Tank's Take September 7, 2003

Forever Clueless

Major League Baseball has now been run by Bud Selig for 11 years, which began as only a temporary position for the owner of the Milwaukee Brewers has turned into the 3rd longest tenure as commissioner. In that time Selig has made a few good decision like the Wild Card, and 3 Divisions. However, for the most part his reign as commissioner has resulted in many puzzling decision.

This week has seen several of his puzzling decision manifest their ugly heads again.

On Thursday with Hurricane Isabel bearing down on the East Coast, the game time for 2 games were moved up to beat the storm. While it was important to play the game in Philadelphia involving the Phillies and Florida Marlins who have been playing leapfrog for the NL Wild Card lead, the game in Baltimore between the Orioles and New York Yankees was not important and should have never been played. The Yankees have all but sewn up their 6th straight division title while the Orioles have never even been a factor in the playoff race.

Isabel was forecasted to hit Baltimore harder and earlier the Philadelphia meaning that even moving the game up likely would not help matters. Secondly the Yankees were set to fly out of Baltimore after the game and head on to Tampa for their weekend series with the Devil Rays. However with Baltimore's airport closing the Yanks risked being stranded in Baltimore if there was heavy damage. So worried of damage the City of Baltimore had declared a state of emergency as all government offices ands schools were closed, while safety warnings were posted on all bridges in and out of the old harbor town.

However, Major League Baseball was once again completely oblivious, and to make matters worse they were unable to complete the game, as the game was halted after 5 innings tied at 1. Fortunately the Yankees were able to make it out of Baltimore on the last plane out of town. However, what if they didn't what if they could not make that flight?

In addition flying into the teeth of a Hurricane is not exactly the safest way to fly. What if god forbid a catastrophic accident happened with the Yankees flight due to wind sheer. In 1999 the Orioles had to abort a flight when winds from Hurricane Floyd caused problems with their takeoff on a flight to Anaheim. If Major League Baseball is not careful they could be dealing with tragic loss of an entire team, and what would it all have been for? Less then a thousand fans were in attendance for the needless game between the Yankees and Orioles, as the city urged people to stay home.

It's things like this that make you wonder what Bud Selig is thinking, or if he is thinking at all. Playing in a Hurricane is putting teams at risk. What would Selig have done if their were injuries to the players in the game or worse, would he have hunched his shoulders, without a clue like the 2002 All-Star Game which ended in a embarrassing tie? Fortunately nothing happened this time, but the next time who knows? It was apparent that the Commissioner's office did not calculate the risks, and that's what leads to a catastrophe. Sometimes you just have to think about it more then one minute and not make a snap judgment. If Selig would have weighed out both forecast for Baltimore as well as Philadelphia, along with the travel plans for the teams leaving after the games and the overall importance on the final standings a correct decision would have been made.

While making a snap decision was bad for the Yankees this week, waiting to long to make a decision is going to destroy the Expos. Another season is closing and the future of the Montreal Expos is still undecided meaning they will likely have to spend another year in limbo owned by the league. This madness has to stop. With several key players like Javier Vazquez and Vladimir Guerrero free agents the Expo could be a terrible team next season as without a secure future it will be impossible to remain competitive.

It no longer matters where the Expos will play, its just time that a decision is made. The team must be sold and it must be left up to their new owner where their future lies. Baseball likely will have a price tag on the Expos. However, it should be more realistic with its price demands and just take the best offer that is on the table, so the team could keep its star player, before becoming an even more worthless franchise. Because if they do lose Vazquez and Guerrero then the team's value would decrease further.

Indecision has hurt this franchise enough; its time to either cut bait from Montreal, or makes do with what they got in Montreal. Either way a decision must be made. This cannot be a subject every year, and playing a split schedule is not a solution. The players association has soundly declined playing games in either San Juan or Monterey, Mexico next year, feeling the extra time on the road hurt their playoff chances.

Another area where Bud Selig and Major League Baseball always come up short is in marketing the sport. From Memorial Day Weekend on there has been a regional game on Fox every Saturday afternoon. However for the last 2 weeks Fox has not shown a game, not wanting to challenge College Football. This is a complete and total joke. How baseball can allow Fox to bump their baseball coverage during the stretch drive is beyond my comprehension. Right now the games are at their most importance, and there is excitement aplenty. However Fox has decided to fill its time with infomercials and wacky car cashes.

