From Prototype To Just Plain Hype

Building a successful business or organization is a task that requires a special and unique skillset that is as hard to find as it is to execute. That's one reason why people that live in that world and are successful are worth so much to their employer's. Whether it's Business, Education, Politics etc. the challenge is always the same. The most transparent business to watch this dance evolve in is sports. Iconic Franchise's are better and more successful because they are better at doing the things necessary to stay on top and win consistently. Player development, free agency, coaching, salary cap management, talent evaluation, trades, and the draft. Historically the most prolific prototype franchise at doing this successfully has been the New York Yankees. Let's not waste time quoting the stats, they are the most successful organization in sports. The real question now is what the F#*/*! are they doing now. The Yankees showed everyone else how to take advantage of free agency, trades, player development, etc. and now it seems they don't have a clue about how to do this for themselves anymore. Over the past number of years it seems that  other teams are able to get better players and give up less than the Yankees have been able to do. Free agents seem to be more willing to sign for less money and go other places other than New York. It's never been easy for the Yankees to trade or sign free agents; no one wants to do them a favor. They are the big boys on the block and the other teams look to exploit them as much as possible before giving them any help. Success breeds contempt. But it's more than that, New York is a star driven City, George Steinbrenner knew that and went for the gold, and turned the Yankees from a 8.8million dollar franchise into a 2.4 billion dollar monster. That's old news but what's not old news is the current demise of the Yankees. There are many reasons for this and the solutions will not be quick in coming. The Yankees are dealing with a farm system that has produced virtually nothing for 10 to 15 years, they are maxed out on the luxury tax salary cap formula, they have overpaid for aging free agents and gotten very little back in return, they don't seem to have a gameplan to develop younger players and their farm system once the Diamond of Major League Baseball now offers very little in trade bait options. The last few years have seen the Yankees overpay for other teams players and then let their successful homegrown players walk as has been seen most recently with David Robinson. New Yorkers demand a winner especially with the Yankees. It's hard to rebuild on the run and the Yankees have had a decade and a half of success starting in the mid nineties and Yankee fans certainly are spoiled. With other small market teams winning championships it makes the Yankees look even more lost. It can be done the St Louis Cardinals have been in 4 straight NLCS’s, and their last World Series team had 23 homegrown players on the roster. Brian Cashman is very good at filling holes in the lineup during a stretch run, now he needs to learn how to fill holes in the lineup for the long run.

The Good Ol' Days

An interesting thing happened to me today when my son asked me how excited I was about the upcoming NFL season, and for the first time I really wasn't sure how to answer him. I grew up in the era where the Packers, Giants Cowboys, 49ers and Bears ruled the roost and every team had legendary players many of whom eventually ended up in Canton. Then came the Steeler dynasty of Bradshaw, Swan, Jack Lambert and Franco Harris, and then we had the run of Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott et al. And of course we can't forget those boys with the silver helmets and those big stars on their heads in the 90's. A lot has changed since then, players, league rules, safety issues, instant replay, steroids etc. More often then ever the story in the NFL is about Gun possession, murders, spousal abuse, drugs, and the beat goes on and on. The NFL on opening night had 31 active players on rosters that were suspended for one violation or another and could not start the season. And then there is the rules issue, DB'S can't defend, Defensive linemen can't tackle the QB's. No one can fumble anymore (knee down knee down). Don't tackle to high or too low or you'll see mister yellow. Those poor defenseless receivers. I get the concussion issue, and it's a real concern. But football is our modern day warfare; fought by our modern day gladiators and it's a very violent game. Unfortunately it's part of the equation. It's hard to legislate safety in a car crash. Legends like Dick Butkus, Ray Nitchke, and Jack Lambert would be banned from the game today. One final thought, with all the new rules and penalties now in force, I know the first thing I look for @ the end of a play is Mr.YELLOW box on the screen. It shouldn't be that way. And then there are the endless reviews. Penalties, touchdowns, field position, in or out of bounds, Geeeez. A real cynic might say football has become a game of penalties and instant replay. But the NFL is bigger then ever. Truly a marketing miracle, and that's fine. Hey I like football a lot too, but somehow I don't think this is what our founding fathers had in mind.

