The Decision "Part II"

Now that dust has settled we can look back on what has to be the biggest self aggrandizing, self loving, me, me, me individual I have ever seen hit free agency in professional sports.  He was able to drag his feet for about a month in free agency.  He talked with several teams both at home and traveling to their locale.  He ended up signing with a team that he liked because he felt comfortable there.  The team also had a bunch of his friends on it.  It is obvious that he couldn't win a title on his own so he had to go another team that has won a title in the last five years to finally win a championship.  I can't believe the audacity of Cliff Lee. 

What a warrior.  He is gritty and cares so much

Oh, you thought I was talking about Lebron James.   No, you see, Lebron actually did something with his month long ordeal.  He raised $3 million for the Boys and Girls Club with his Public Auction.  Cliff Lee didn't do anything for anyone other than himself.  In all seriousness, I actually have no problem with what Cliff Lee did.  He was a free agent and he knew this was going to be his last major contract.  He wanted to do what we all want to do.  He wanted to get the most money he could while being happy and comfortable.   If someone wants to do what is best for them and their family, I will never fault them.  No one else is going to look out for you.  Get what you can get while you can get it.  But the fact of matter remains that Cliff Lee essentially did the same thing that Lebron did.  He strung along a couple of teams, took the offer that he thought was the best to win a championship in a city he liked.  Lebron went on TV.  Yes.  But he also raised money for kids that needed it.  Cliff Lee did not. 

He is so selfish.  All he cares about is himself. 

The people of Cleveland and everyone else that despises Lebron I ask why?  Because he took less money to play in a warmer climate, with no state income tax?  Or because he wanted to play for a GM named Pat Riley?  Is it because he went on TV and in doing so he raised $3 million for kids?  No the hate is because you can't relate.  You aren't the best at what you do so you are never courted by a major company for work.   You never have had options.  You just took the best thing that came along at the time.   You can get by doing that but you will never be great or special. 

So now I ask you to turn your frustrations to Cliff Lee.  Take to the message boards and complain about him.  Rip him on your twitter and facebook pages.  Go after him with the same angst that you went after Lebron James.   Because if you fail to do so you can put yourself into one of two camps.  That of "hypocrite" or "jock envy".  Or maybe it is something else.  Maybe it is something deeper and dark, more sinister than you think. Maybe, just maybe, it has nothing to do with Lebron James at all.  Maybe it has to do with you know who.  YOU. 

BOWL-ed Over



The best solution for determining #1 vs #2 



It has become a tradition.  Every December we decorate for the holidays, eat way too much, buy presents and complain about the BCS.  Count me as one who will abstain from the last one on that list.  Since its inception the goal of the BCS has been to get the top two teams together in the National Championship Game.  For the  11th time in 12 tries it has succeeded.  The other BCS games are just showcases.  The six member conferences have a partnership with the major bowls. The jobs of the other BCS bowl games isn't to be fair or impartial.  It is to fullfill their agreement with their business partners.  The individual bowl games pick the teams they want in their particular game.  People hate the BCS for several reasons and one is the utopian thought of a tournament.  Individuals clamour for a playoff although they can't agree how to get one done. 



The top factor in determining a champion!

4 teams?  8 teams? 16 teams?  Where are you playing games? Regional sites?  Home sites?  Does TCU host a game with 40,000 seats in their stadium?  Are we always going to play games at bigger venues to make more money?  How long before the small schools throw a fit because they never get to host?  Are we still using the BCS to determine at large teams?  Will we use every conference champion?  Do we expect fan bases to travel for four straight weeks to watch games? What about the Bowls?  Scrap them!  How do you make up the $1 billion in revenue?  You need a plan to make up all that lost money..... and no it just isn't going to happen.  And before you start saying that a playoff is the only "fair" way to determine a champion then don't we need to make the playing field "fair" as well?  How is it "fair" that Texas has a recruiting budget of $5 million and San Jose State's in only $300,000.  Do we need to have revenue sharing?  How far do we take this whole "fair" thing?  I have been saying for years if you want this system to suffer a catastrophic scenario root for Alabama, Notre Dame, and Texas to all go unbeaten.   Then you will get your playoff.  You want change? You need someone with deep pockets and a ton of power to be effected.  TCU, Boise, and UTAH don't wield either of these things. 





Complain to Complain Crowd



The other gripe you will hear is that "there are way too many bowl games this year".  My response to that...So What! What would you rather have fill the sports vacuum on a Tuesday night the last week of December?  MEAC Conference Basketball?  How about regular season NBA games featuring the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors.  Are you pining for more weekday NHL showdowns between the Ottawa Senators and Phoenix Coyotes?  The people who get worked up about "too many bowl games" are the same people who get mad when they can't find a parking spot, at the mall, the Saturday afternoon before Christmas.  GET OVER IT. 


There will be a few fanbases that will be up in arms about what bowl game they will be playing in. (See Michigan State and Boise St.) Look this is a sport where style points matter.  If you only beat one ranked team all year, and that applies to you both, then you had better run the table.  Boise's big win is Va. Tech and Sparty took down Wisconsin.  Other than that who'd you beat?  Boise's plays a WAC schedule and their opponents combined record was 75-76.   MSU opponent's combined record 76-72 and that includes a game against Portland State, an FCS School.  If your schedule consists of weak squads then you had better dominate teams down the stretch (see Wisconsin) or you won't get the benefit of the doubt and I am fine with that. 

"Capital"ism at its finest!

I also enjoy complaints about the sponsorships of games.   Why did they change the name from the Citrus Bowl to the Capital One Bowl? Why is it the Chick Fil A Bowl now instead of the Peach Bowl? Look, if I am the President of Capital One or Chick Fil A and I am overseeing the forking over of tens of millions of dollars to a bowl game you had better believe that I would want my company's name all over it.   Listen the schools benefit from this.  The more money in the game the higher the payout.  This helps YOU! The more money a school brings in the less likely they are to raise ticket prices that next season.  Would you rather have universities make money from YOU or from a business.  That's what I thought.  GET OVER IT.


And my favorite gripe is that of the 'long" layoff from now until the games.  When should they play the BCS games?  Two weeks?  Christmas Day?  If you are going to play 35 bowl games and do it over the Holiday Season you need time to plan these out.  How do you expect to mobilize all these fan bases during the most hectic time of year for not only travel, but work and business as well.  Let's look at the economics of this.  It comes back to money.  Games that are on TV in prime time get more money.  The more spread out the games, the more they are showcased.  The more showcased games, the more eyeballs on that single game.  Therefore your advertising rates can be higher.  More people watch and the schools get more exposure.  But poor YOU.  YOU had to wait two more weeks than you wanted to.  Please do me a favor this Holiday/Bowl Season.  Enjoy the games and keep the complaining to a minimum.  I, for one, am tired of your cliched arguments and I don't know what you are yelling about?

Neither do I, Brick.  Neither do I.