The sports business Part One - by Apollo

Usually I like the offseason. Wongoz and I are those types of sports fans. We enjoy analyzing the multiple facets of sports, the transactions, trades, signings, firings, all the off-court aspects of the games that most casual fans don't pay attention to. This overall focus is what makes us the 2 Wise Men after all.

I have to say though that I've become pretty drained lately. Exhausted is almost a better word; melancholy. Disenchanted and disappointed to the point that I almost don't really care anymore about what's going on in professional sports these days. The off-court business of sport is superceding the on-court performance to the point that my usual adorable cynicism is reaching all time highs.

Now, it could more be a function of media coverage and the unprecedented access to information that sports fans enjoy today that is responsible for this shift. Back in the day, we were not privy to most information on trade talks, rumours, franchise moves, and other transactions that we would just continue blissfully unaware until the bomb dropped on us. Imagine if the Wayne Gretzky trade (and I mean the only important one) had happened today in the era of 24-hour sports networks and internet websites? Peter Pocklington would have felt the backlash far sooner. However, for better or for worse, I have the information, I have news. And these latest topics have only caused me further ambivalence:

1. The Carlos Boozer saga: Boozer, an NBA forward, was a second round draft pick of the Cleveland Cavaliers a couple years ago. Instead of the guaranteed riches of a first round contract, Boozer had to toil on the meagre $700,000.00 (approximately) annual salary thrown to second rounders. He proceeded to admirably become a potential star, posting double digit scoring and rebounding numbers for the Cavs last year. Under the NBA rules, Cleveland could have easily forced Boozer to accept a couple more years of being grossly underpaid, but instead they elected to not renew his contract on the understanding (or so they say) that they would re-sign him for a $5 million annual deal. Boozer, given his restricted free agent wings by the Cavs, promptly signed an even bigger multimillion dollar offer sheet with the Utah Jazz which the Cavs have no intention of matching, given their salary cap constraints. The Cavs, and beleaguered GM Jim Paxson claim that Boozer and his agent scammed them into believing Boozer would re-sign with Cleveland, when all along he just wanted to be let out of his contract so he could go sign somewhere else for more money.

Boozer has now defended himself. There never was an implied agreement he would re-sign. His coach, Paul Silas, told him he would not get the chance to become an All-Star in Cleveland. He's going to Utah unless Cleveland wants to pay him the same money. Now, far be it from me to stand between anyone and $68 million guaranteed US dollars. Furthermore, I would be one of the last people to defend the managers of a professional sports franchise, who generally enjoy much more bargaining power and are paid to be smarter than the agents and players they employ. This whole ordeal though, is just sad. Does Boozer not realize that Cleveland is the only team of the NBA's 30 franchises who felt he was worth drafting? Cleveland was the one who gave him his opportunity to prove he was worth $68 million. Furthermore, why in the world would Cleveland ever release Boozer from his contract if there was even the slightest suspicion that he might leave? Is Cleveland so naive that they thought their prize forward would actually accept the mid-level exception salary when at least three teams were willing to give him over double that if he ever became a free agent? What's sad to me is that there is now zero incentive for any team to ever treat a player right or to trust the word of a player or agent. If there is even the slightest chance that you'll end up being double-crossed in the end, you may as well just bind a player to his underpaid contract and force him to play out the entire term. There's too many conflicting facts in this case for me to pronounce who is actually telling the truth, but following all of this nonsense is certainly not making me a big fan of Boozer, Paxson, Cleveland or Utah.

2. The Shaquille O'Neal trade: For eight years now I have watched the soap opera that is the Los Angeles Lakers, starring Shaquille O'Neal as Victor Newman and Kobe Bryant as Nikki. I love the Lakers. I've loved them since the Magic Johnson days (all four eras - 2 as player, one as coach, and one as part-owner). Through all the drama, I've always believed that the Lakers would win because no matter what, Shaq and Kobe were incredible players and they together could defeat 99% of the NBA regardless of whether they liked each other or not. I also tended not to believe they actually hated each other as much as some had reported. Then the Detroit Pistons became the 1%, Kobe decided he wanted his own team sans Shaq and before you know it, the Miami Heat now employ the Diesel and Kobe is deciding whether to play for the Lakers with Lamar Odom or to go over to Odom's old team - the cross-town Clippers.