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

The only thing stupider than people who are in the public eye not understanding the impact their words have on the general public, is not understanding how the rules of society will impact them. There is no shortage of ignorant prejudiced people in the world and with the advent of social media now there is a constant 24 hour platform for the morons of the world to espouse their venom. Everyday through social media, newspapers or the television we are given daily examples of intolerance in every area of our society, cultural, political, personal or sexual. Tony Dungee, Stephen A. Smith, and Kirk Minihane of WEEI Radio in Boston are just the most recent illustrations of this. Unfortunately this is a battle we all will have to continue to fight and I believe the good guys will win. An important issue related to that dynamic is the issue of freedom of speech. This is where people's stupidity really shows itself off. Every time someone says something inflammatory prejudicial or bigoted and they don't like the public's reaction they call it a freedom of speech issue. They say our country's founding principle of free speech is disappearing. Wrong, wrong, and wrong again.. The proof of this is that people continue to say horrible things about our country, our society etc. and basically there are no personal ramifications except the public backlash that possibly comes with their ignorant statements. Freedom of speech is not about the public blowback or society's outrage and reaction against inflammatory statements, it's about one's ability to make those inflammatory statements with no formal reprisals. In government regulated countries if you speak out you go to jail or possibly get shot. People continue to confuse freedom of speech with people resenting what they say. Every time someone says something stupid and there is public backlash they say their freedom of speech is being impeded. Wrong and wrong again it's not being impeded its being reacted to. Reaction comes with putting yourself in the arena of stupidity to begin with. If you have the right to say something stupid or prejudicial, people have the right to and will react to it. The 1st amendment guarantees ones right to say what they want, It does not however guarantee how people will react to it. Michael Kay stated recently on his radio show that our country is changing losing our right to free speech, sorry Michael you are wrong, our country isn't changing its growing up...

Ode To The Gods

Carmelo Carmelo Carmelo....
We used to think you were a wonderful fellow....

It seems you are very very greedy....
But New York fans are not that needy.....

The NBA has become a way.. 

For self-serving players to have their day...

It would be nice to pay you Omage...
But you  are holding everyone hostage....

As an old traditional fan...
I can't say I like the plan...

I hope you will go away....
And I will be happy to watch someone else play....

Classless Sawx

Is it just me or does it seem like every player that comes to the Red Sox turns into a big obnoxious jerk when it comes to the Yankees. The rivalry between New York and Boston has become legendary. People talk about it, think about it, and invariably get caught up in it whether they want to or not. There's been the Yankees-Red Sox, Knicks-Celtics, Rangers-Bruins, and believe it or not Giants-New England Patriots. But at the center of it is baseball, there is no more heated rivalry in sports. But there's an issue here that continues to raise its ugly head and that's one of classlessness. Full disclosure compels me to tell you that I am a long time season ticket holder for the Yankees, but this is not about the rivalry, this is about class, style and appropriateness. It's hard to root for other team's players in such an intense environment but over the years the Red Sox have had guys that have demonstrated class and style and made you respect their competitiveness. The original Derek Jeter years ago was probably Carl Yastremski, a great competitor who kept his mouth shut and tried to win on the field not with his mouth. Then there was the quiet Dwight Evans Mr.Cannon himself always gunning guys out at home plate, and made it seem like his job not his destiny. Fred Lynn was the epitome of quiet gracefulness in centerfield. MVP in his first year and hard not to like. Then you have the other side of the coin Pedro Martinez, Bill Lee, Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett and of course there was Carlton Fisk always taking shots at Thurman Munson the heart of the Yankees. Maybe its just because I bleed Pinstripes but I don't seem to remember Yankees constantly trashing the Red Sox players on a personal level and talking about how bad the organization is. No matter how successful the Red Sox are they can't resist trashing the Yankees. Maybe its the Big Brother Little Brother syndrome that they are constantly trying to overcome. Maybe it's knowing no matter how much they win they will never replace the New York Yankees as the iconic franchise that they are. Coming back from a three-game deficit in the ALCS to make history and going to win the World Series still wasn't good enough for the Red Sox to keep their mouths shut.They spent the entire winter that year trashing Yankees.(inferiority complex anyone), and for those who care the St Louis Cardinals are clearly the next most successful franchise in baseball .The most recent example of Boston's lack of class was last night's game were Napoli called Tanaka an idiot. Do they really need to go there. Yes Tanaka made a mistake, a bad pitch selection, squared it up for Napoli and Napoli was fortunate enough to jack it out to win the game. Sawx win a big game to keep their fading playoff hopes alive. Instead of being gracious, classy and grateful he turned it into a negative trashing of a guy he doesn't even know, a quiet man who has demonstrated nothing but class himself. Most athletes would know better than to mess with the gods and be happy that Tanaka didn't book him and he got away with one to win a big game for his team. But that's not the Red Sox way and it never has been. One of these days they'll realize that the only real idiots in sports and especially baseball are the Boston Red Sox...

