crabtree, he is demanding to be paid $23.5 million (how much Darius Heyward-Bey got from the Raiders at 7th overall) or he will sit out the season and re enter the draft next season. For more background info go here.
I say, let him walk, call his bluff, he isn't going to help the team THAT much. Please remember that the Niners are a running team to start with and they did just fine the 2nd half of the season last year after Singletary settled in.
The Niners need to call Crabtree's bluff and tell him that they hate to see him go, but if he must then they won't stop him. Crabtree would be a fool to sit out for an entire year and expect to be the same athlete re-entering the draft the year after- in fact, he would probably make LESS money the next year he was drafted in 2010 because teams would have doubts in drafting him, whether he was the same athlete he was leaving college after sitting out an entire year, therefore dropping his stock to well after 10th overall.
Yes, I am biased because I would be furious that the Niners would have wasted a pick and wouldn't receive any compensation pick (to my knowledge). But honestly making this decision would hurt Michael Crabtree much more than it would hurt the Niners. Choosing to sit out this season would be a huge obstacle to jumpstarting such a bright and promising career. Can you really imagine Crabtree establishing himself in the NFL as an elite receiver down the road if he sat out an entire season and not staying in top physical shape? Where is he planning on keeping conditioned? The AFL? Even if a team would take him for a one year rental, do not tell me that he would face competition good enough to improve him as a player, not even mentioning how much football knowledge he would miss out on and drastically slow down his development as a player.
So in the end, who has more to lose here? If Crabtree sits out this season and pouts all the way to the 2010 draft, he will have:
1) Lost money in the process, both in one lost year of NFL salary as well as the amount of his eventual contract
2) Deteriorated as an athlete by not facing NFL competition, assuming he played any football at all
3) Completely slowed down his process of development as a player being away from the game for a whole year
and 4) Most importantly, he would have lost the respect of many, many people both within the league and with the fans
Crabtree came into the draft with questions about his attitude and his personality as a diva, and for a brief time he silenced those critics after being drafted lower than expected and saying that he would merely take it as motivation and work harder. Now, with this whole fiasco unraveling, does he really think that teams would be willing to spend a pick anywhere close to as high as 10th on him after he sits out an entire year PLUS he has questionable signability and carrys the emotional baggage of a young T.O.?
So, to sum it up please get over yourself and get your ass into training camp Mr. Crabtree. Be thankful that you have the opportunity to play a sport for a living. Be gracious to the team who drafted you and is paying you market value, not even lowballing you. You were drafted 10th overall and you will be paid accordingly. You have proven nothing to have such ridiculous demands, but if you insist on being difficult then go ahead and walk. I assure you that you have much more to lose here than the San Francisco 49ers.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Business as Usual
“Sports is a business” has almost become a cliché that we fans hear from athletes whenever they are having contract negotiation troubles, or a teammate is traded, but rarely do we really read into their words.
Sports have evolved so much in the past few years, in every sense. A few years ago, players made a few hundred thousand dollars, these days, players are receiving record breaking hundred-million dollar contracts, such as Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia, who both just received contracts worth over $100 million from the Yankees this past offseason. Just the other day at the MLB Network was playing the 1977 World Series, in which the Dodgers played the Yankees. While watching the game, I noticed how there was absolutely no advertisements around the stadium on the outfield walls, behind home plate, or anywhere else. It got me thinking about how much money had gone into sports in just the past 30 years. That year, 1977, one of the highest contracts was Reggie Jackson’s, Mr. October, who made a then groundbreaking one million dollars.
The point of all this is, is that once marketing and advertisement evolved to the point of bombarding consumers constantly, in this case during their form of entertainment, sports was the natural beneficiary. Advertising dollars allowed owners to do more with their teams, whether it was improving stadiums, hiring more workers, or most importantly; paying higher contracts to players. As this went on over time, higher contracts snowballed to the point of where we are today. Owners may complain, and fans may say it is ridiculous to pay a player that much money, but the fact of the matter is that it is corporations and the owners who are at fault, not the athletes. For every dollar that these athletes make, an owner is benefiting more than double.
For better or worse, professional sports have evolved beyond entertainment. We must take the good with the bad, because despite how corporate sports have become, we the fans have also benefited through the up to the second media coverage that sports have attracted, or even the creation of fantasy sports, allowing fans to get even closer to the game. Was it not for the money that was thrown into sports, all of that would never have become possible today. Sports have become a business, but it has also become one of the most fascinating and captivating forms of entertainment. For many people, sports has almost become an obsession, constantly seeking the newest news or keeping an ear to the ground about their favorite team’s next move. As fans we may not always like the fact that someone is making ludicrous amounts of money as we shell out five dollars for a hotdog to watch the game, but in all honesty I wouldn’t have it any other way, because I love what sports have become.
