Oakland, we have a problem

I've been a fan of The Oakland A's since I was a young kid. Don't get me wrong, you may have seen me sporting a Giants jersey last season. For the record, I bought the Willie McCovey jersey in 2004 and despite my hatred for all things Giants, when Barry the felon Bonds left the Bay, I stopped hating and starting watching. I'm a baseball lifer, a seam head, a real fan of the game within the game and consider myself to be a baseball purist of sorts. I mean purist from the perspective of realism. I was born in 78' not 48' so I am willing to accept free agency, $300 million deals and I love watching GM's work their magic just before the trade deadline even if a small market team gets hosed b/c The Red Sox swooped in to get their star. I digress.

When I first started watching Oakland play, they had good attendance, great players (some of them were needle spiking juicers, I know) and were in the running for a world series just about every year. They went through many years playing a terrible brand of baseball and many of the casual fans took a hike. In the late nineties and at the turn of the century, they had a resurgence. The general manager, Billy Beane (Moneyball guy) stocked the farm system with young players who turned into stars and they made a decent run to October for a good six or seven years. They never won a world series but they made great progress and had some amazing seasons that made the fans proud The fans were going crazy for Oakland A's baseball, it was a huge party out at that dump they share with The Raidas and it was really baseball fandom at it's finest. That dream came to a terrible end when Beane and the ownership group got really cheap and decided signing young superstars to long term deals and keeping them in Oakland long term was not a good idea. Those players walked and went on to do great things with other teams. Some of them flopped (See Mark Mulder and Barry Zito) and I give them credit for recognizing that some of the players peaked while in Oakland and were not worthy of long term contracts. The one guy they gave big jack to, Eric Chavez, has been a complete disaster. He signed a 6 year $ 66 million contract in 2004 and he was hurt roughly everyday since then and is now on his way out of baseball all together. I could go into great detail with an anger fueled rant about all the players I mentioned in the previous few sentences, but I've convinced myself that I have moved on. Maybe another day.

The issue at hand is actually fairly simple when you look at it from a fan of any other team. Team wins games, fans show up; they lose and get rid of players the fans jump ship. Well, it's not that simple. The lack of success in Oakland and the revolving door of young players coming up from the farm system and leaving for greener pastures is quite remarkable for a successful franchise. If it were say, Kansas City, Arizona or Milwaukee, I don't think anybody would be shocked or spend much time wondering what the hell happened. But this is Oakland. The third most successful baseball franchise, based on world series trophies, in the history of major league baseball. Yeah, the franchise started in Philly and was in Kansas City and then came West, but The Athletics are the Athletics and I can't change that. It is what it is.

I am sure there are a few CEO's and CFO's in the business world who could explain all of this to me using really big words and a bunch of business school terms that I only care about when I sit down to watch the movie Wall Street, but honestly, that's not what I care about. I care about baseball. I care about the die hard fans who show up for the team regardless of how frequently the owner sticks it to them. I care about the franchise as a whole and it's success for generations to come. That brings me to my purpose for writing this column/article/blog entry. I've been to plenty of A's games over the years and most recently, I went to a game in 2009 and was one of about 8,421 fans. The team sucked, the stadium is a dump and overall it was a terrible fan experience. I drove away from that game bitching at my poor girlfriend at the time, who is from New York and grew up a Yankee fan, and she had no clue what I was talking about or why I was forcing her to listen. I told her "I'm not going to another game until these owners do something about the stadium, start spending real money on player development and figure out what their plan is. Until that happens, my ass is on strike!" She lit her cigarette and asked where were going for drinks.

I am proud to say that I went on strike that day and have not been to a game since. Clearly I am not alone because despite a semi mediocre product and a moderate level of success in the 2010 season, fans don't show their face in the Biggity Biggity O anymore and I am glad they don't. When a team gives up on their fans, they don't have anything else. Who do you sell your product to if the fans have given up? Who's going to watch the team if the fans are on strike? At times, I have a bit of sadness in my heart when I think of the players on this team trying to make a name for themselves playing in front of 8,500 fans. But that's not my problem. All I can do is stand on my soap box (this is my literary soap box, a keyboard and space to bitch) and tell fans not to show up until the ownership group gives us something to believe in. I can't get them to reach deeper in their pockets to sign better players; I can't build a downtown ballpark that resembles the best ballpark in the country, AT&T Park, which is a short drive away from downtown Oakland. I want to love my team again. I want to buy seats close to the team dugout again. I want to fist pump and knock knuckles with strangers in the seats around me after the team scores a run or wins a game against division rival LA Angels of Orange County near Anaheim. I can't do that today. Not only because it's February and the season hasn't begun, but because the ownership group in Oakland won't allow me the privilege. Until you give me back the fan experience that I love so very much and prove to me that you are willing to spend the millions you get in luxury tax from the big spenders in MLB instead of shoving that cash in your wallet, you can't have my money, you can't get me to sport my A's gear and you definitely will not get me to spend a day at your shitty stadium pulling for a shitty team. Call me when you get your shit together and maybe we can have make up sex. Until then, this fans on strike.