Doing Things The Right Way

Well the rangers did it, they are in the Stanley Cup Finals as Wales Conference Champions. Because of the exhausting, physically combative, violent nature of the the sport you almost feel being Wales Conference Champions would be enough. Sorry, it doesn't work that way. Their next test will be their toughest, maybe that's why it's been said the Stanley Cup is the toughest Championship to win in Sports, works for me. The Rangers won because they were a more talented, deeper, more disciplined team. Their excellent defense and all star goalie didn't hurt either. In short they are a complete team, add to that a laser like focus and commitment by all the players and a great job by the coaching staff and bingo Wales Conference Champions. The series had it's share of ugly goonish incidents. The dark side of hockey is always just one cheap shot or goonish hit away. If a fourth line player takes a star off the ice with him it's considered a good thing  no matter how he does it. Hockey rule #1 if the other team is better and has more talent, level the playing field by gooning it up. The NHL allows it and it's truly a black mark on a sport that in it's purest form is truly a marvel to watch. The skill set alone makes most of us realize we'll never be hockey players. One final thought before I continue to praise the boys in Blue.  All Great organizations usually have the same qualities, winning over time takes pride, commitment, leadership and class. Yankees, Celtics, Packers, Canadians.. Oops let me correct myself. until this series I always considered Montreal the class of the NHL. All those Cups, Guy Lafluer, Ken Dryden, Larry Robinson, Scotty Bowman etc. They were always considered a team that would beat you with there talent, superior skating and speed, this year's addition was anything but that. Three minutes into game #1 Broussard was almost killed with a late hit. Subban cold cocked one of the rangers behind their net just for the hell of it and on and on. It almost worked, the Rangers eventually wore down and started taking bad penalties ( see Rule # 1). Maybe after the first 2 games Montreal realized they were over matched. The Rangers have won all of their series with the qualities that win all championships. Talent, discipline, execution, and heart. Win or lose in the Finals the Rangers have won with Class and been an example of how to do it right. Maybe Montreal can Learn something from them.   

Winning At All Costs

As a sports fan it is getting more and more frustrating and much harder to actually follow the games that are being played on the field without being subjected to the constant distraction of all the off field problems that accompany our sports teams in this day and age. Sports shows begin numerous broadcasts with lead stories concerning steroids, DUI's, sibling assaults, gun possession, club fights,and even murder. Game action and strategies become a backdrop for these reports. News is news no matter where we find it and athlete's crimes are after all more newsworthy then the final score of their games. That will never change, but the rub here for me is the focus on what's really important. Right now the big story is DeSean Jackson's alleged involvement with the gangs in LA. The media's focus was not about the issue of gangs and the connection and influence they have with many of our major sports leagues, NBA ,NFL, etc. which is a serious problem, it was on the fact that DJ was somehow a victim because people were not rushing to his doorstep to resign him. Are you kidding me. Let me make sure I understand this, DeSean has a history of gang related problems and is released from the Eagles because of it and then is rewarded with a 24 million dollar contract from the Redskins. Who says crime doesn't pay. The Media is only outraged because they don't understand how a talented player no matter what his sins are isn't idolized and rewarded with money. Athletes have always been given special treatment, in local sports, College and the Pros. They are our modern day gladiators and role models. But when we honor the thugs and criminals that are playing our games we have lost our way. How did our standards as a society ever get this twisted, and we wonder why our kids don't get it...

Deja Vu All Over Again

Building a sports franchise into a championship caliber organization is a challenge not unlike any other corporation trying to get to the top of the heap. It's sales revenues and market share are directly related to the quality of the product that they're trying to market, just like any other corporation the  direction the company's headed in is imperative for people to understand before they commit their time and money to the company's future. A confusing mission statement is never a good thing for a company to try and sell to the public but that's what the New York Jets are constantly trying to do. Over the last few years the Jets quarterback position has been a constant abyss of clarity and player development proving that their head coach at the very least is quarterback challenged in his skill set. The Jets completely mismanaged Mark Sanchez's career and then proceeded to parade in every possible option including the less than functional Tim Tebow to further confuse the situation. but wait there's more, in the off season they drafted a quarterback and with a simple draft choice created an instant quarterback controversy that would have lasted all year except for the actual  benefit of Mark Sanchez getting injured. If this was a divorce Sanchez could sue the Jets for lack of child support. By signing Michael Vick they have created a second and more dramatic quarterback controversy again. Maybe the front office and the head coach believe that constant turmoil and  chaos on a team is good for morale and the most functional way to build a champion. Successful teams do not strive to get the back pages of newspapers with controversy, they strive to make the headlines with their deeds. Great organizations are built on stability, predictability and making wise decisions when tough decisions need to be made. True leadership is recognized by clarity of judgement, strength of conviction, and commitment to excellence and execution. It seems like the Jets front office has never read a book with any of these definitions in them. Congratulations New York Jets your  not  "going to Disney World" you are Disney World.