Sports have evolved so much in the past few years, in every sense. A few years ago, players made a few hundred thousand dollars, these days, players are receiving record breaking hundred-million dollar contracts, such as Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia, who both just received contracts worth over $100 million from the Yankees this past offseason. Just the other day at the MLB Network was playing the 1977 World Series, in which the Dodgers played the Yankees. While watching the game, I noticed how there was absolutely no advertisements around the stadium on the outfield walls, behind home plate, or anywhere else. It got me thinking about how much money had gone into sports in just the past 30 years. That year, 1977, one of the highest contracts was Reggie Jackson’s, Mr. October, who made a then groundbreaking one million dollars.
The point of all this is, is that once marketing and advertisement evolved to the point of bombarding consumers constantly, in this case during their form of entertainment, sports was the natural beneficiary. Advertising dollars allowed owners to do more with their teams, whether it was improving stadiums, hiring more workers, or most importantly; paying higher contracts to players. As this went on over time, higher contracts snowballed to the point of where we are today. Owners may complain, and fans may say it is ridiculous to pay a player that much money, but the fact of the matter is that it is corporations and the owners who are at fault, not the athletes. For every dollar that these athletes make, an owner is benefiting more than double.
For better or worse, professional sports have evolved beyond entertainment. We must take the good with the bad, because despite how corporate sports have become, we the fans have also benefited through the up to the second media coverage that sports have attracted, or even the creation of fantasy sports, allowing fans to get even closer to the game. Was it not for the money that was thrown into sports, all of that would never have become possible today. Sports have become a business, but it has also become one of the most fascinating and captivating forms of entertainment. For many people, sports has almost become an obsession, constantly seeking the newest news or keeping an ear to the ground about their favorite team’s next move. As fans we may not always like the fact that someone is making ludicrous amounts of money as we shell out five dollars for a hotdog to watch the game, but in all honesty I wouldn’t have it any other way, because I love what sports have become.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
One Month Review
A month has passed in the young 2009 baseball season and the Giants are currently sitting at one game over .500 (as of 5/3), but it has been a very interesting and hope inspiring road to 12-11. After stumbling out of the gates to a 3-8 record and being absolutely steam-rolled in their series sweep by the Dodgers, something that I unfortunately had to experience live, the Giants are now surging after winning their last 10 of 14.
What we have seen so far from the 2009 Giants has pretty much what we expected and for the most part hoped for; a pitching staff that is capable of being as good as advertised, a struggling and frequently frustrating offense, and many, many close games. After a rough first two outings, staff ace Tim Lincecum (2-1, 46 Ks) has returned to form, while Matt Cain (2-1, 3.09 ERA) has finally gotten lucky enough to receive some run support. Meanwhile, Randy Johnson has proven that he still has some in the tank inching two more wins towards 300, while Jonathan Sanchez has continued to show flashes of dominance posting a 2.60 ERA. However, the real story so far, to me at least, has been the $126 Million Dollar Man, Barry Zito. The numbers don't tell the whole story for the lefty who is the current owner of a 0-2 record to go along with a 3.99 ERA. Zito, most known for his strange twittering recently, hasn't been dominant, but he sure has been quietly effective. After taking two absolute dumps in his first two starts of the season, giving up 10 runs in 10 innings, has since only given up 3 runs in the last 20 1/3 innings- that's a 1.33 ERA for those of you keeping score at home. Despite his stellar outings, Zito hasn't had a win to show for it and is quickly beginning to look like he's stricken with a Matt Cain-like lack of run support when he takes the mound.
On another note, the Giants' offense has been absolutely frustrating to watch. It really doesn't look like this year's lineup has improved much since last season. Thanks to fangraphs.com, I was able to check and so far this season, the Giants are 24th in the league in batting average, 29th in HRs, and dead last in RBI. You can't even call this Giants team a small ball team, because they aren't working counts or moving runners over consistently. The Giants are walking a thin line in becoming a team with absolutely no offensive identity that relies on its pitching staff to carry them completely. Outside of Bengie Big Money Molina and the Round Mound Pablo Sandoval, the offense has been pretty bad. I'm beggining to get scared that the Giants don't have enough lucky hits in them to keep winning games by 2 or less runs, while essentially blanking the other teams (a feat the Giants have accomplished 7 times already this season).
While they are winning games and are looking a lot better as of late, the 2009 Giants have many glaring holes that need to be addressed before they even start talking playoffs this season. However, I am hopeful that the team we saw take 2 of 3 from the red-hot Dodgers at AT&T Park are the real 2009 Giants, compared to the mess we saw get outscored 23-7 en route to a sweep in Dodger Stadium. That's why this weekend (May 8-10), when the Giants return to play the Dodgers, who are starting a season high 11-game homestand and have yet to lose a game, will absolutely be one of the most important series of this young season in determining just what this year's club is capable of.
