In 2006 the Harlem Globetrotters got win number 22,000. From 1971 to 1985 they won 8,829 straight games. In 1948-49 they beat the NBA champion Minneapolis Lakers two years in a row, which was a major factor in integrating the NBA. But most of their wins have come against various “stooge” teams, most owned by Red Klotz: the Boston Shamrocks, New Jersey Reds, Baltimore Rockets, the Washington Generals, and the Atlantic City Seagulls were a few.
Legends like Meadow Lark Lemon, Curly Neal, and Sweetwater Clifton are from a long ago era – already past their prime when I saw them as a kid – but amazingly, the team founded by Abe Saperstein in 1926 is still touring and entertaining the world.
Yes, the Globetrotters have steadfastly claimed that their “exhibition” games were competitive, but everyone knows better. The games have been the backdrop for one of the most enduring and entertaining comedy sketches of all time.
Competition in sports assumes two persons or parties with similar levels of ability – and fair rules.
The NBA is contending with charges that the league encouraged referees to “affect” the outcomes of certain playoff games. Anyone who watched Game 6 of the 2002 playoff series between Los Angeles and Sacramento has not problem believing that to be true, though the greatest mystery of the game was probably Shaq hitting 75% of his free throws. And anyone who watched Jeff Van Gundy, now an ESPN-ABC announcer, explain that he didn’t mean what he said when he said that very thing as Coach of the Houston Rockets, knows how awkward that topic is for those with a vested interest in protecting a league that is supposedly competitive first and entertaining second. But I digress …
Returning to the subject of my previous blog, Major League Baseball, and as response to the defenders of this spectacular of beauty, grace, intelligence, and sportsmanship, I would simply say that the numbers don’t lie. The league lacks competitive balance due to the vast gulf between what clubs can afford to pay for talent. Unlike the NFL, the singularly healthy professional sports league in the United States, there is not a revenue sharing plan. That means owners and general managers don’t have to be skilled talent evaluators and traders to build a great team, but rather they simply outbid the have-nots to amass all-star teams on a single roster.
Sure, there are exceptions to the rule and low-payroll teams have a Cinderella year and the high pay-roll clubs have an off year (cough … New … cough … York … cough … Yankees …). But a quick scan of the 2008 payroll figures is a pretty good indicator of how this season will end.
- Yankees $209,081,579
- Tigers $138,685,197 (a surprise spender, up from 9th in ’07)
- Mets $138,293,378 $117,915,819 $20,377,559
- Red Sox $133,440,037
- White Sox $121,152,667
- Angels $119,216,333
- Cubs $118,595,833 (when you are cursed, does it matter how much you spend?)
- Dodgers $118,536,038
- Mariners $117,993,982
- Braves $102,424,018
- Cardinals $100,624,450
- Blue Jays $98,641,957
- Phillies $98,269,881
- Astros $88,930,415
- Brewers $81,004,167
- Indians $78,970,067
- Giants $76,904,500
- Reds $74,277,695
- Padres $73,677,617
- Rockies $68,655,500
- Rangers $68,239,551
- Orioles $67,196,248
- Diamondbacks $66,202,713
- Twins $62,182,767
- Royals $58,245,500
- Nationals $54,961,000
- Pirates $49,365,282
- A’s $47,967,126
- Rays $43,820,598
- Marlins $21,836,500
Certain Major League Baseball teams have discovered the Harlem Globetrotters model for success. Stack the talent and schedule the stooges.
Mark,
My original comments had to do with the nature of the sports in question, not the management of their leagues.
Here are a few of thoughts on management though.
First, my beloved Red Sox are managing to move down the salary list even as they continue to stay atop the AL East. The reason is their farm system and their incredible success with rookies. (Did I mention how smart the Red Sox organization is?) Nevertheless,I think they’ll remain in the top third of teams in spending. I hasten to add about half of their staring roster makes Florida Marlin’s money. Even the salaies of Josh Becket and David Ortiz are no where near the top of the league for their positions and star power. Yes, we do have Manny, but that was a deal done under the old regime.
Second, baseball’s problems are so old I don’t know how they’ll get past them. First, the owners treated players like slaves and made a mint off them. (Those were the good old days when the
Royals and the Reds were winning!) Now the players hold the league by the throat.
Third, I think the CBA in football will not look anything like what it has. Only the incompetence of Gene Upshaw has made the conditions you praise in football possible. I expect the players to make a serious run and removing the salary cap.