This whole sorry saga is about ego, and how professional athletes have huge ones, and owners sometimes have even bigger ones, and how in the end, the last true NBA dynasty that we'll see for some time was undone from within. Does Kobe honestly think that he can win a championship with Brian Grant instead of Shaq? Did he learn nothing from that run of 40 point games he put up without Shaq, that for the most part ended up in Laker losses? Does Shaq really care that much about whether Lakers owner Jerry Buss respects him? Does the fact that Buss pays him $30 million a year, by far the highest salary in the NBA indicate enough respect for anyone. Hey, I sometimes don't like my boss either, but if he paid me $30 million, you can bet I would gladly keep not liking him for a long time. Shaq says if given the choice, he likes his chances of winning without Kobe than Kobe winning without him. That may be true, but there's no way either of them can dispute that their best chance to win is together...they've already proven that 3 times in the last 5 years.

How do you explain any of this to the average fan? How do you possibly comprehend Tracy McGrady forcing a trade to Houston when the whole reason he left Toronto in the first place was because he wanted so desperately to play for his hometown Orlando Magic? How does Kobe explain that he wants to turn his back on the organization and teammate that won him 3 championships before the age of 25 because he's on some power trip to prove he can single-handedly win a championship by himself? I suppose a few years from now we'll hear about Elton Brand demanding a trade to prove he can win without Kobe. The number of factors that professional athletes and teams consider important are staggering: respect, winning, character, heart...you would think that satisfying one of these components would be enough. Whether any NBA franchise should even contemplate signing Kobe at all is a debate I won't even touch, but the logic (or lack thereof) that some of these individuals possess is absolutely mind-numbing to me.

3. The Vince Carter trade rumours: Simply put, I don't care. I don't care anymore. I'm a rather ardent VC fan, I give him more credit than most, but whether he gets traded or not has become a circus here in Toronto that I want no part of. His mom said one thing, his agent said another, his friend the car salesman who was at his wedding said something else. Meanwhile, he says nothing. Although he's new on the job, I trust Raptors GM Rod Babcock to do the right thing. If he wants to trade Vince, he won't do it unless he gets value in return, which is something Babcock has said personally many times. That's enough for me. I would prefer not trading Vince at all. I would prefer if Vince could return to the Vince of 2000 and be a better player. But I have been bludgeoned into indifference by the constant speculation, the lack of comment from Vince himself and the overarching fact that the Raptors will be horrible this year with or without Vince anyway so it's all a moot point. For the record, I don't think Vince will be traded this season, and I think he'll have a good year for the Raptors. To be honest though, I almost don't care if I'm right or wrong.

4. The NHL collective bargaining agreement: The lockout is coming! The lockout is coming! The current NHL CBA expires on September 15, 2004, shortly after the World Cup of Hockey is decided. Everyone in the NHL, the NHLPA, the media and in coffee shops across Canada are convinced that 1) there will be a lockout; 2) the lockout will be a long one; and 3) once the lockout is over, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment will immediately announce a 15% price increase on Leafs tickets.

Personally I blame the owners for the current state of the NHL and I have a hard time trying to figure out why the players should concede anything at all in collective bargaining. One argument that comes to mind is that given their history, odds are the owners will end up messing up any new "cost-certainty" system anyway so the players may as well agree to anything on the assumption they'll end up better off regardless due to the owners' own ineptitude. The message that a lockout is coming has become so ingrained in my mind that I'm virtually resigned to it happening, as I am resigned to the fact that hockey fans will flock back to the NHL once it's over. Sure, the league may lose the Columbus Blue Jackets or the Nashville Predators along the way, but as long as the Leafs and Habs are around, who cares eh? (How's that for a stereotypical comment?)

Do the players and owners not see the blatantly obvious facts that 1) Americans generally don't care about hockey; 2) the on-ice product is for the most part garbage; and 3) most people can't name the top 5 scorers in the NHL on a consistent basis. A work stoppage will not improve any of these problems. A work stoppage will not explain to me why I have to pay my entire week's salary for two seats in the reds at Air Canada Centre to watch the Leafs lull the Anaheim Mighty Ducks to sleep. At this point, I almost have to think that my constant attention to the NHL is somehow genetic, or influenced by the Canadian air that I breathe and that wongoz has breathed for most of his life. Otherwise, why do I come back after each round of collective bargaining buffoonery to this sport?

Malaise is a good word. I'm feeling a general malaise to professional sports right now. Hopefully the coming NFL season will help me out, but I'm beginning to understand why computer sports games like Madden 2005 and NBA 2K5 are so popular. Reduce these professional sports egos to mere bytes and pixels, and you have an overwhelmingly more enjoyable product.