Source: Phanatic Magazine (Philadelphia)

Tuesday, February 20, 2007
The Yankees Represent the Worst of Sports
By Jared Trexler

A snowflake fell just outside the steps of Fanneuil Hall in downtown Boston. It was significant because it was the first flake of the season -- and as tradition, lovebirds are supposed to seal the occasion with a kiss.
That was the dilemma facing a young gentleman in his mid 20s, sporting a brown overcoat, a five o'clock shadow and a large pin on his right chest that read,"John Kerry for President."
So, he was slightly behind the times, yet the pin wasn't his political statement. As he walked closer, his shirt's slogan became quite clear.
"Don't hate me. I love a Yankee fan."
Without further adieu, a quick-walking, dark-haired girl with a NYU sweatshirt sprinted toward the young man with passionate glee. She had seen the snow on her way to meet him, and she obviously was big on tradition.
Donning a New York Yankee hat, snugly holding together a bun in the back, the girl jumped into the guy's arms. It could have been a scene from Serendipity.
Except the man turned the other cheek, refusing to greet his woman with a kiss. She knew what he wanted, begrudgingly removing the cap.
Anyone within a shouting distance of the two could hear him explain his rationale.
"I don't hate the Yankees. I hate what they represent."
They represent big business. And greed. Yet, fans from Brooklyn to Manhattan will argue they also represent desire. Hard work. Will to win.
All fair and just adjectives, but I'll go a proclamation better.
The New York Yankees, by some of their own doing but also through no complete fault of their own, represent the worst of sports.
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As of Opening Day 2006, the Yankees payroll sat at $198,662,180, almost $80 million or a Powerball jackpot ahead of the next closest spender -- the Boston Red Sox.
New York's never-ending checkbook has been well documented. It's been rehashed in various novels, on Tampa Bay Devil Rays broadcasts (as they are getting pounded 13-1 in the fourth frame) and even on Seinfeld.
And it truly is no complete fault of their own. They pay luxury tax, giving countless millions to Kansas City and Pittsburgh, only to see that money enter the pocket without an increase in small-market payroll.
This isn't meant to be a history lesson on Bud Selig's tenure as MLB Commissioner or the evolution of the luxury tax.
It's more an overarching argument that the Yankees -- led by the "Boss" upstairs down through the manager in the dugout and the players on the field-- exude a sense of entitlement that comes from a river of cash as long as the Nile.
It's like spending $1000 for a hooker and expecting her to "perform her duties" like a champ. Or buying a $500,000 boat and expecting the motor to purr like a cat. Or buying an All-Star baseball team and expecting it to filter to the top after a lengthy 162-game season.
With money comes expectations, but also arrogance. Excellence, but also cockiness. A good record, but also a bad message sent to today's youth.
Money can be a great Band-Aid. If Alex Rodriguez gets hurt -- aka breaks a nail -- New York can go out and swing a deal for Miguel Cabrera. Could any other team feasibly, financially pull off such a move?
No.
Parity is no longer a dirty word in the National Football League, where a Super Bowl champion can quickly become a .500 club and a storied franchise (Oakland) can quickly become the laughingstock of the league.
Fans of almost every team enter each season with promise and hope. New Orleans was an en vogue 4-12 pick before the season commenced, then went out and won the NFC South.
Think fans filtering into PNC Park can say the same thing? Not a chance, and it's bad for sports.
Again, not to say it's completely the Yankees' fault, but the pinstripes have become the image of Major League Baseball's core deficiencies -- a corporation structured behind the ideals of the Republican party where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
"Major League baseball as it stands is a poorly run business economically," said an area college professor. "The NFL has proven that the level playing field has provided more excitement. The NFL has almost become a large scale March Madness, where anything can happen.
"It's a great product," he continued. "And MLB just isn't there. The league will point to an 83-win club winning the World Series (St. Louis). It's the exception to the rule. More often than not it's the Yankees then everyone else."
Everyone else can still win. Minnesota and Oakland are two examples of penny-thrift franchises that have used superb scouting departments and minor-league systems to build consistent winners.
It just doesn't happen often enough. And it won't until Major League Baseball realizes its faulty economic structure, nips the Yankees' spending spree in the bud and brings player development more into play.
The Yankees rarely develop talent anymore. Why bother when other people can do it for them. George's crew was the only front office willing to take on Bobby Abreu's contract at the trade deadline last season -- not because they wanted it more, but because they just plain had more.
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After explaining why he dissed the kiss, the young lady quickly backed away with a stare that could have melted a typical Boston Nor'easter.
Then he pointed to his button, bringing her smile back.
John Kerry was a uniting bond. Yankees-Red Sox was a topic not up for discussion.
"We don't need to earn it. We'll win because we spend more," quipped the girl, quick to get in the last word, as the two walked hand-in-hand away from the historic building.
It's 2007 thinking spreading nationwide. And the Yankees are to blame.