What we have seen so far from the 2009 Giants has pretty much what we expected and for the most part hoped for; a pitching staff that is capable of being as good as advertised, a struggling and frequently frustrating offense, and many, many close games. After a rough first two outings, staff ace Tim Lincecum (2-1, 46 Ks) has returned to form, while Matt Cain (2-1, 3.09 ERA) has finally gotten lucky enough to receive some run support. Meanwhile, Randy Johnson has proven that he still has some in the tank inching two more wins towards 300, while Jonathan Sanchez has continued to show flashes of dominance posting a 2.60 ERA. However, the real story so far, to me at least, has been the $126 Million Dollar Man, Barry Zito. The numbers don't tell the whole story for the lefty who is the current owner of a 0-2 record to go along with a 3.99 ERA. Zito, most known for his strange twittering recently, hasn't been dominant, but he sure has been quietly effective. After taking two absolute dumps in his first two starts of the season, giving up 10 runs in 10 innings, has since only given up 3 runs in the last 20 1/3 innings- that's a 1.33 ERA for those of you keeping score at home. Despite his stellar outings, Zito hasn't had a win to show for it and is quickly beginning to look like he's stricken with a Matt Cain-like lack of run support when he takes the mound.
While they are winning games and are looking a lot better as of late, the 2009 Giants have many glaring holes that need to be addressed before they even start talking playoffs this season. However, I am hopeful that the team we saw take 2 of 3 from the red-hot Dodgers at AT&T Park are the real 2009 Giants, compared to the mess we saw get outscored 23-7 en route to a sweep in Dodger Stadium. That's why this weekend (May 8-10), when the Giants return to play the Dodgers, who are starting a season high 11-game homestand and have yet to lose a game, will absolutely be one of the most important series of this young season in determining just what this year's club is capable of.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Steroid Era
I'm going to definitely talk more about this later and what A-Rod's confession means about baseball and how it all comes back to how differently Bonds is being treated, but for now, I just watched the A-Rod interview and it was pretty interesting, to me at least.
Long Road Ahead
Even though I haven't written in a long time, this is something that has been on my mind for some time now so I figured I'd write about it. The topic of this entry is: the horrible state of the Golden State Warriors Franchise. I was looking at the financial situation of the Warriors in terms of player contracts and when they expired and I was blown away at how bad of a position the Warriors really are in: please take a look here.
I was already unhappy when the Warriors made their Clipper-spiting signing of Corey Maggette after they signed Baron because a) we didn't need another wing/guard that didn't play defense on our team and b) not only did the Warriors overpay him, but signing him only took money away from any chance of landing a marquee FA in the future. The Warriors also made numerous idiotic signings in which they clearly overpaid players, such as Ronny Turiaf- really? 4million a year for an energy guy? and resigning Stephen Jackson for almost 10 million a year through 2013, and then trading for Jamal Crawford who is owed about 10 million a year through 2011. Now, not only are the Warriors strapped for cash far beyond the free agent frenzy 2010 class, but they are loaded up with overpaid players who are almost all isolation players. When I look at the Warriors I am starting to see a very scary parallel between our current team and the Isaiah Thomas run New York Knicks, minus the huge payroll, but like i stated we definitely have financial handcuffs of our own
The Warriors have a lot of the same type of players as the Knicks-- isolation players like Stephen Jackson, Corey Maggette, Jamal Crawford, and Monta Ellis that need the ball in their hands to be effective. You can also add Kelenna Azubuike and CJ Watson to a lesser extent on that list as well because they shoot more than they help facilitate ball movement. Point is, we have a whole bunch of guards. Sure Maggette and Jackson can play SF but that's moot point because they're also SGs. Sure Watson, Ellis, and Crawford can play PG but that's moot point as well because they're primarily SGs. Point is, a lot of them are most effective playing SG but they're converted to PGs or SFs.
To add on to having a bunch of wings and guards that play the same and handcuffing our financial flexibility for years to come, the Warriors also have very little cohesion (source about Crawford and Maggette not on the same page), similar to the Isiah Thomas ran Knicks. At one point, during the 'We Believe' era, team chemistry was one of the Warriors' strong points, but this is now a very different team. There have been reports of internal bickering, such as ther report that Stephen Jackson wants out of the Warriors (source 1 and source 2), Corey Maggette wants out (source), and most importantly Don Nelson is not even allowing the young players on the team to grow despite how bad the Warriors are, by not giving them playing time.