Here’s a nice site to check out 2007 salaries by position:
http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/DATABASE02/80326004/-1/database
Notice the salaries for Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Jonathan Pappelbon,and Jacoby Ellsbury.
All those guys are current or future all-stars and were instrumental in last year’s world series win. Also note that none of them made more than $450K last year!
Brilliant!
PS. notice that Josh Beckett is about in the middle of the pack when it comes to pitcher’s salaries too!
Ahem, another title for Titletown.
Now here’s a puzzle, the New York Nicks have the highest payroll in the NBA followed closely by such large-market teams as:The Dallas Mavericks, The Portland Trailblazers, The Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Denver Nuggets!
The number 7 team in salary beat the number 6 team in the finals — and did it easily, I think any reasonable person would agree.
Anyone who watched the Celtics throughout the season this year saw a team that could rip through any team in the the western Conference like tissue paper. The west coast style of play is soft. The east is where basketball draws blood, baby!
Certainly, at least in the NBA, small markets are able to put up big salaries and big salaries (as the Nicks show) means nothing in terms of results. The Nicks, if I remember correctly, had the worst record in the NBA.
Saying that salaries equals success is like saying the schools where the teachers get paid the most are ipso facto the best schools.
Intelligence and commitment are still the most important factors in professional sports success.
The Pride is back — go Celtics! I modestly predict 2 more titles in the next four years.
By the way, if you want to see NBA team salaries go to: http://hoopshype.com/salaries.htm
Baseball alone has no revenue sharing plan and as such, competitive imbalance by design. Maybe they should take a cue from England’s Premiere League and start relegating poorly performing teams into AAA! 🙂
Congrats to your Celtics. Not sure I am a Celtics fan but I know I can’t stand the Lakers!
In honor of the late, great George Carlin, here is his famous monologue on why baseball is better than football.
Baseball is different from any other sport, very different. For instance, in most sports you score points or goals; in baseball you score runs. In most sports the ball, or object, is put in play by the offensive team; in baseball the defensive team puts the ball in play, and only the defense is allowed to touch the ball. In fact, in baseball if an offensive player touches the ball intentionally, he’s out; sometimes unintentionally, he’s out.
Also: in football, basketball, soccer, volleyball, and all sports played with a ball, you score with the ball and in baseball the ball prevents you from scoring.
In most sports the team is run by a coach; in baseball the team is run by a manager. And only in baseball does the manager or coach wear the same clothing the players do. If you’d ever seen John Madden in his Oakland Raiders uniform, you’d know the reason for this custom.
George Carlin knew. Baseball is a walk in the park. Football is war. (Ed Bailey / Associated Press)
Now, I’ve mentioned football. Baseball & football are the two most popular spectator sports in this country. And as such, it seems they ought to be able to tell us something about ourselves and our values.
I enjoy comparing baseball and football:
Baseball is a nineteenth-century pastoral game.
Football is a twentieth-century technological struggle.
Baseball is played on a diamond, in a park. The baseball park!
Football is played on a gridiron, in a stadium, sometimes called Soldier Field or War Memorial Stadium.
Baseball begins in the spring, the season of new life.
Football begins in the fall, when everything’s dying.
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View more photos >>In football you wear a helmet.
In baseball you wear a cap.
Football is concerned with downs — what down is it?
Baseball is concerned with ups — who’s up?
In football you receive a penalty.
In baseball you make an error.
In football the specialist comes in to kick.
In baseball the specialist comes in to relieve somebody.
Football has hitting, clipping, spearing, piling on, personal fouls, late hitting and unnecessary roughness.
Baseball has the sacrifice.
Football is played in any kind of weather: rain, snow, sleet, hail, fog…
In baseball, if it rains, we don’t go out to play.
Baseball has the seventh inning stretch.
Football has the two minute warning.
Baseball has no time limit: we don’t know when it’s gonna end — might have extra innings.
Football is rigidly timed, and it will end even if we’ve got to go to sudden death.
In baseball, during the game, in the stands, there’s kind of a picnic feeling; emotions may run high or low, but there’s not too much unpleasantness.
In football, during the game in the stands, you can be sure that at least twenty-seven times you’re capable of taking the life of a fellow human being.
And finally, the objectives of the two games are completely different:
In football the object is for the quarterback, also known as the field general, to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the defense by hitting his receivers with deadly accuracy in spite of the blitz, even if he has to use shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs, he marches his troops into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a sustained ground attack that punches holes in the forward wall of the enemy’s defensive line.
In baseball the object is to go home! And to be safe! — I hope I’ll be safe at home!