Greed is good

First things first. Welcome back MLB! I love you like a fat man loves cake and I am damn glad you are back for the next nine months!!!

Albert Pujols is the best player in major league baseball today and that's something that almost every baseball fan can agree with. His contract ends after the 2011 season and that has been a topic of great debate over the past few days. I should mention that Pujols and his agent picked a terrible time to become a free agent. He is a year late for the cash machine that is The New York Yankees and a few short months late for MLB's second coming of the cash machine, The Boston Red Sox. The Yankees locked up Mark Teixeira long term after the 2008 season and it's almost a sure bet that Boston will lock up Adrian Gonzalez to a long term deal this season, which means that neither of the big spenders have a need for him right now. Fans across the country are split when it comes to placing blame on the shoulders of Mr. Pujols,who is asking for $300 million over ten years. Many fans in St. Louis think the team is holding out on the fans and are not willing to fork over the money. Many other fans are placing blame on Pujols, calling him selfish and are willing to let him walk instead of seeing their team pay him the richest contract in MLB history.

I fall somewhere in the middle. I think Pujols is a rare talent and despite so many people pointing out that his stats are on the decline, I think he's the one player in the game that deserves this kind of checkbook respect. His stats have declined form Superman on steroids stauts, to mearly Superman status and he is still the most dangerous offensive player in the game today. Until MLB implements a salary cap, I refuse to criticize players for taking every last dollar they can from greedy ass owners. Is it selfish of Pujols to demand this kind of jack? No question about it, it's greedy. But even though we are not talking about Telldar Paper or Blue Star Airlines, I heard Gekko's voice in my head the past few days. "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works." Greed, in this example, may just bring us one step closer to a salary cap in MLB and that's a place we need to be. If MLB had a salary cap, we wouldn't be forced to rip a team guy like Pujols for being greedy.

I asked myself this question and I think it's a valid question to ask. If you were a professional athlete and you knew you had one final payday in your career, wouldn't you try to get as much money as you possibly could? I wouldn't hesitate to ask for $300 million and I would have a giant shit eating grin on my face while asking for it too.

Another aspect of this, which might be the deciding factor for St. Louis, is The Chicago Cubs. At the end of this season Chicago will be looking to make a big splash. They have new owners who want to win and they want to win now. The franchise has not had a world series trophy in their possession for over 110 years AND they would absolutely love to take Pujols away form their most hated rival and hand him the pinstripes to wear for the next ten years. If I'm St. Louis GM, I go to Pujols tonight and tell him simply "I want you to wear the Cardinal jersey for the rest of your life, I want you to retire a Cardinal and I am willing to do what it takes to make that happen." I have this itchy feeling that we will hear about this issue for the next twelve months and it will likely get worse before it gets better, but St. Louis can do themselves a favor and follow my advice to avoid the drama.

Have a great weekend!

Pujols contract deadline set for Wednesday...Will the Giants step up to the plate when Big Al becomes available?

With love in the air today, what better time to speculate and dream about the day Albert Pujols might walk into AT&T Park as a San Francisco Giant.

Last night I saw that Pujols' contract talk with the Cardinals was not going well.  Whenever this happens with big name players and great players, like Pujols, I always say "Ok G-men, time to step up to the plate" - my girlfriend can attest to that one.  This time it is nothing different.  Pujols is one of the best hitters in the majors and would be a huge addition to a young and growing Giants team.  All the talk about how we have Huff lined up for a couple years at 1B and Brandon Belt, also a 1B player, ready to make the step up to the majors should not scare the Giants away.  These guys, and frankly anyone, can move around to make Fat Albert fit in if he comes to town.  Here's a link to a lengthier article (thanks to my friend Tone Loc) about the details/problems of a potential deal and what it would mean for the Giants and the city of San Francisco.  Of course the Giants are not only going to have to have the money for Pujols but also remember they have a number of current players that need to get paid and or get a substantial raise.  The Giants have Zito and Rowand to pay as well as Timmy, Cain, Buster, and Sanchez to get raises in the coming years.  This is a no brainer from a baseball stand point, but it does get very complicated on the financial side of things so the Giants must be careful about getting involved in this. Check back for an update in a couple of days.


Happy V Day!


-Mr. A

Is the Ducks basketball court getting to their opponents heads?

As most of you have already heard and probably seen, the University of Oregon recently opened their new arena in Eugene.  The first thing you notice is the somewhat blinding sight of the design of the floor.  Personally, I think it is a little much.  I mean, you can't even tell where the half-way line is.  That being said, the Ducks are a poor team in a weak conference giving good teams some trouble when they play in Eugene.  

Is the blinding court design giving the visiting team trouble in Eugene?  I'll leave it up to you to decide.  For those of you that are on the fence about this whole thing, click here to see some ideas of what your favorite school could look like in the near future.  I don't know about you, but the UNLV design has to be the greatest one and needs to be installed immediately! HA!