It scares me to even compare the Warriors to the Isaiah Knicks and they do have their differences, but the number of similarities is scary to fathom. Because the Knicks are a major market team, they had the attention of the media and Isaiah was being scrutinized. The Warriors on the other hadn get almost no media attention and are just quietly rotting away, which scares me even more- no change will come if there is not criticizm. I look at the Warriors, sitting at 17-35 in the division, with little to look forward to beyond contracts finally expiring. I see Don Nelson refusing to do things any other way but his own and team management that will neither step in and stop him nor stop making horrible decisions. Most importantly, I see a franchise that has become content collecting dividends from the Cinderella 'We Believe' playoff run and doesn't seem to care about their fan base. The Warriors have possibly one of the bleakest futures of all NBA teams outside of maybe the Bobcats, Clippers, and maybe the Wizards. When I look at the Warriors, I see a frustrating combination of overpaid mediocre players and underutilized young players who will never have a chance to help us compete because of the financial situation preventing the team from bringing in more complimentary players.
There is little hope for Warriors fans- the smallest glimmer of financial freedom won't even appear until 2013 with the current players on roster. For many of us real Warriors fans who were with the team before the 2007 playoff Cinderella story and are still sticking with them, it is getting much, much harder for all of us to 'Believe' given the future we see ahead of the Warriors franchise. The Warriors franchise needs to remember that when it is all said and done, it is their loyal fans who shell out money to see the 17-35 team that is put on the floor. But beware: do not test your fan base by pushing too far, you just may start to lose them if you continue to treat them like an after thought.
I was already unhappy when the Warriors made their Clipper-spiting signing of Corey Maggette after they signed Baron because a) we didn't need another wing/guard that didn't play defense on our team and b) not only did the Warriors overpay him, but signing him only took money away from any chance of landing a marquee FA in the future. The Warriors also made numerous idiotic signings in which they clearly overpaid players, such as Ronny Turiaf- really? 4million a year for an energy guy? and resigning Stephen Jackson for almost 10 million a year through 2013, and then trading for Jamal Crawford who is owed about 10 million a year through 2011. Now, not only are the Warriors strapped for cash far beyond the free agent frenzy 2010 class, but they are loaded up with overpaid players who are almost all isolation players. When I look at the Warriors I am starting to see a very scary parallel between our current team and the Isaiah Thomas run New York Knicks, minus the huge payroll, but like i stated we definitely have financial handcuffs of our own
The Warriors have a lot of the same type of players as the Knicks-- isolation players like Stephen Jackson, Corey Maggette, Jamal Crawford, and Monta Ellis that need the ball in their hands to be effective. You can also add Kelenna Azubuike and CJ Watson to a lesser extent on that list as well because they shoot more than they help facilitate ball movement. Point is, we have a whole bunch of guards. Sure Maggette and Jackson can play SF but that's moot point because they're also SGs. Sure Watson, Ellis, and Crawford can play PG but that's moot point as well because they're primarily SGs. Point is, a lot of them are most effective playing SG but they're converted to PGs or SFs.
To add on to having a bunch of wings and guards that play the same and handcuffing our financial flexibility for years to come, the Warriors also have very little cohesion (source about Crawford and Maggette not on the same page), similar to the Isiah Thomas ran Knicks. At one point, during the 'We Believe' era, team chemistry was one of the Warriors' strong points, but this is now a very different team. There have been reports of internal bickering, such as ther report that Stephen Jackson wants out of the Warriors (source 1 and source 2), Corey Maggette wants out (source), and most importantly Don Nelson is not even allowing the young players on the team to grow despite how bad the Warriors are, by not giving them playing time.
It scares me to even compare the Warriors to the Isaiah Knicks and they do have their differences, but the number of similarities is scary to fathom. Because the Knicks are a major market team, they had the attention of the media and Isaiah was being scrutinized. The Warriors on the other hadn get almost no media attention and are just quietly rotting away, which scares me even more- no change will come if there is not criticizm. I look at the Warriors, sitting at 17-35 in the division, with little to look forward to beyond contracts finally expiring. I see Don Nelson refusing to do things any other way but his own and team management that will neither step in and stop him nor stop making horrible decisions. Most importantly, I see a franchise that has become content collecting dividends from the Cinderella 'We Believe' playoff run and doesn't seem to care about their fan base. The Warriors have possibly one of the bleakest futures of all NBA teams outside of maybe the Bobcats, Clippers, and maybe the Wizards. When I look at the Warriors, I see a frustrating combination of overpaid mediocre players and underutilized young players who will never have a chance to help us compete because of the financial situation preventing the team from bringing in more complimentary players.
There is little hope for Warriors fans- the smallest glimmer of financial freedom won't even appear until 2013 with the current players on roster. For many of us real Warriors fans who were with the team before the 2007 playoff Cinderella story and are still sticking with them, it is getting much, much harder for all of us to 'Believe' given the future we see ahead of the Warriors franchise. The Warriors franchise needs to remember that when it is all said and done, it is their loyal fans who shell out money to see the 17-35 team that is put on the floor. But beware: do not test your fan base by pushing too far, you just may start to lose them if you continue to treat them like an after thought.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)