beast of the east
Active member
Yesterday, the business of sports hit us in the face again. Reyes bunts for a single in the first inning that almost puts a lock on the NL batting championship, then takes himself out of the game. Of course, he is in a walk year, and NL batting champion may be worth a few million in his upcoming contract. I'm guessing if he wasn't acting under the direction of his agent, his agent agreed with the move 100%.
Now I'm a guy who never laid down for a minute playing sports. Never dogged an at bat, and played hard till the buzzer went off in basketball, down or up 50 points. In the schoolyard, when anyone wanted to play one more game, dead tired or not, I'd be up for it. The thought of an athlete, perhaps in his last game as a NY Met caring more about the title than giving the fans a final chance to cheer him, is disappointing and startling.
In the Big East, Syracuse and Pitt helped form a conference that provided some of the fiercest and most exciting basketball, NBA, NCAA or otherwise, over the past 1/3rd of a century. To many of us, the intensity of even a regular season game, so far exceeded an NBA sleeper, that we hardly pay attention to the pros.
The reason may have been football, but the deeper reason is money. Anyone who is foolish enough to believe the NCAA is about school spirit, student athletes (ludicrously never athlete-students) is worse than that.
In the midst of the worst unemployment crisis since perhaps the great depression, where inflation is under 2%, our own school SJU raises ticket prices by 20%, and tack on a $100 premium for seat backs. Of course there is a justification - more games at the Garden is the usual game. You add 2-3 games at MSG, raise prices, and then roll back to less games the next seasons while keeping ticket prices the same. Most of us, starved for great basketball will say its because the team is better, higher recruiting costs, or just staying competitive with other conference ticket prices.
Professional sports (and NCAA d1 competition is a professional sport where the athletes have nothing but a stage) is all about money. Fan loyalty means little. Interscholastic rivalries mean little.
For most of us, our loyalty is misplaced. Then again, its a choice most of us wilingly make, but when reality hits us in the face, whether it be Syracuse or Jose Reyes, its a grim reminder that we are just consumers.
Now I'm a guy who never laid down for a minute playing sports. Never dogged an at bat, and played hard till the buzzer went off in basketball, down or up 50 points. In the schoolyard, when anyone wanted to play one more game, dead tired or not, I'd be up for it. The thought of an athlete, perhaps in his last game as a NY Met caring more about the title than giving the fans a final chance to cheer him, is disappointing and startling.
In the Big East, Syracuse and Pitt helped form a conference that provided some of the fiercest and most exciting basketball, NBA, NCAA or otherwise, over the past 1/3rd of a century. To many of us, the intensity of even a regular season game, so far exceeded an NBA sleeper, that we hardly pay attention to the pros.
The reason may have been football, but the deeper reason is money. Anyone who is foolish enough to believe the NCAA is about school spirit, student athletes (ludicrously never athlete-students) is worse than that.
In the midst of the worst unemployment crisis since perhaps the great depression, where inflation is under 2%, our own school SJU raises ticket prices by 20%, and tack on a $100 premium for seat backs. Of course there is a justification - more games at the Garden is the usual game. You add 2-3 games at MSG, raise prices, and then roll back to less games the next seasons while keeping ticket prices the same. Most of us, starved for great basketball will say its because the team is better, higher recruiting costs, or just staying competitive with other conference ticket prices.
Professional sports (and NCAA d1 competition is a professional sport where the athletes have nothing but a stage) is all about money. Fan loyalty means little. Interscholastic rivalries mean little.
For most of us, our loyalty is misplaced. Then again, its a choice most of us wilingly make, but when reality hits us in the face, whether it be Syracuse or Jose Reyes, its a grim reminder that we are just consumers.