Have a good weekend everyone!

GO DUCKS!  

Mr. A

It's not you, it's me

In the last four months, professional sports has lost the three longest tenured coaches in the big three of sports. Bobby Cox retired after his Atlanta Braves lost in the NL Division series to the world champion San Francisco Giants, which capped off his twenty-fifth season as skipper of the club. A few weeks ago, Jeff Fisher resigned (he was fired, let's get that straight right now) after sixteen seasons as head football coach of the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans. Today, Jerry Sloan of the Utah Jazz, resigned as head coach after twenty-three seasons on the sidelines and a Hall of Fame induction.

Bobby Cox was an old balls and clearly was ready to call it quits after an amazing career as one of MLB's greatest baseball minds. The Atlanta Braves handled it with class and allowed him to walk on his own terms, giving him a final farewell tour. He lost his last game, not surprising for anyone who followed The Braves and he walked off the field with tears in his eyes and a heavy heart. He was clearly willing to leave on his own terms and turn over the top step duties to his protege Freddy Gonzalez.

Jeff Fisher was known as a no nonsense coach, a players coach and a great game manager. He managed to last sixteen season in the National Football League(the average tenure in the NFL is 4.3 for head coaches) four times the average tenure of a head coach. He went to a Superbowl and lost, made the playoffs a few times and clearly was respected by everyone around the league. Well, everyone but his quarterback and his owner. What drives me insane is that Bud Adams, owner of The Titans, was willing to fire his head coach and give the job to a career offensive line coach because he had his tongue so far up his QB's ass! I'm not old by any means, but I grew up on San Francisco and Bill Walsh was the coach of my football team. He had rules and they were really simple. Do it my way, do it perfect or get the fuck out! Clearly that mentality has been lost in the new age of professional sports and that's a damn shame.

Jerry Sloan was one of the fiercest competitors the NBA ever saw. He would be the first guy off the bench to defend a teammate in a fight, he would throw punches with guys twice his size and he would get his ass kicked quite often. What he would never did was back down from a fight. The man was successful before Karl Malone and John Stockton lost to the almighty Jordan in two finals (in 1997 and 1998) and he was successful well after those two guys retired. He was old school and had a very similar coaching style as Bill Walsh. Do it my way, shut your mouth or get the hell off the court. End of story. Well, that worked for twenty-three years but clearly it doesn't work anymore. Rumor has it that Sloan resigned (again, let's get real, he was fired) because he and star point guard Deron Williams didn't see eye to eye, had a few heated battles after a tough loss in Chicago earlier in the week and Williams and the players were sick of the drill sergeant coaching style of their head coach. Part of the problem is a matter of fact. Larry Miller, long time owner of The Jazz, died in February of 2009 after complications from diabetes. If Mr. Miller were still alive, this would never have happened, but the current ownership group allowed the star player to become more important than their head coach and that's a disgrace. I'm a firm believer that a team centers around the coach and not around one player, but I also sit behind a desk and don't own a professional sports franchise.

Clearly sports has become a revolving door for players and coaches alike and if you don't win you are expendable. Utah was never on top of the sports world while Sloan was head coach but more importantly they were never on the bottom of the barrel either. They never endured the longest losing steak in the history of professional sports the way The Cleveland Cavs are right now, they haven't been forced to send a "pretty face" to New York every season for the lottery draft and they always had a chance to make the playoffs and win games once they made it there. Whoever takes over (it will likely be assistant coach Tyrone Corbin because Sloan's longtime assistant Phil Johnson will also resign) for this team has giants shoes to fill and a huge task. I highly doubt this team will be as respectable tomorrow as they were yesterday and we might start seeing Utah Jazz reps in New York watching ping pong balls spin hoping they get the number one pick in the draft.

BLACK MAMBA UPDATE !!! You know what is it... Green and Yellow Green and Yellow Green and Yellow!

Good evening everyone!  Just wanted to make sure the world got the news...the real Black Mamba is headed to Eugene! God I love when USC gets the shaft right across their face.  Hey Lane Kiffin, can't wait to see you at Autzen next fall!

GO DUCKS!

Cheers,

Mr. A

P.S. Looks like Thomas hit up the bookstore on his way out of town last weekend!  Head to toe GREEN and YELLOW!!!!!

Is the real "Black Mamba" coming north?

This past weekend Eugene, OR got a surprise visit from not only one of the top recruits in the country but the overall number one ranked athlete in the country.  His name is the De'Anthony Thomas a.k.a. "The Black Mamba" - dubbed by Snoop Dogg himself when he was Pop Warner coach to the then 12-year-old Thomas.  Thomas has unreal speed and could be something special at Oregon.  Check out some of his high school highlights here.  Word on the street is that he loved Eugene, the campus, the coaching staff, and the way Oregon plays.  All you Ducks out there better be crossing your fingers until the Black Mamba speaks this evening because this signing could be one to remember.


GO DUCKS!!!!!

-Mr. A