Fox has been terrible with baseball coverage from the start, as needles animated graphics, and musical interludes often made the game difficult to watch. Let alone listen to as Joe Buck is simply the worst play-by-play announcer in sports. He may be the son of a legend, but he is far from being the same quality his father Jack Buck a Hall of Fame broadcaster was.

Although ratings shown that baseball has become a regional sport. Regionalizing the games is a mistake. If you market 1 game as the Game of the Week, fans will watch it. Occasionally fans in New York do want to see the St. Louis Cardinals play the Chicago Cubs, and discounting that desire is selling the sport short, and it is not allowing the players to become the stars they should become. True ESPN has games regularly during the week, but it's not the same as that Saturday Afternoon special like when NBC had the "Game of the Week."

At this time baseball should not be overly concerned with ratings. With cable all ratings have bee deluded in addition, many people are away from their television on Saturdays. If they just put the game out there for people to watch they will get their money's worth in the end. Perhaps even doing primetime games would also be an option for Fox or whoever holds baseball's National TV contract.

Either way not showing baseball in September is asinine. I guarantee you that Fox had better ratings with baseball then Chef Tony's Miracle Blade, and Wild and Crazy Police Chases. Taking off the weekly games in September will likely also hurt the postseason ratings for Fox, leading people to ask the question why is the sport losing popularity?

This is why Baseball needs a new Commissioner. Someone who is not afraid of making tough decisions, some one who has the good of the game in mind, and someone who has an idea who to better market the sport. Unless a change is made soon, and right now it seems highly unlikely Selig will resign before his term is up in 2006, baseball will continue to slip in ratings and popularity as a bad skipper sails bad course and baseball has been drifting in the wrong direction for 11 years now.

All you need to do to ensure Selig's ability as Commissioner is look at the team he owns In 34 years owning the Brewers, the franchise has made the playoff just, and once was in a strike year. In addition they have not had a winning seasons in 12 years that should be all you all you need to know about Bud Selig's poor decision making.

Last weeks fight between Sugar Shane Mosley and Oscar De La Hoya ended in controversy. Maybe boxing should start announcing when a fight does not ended in controversy it would be less time consuming. So scandal ridden is the sport that nobody even bats an eye when controversy creeps up, wat5ching the fight replay its reasonable to argue that either side won the fight, and the subject should be left in the ring. However, the controversy will likely mean another rematch and more money for all involved.

Its sad but true controversy in boxing sells. That is why the sport is all but dead in the American Sports scene. At one time it was the second biggest sport next to baseball, now its rates with pro-wrestling as often the convenient controversies and staged press conference brawls, often make it look just as phony. Sadly the damage done is likely permanent as the sport has all but vanished from the average fan's interest.

While parity has long been a goal achieved by the NFL, College Football has recently seen an upswing in competitive games and shocking upsets. Not long ago a game with the MAAC Conference was seen as a cakewalk. However, major schools now must be weary of all teams, as one little slip up and lead to a major upset, as this year we have seen Northern Illinois stun Maryland and Alabama, while Kansas State was tripped up by Marshall, and Bowling Green beat Purdue and threw a scare into Ohio State. This of course has made predicting college games perilous task, as more often then not there will be at least 5 surprises or near surprises a week. This could only be good for the future of the sport.

Hero of the Week: San Jose State Football player Neil Parry. The fact that he is back on the field with his teammates alone makes Parry a hero as 3 years ago he had his left leg severally broken on a kick return. The injury resulted in an infection, which forced doctors to remove his leg. However Parry was determined to return to the field, and he endured 25 surgeries, 15 prosthetic legs and untold hours of physical therapy, to make it back. On Thursday after overcoming several legal obstacles Parry finally returned to the field taking part in a 4th Quarter Punt coverage. Neil Parry's team ended up being blown out in the game and his appearance in the game was short. However, no matter how much he plays from here on out he will remain an inspiration.

Geek of the Week: Jeremy Shockey New York Giants TE. All summer long we had to hear how great Jeremy Shockey thought he was. Included in this was a shot at Dallas Cowboys Coach Bill Parcells. This led to a major controversy in weather or not Shockey made an inappropriate comment about Parcells' sexual preference. However, when it came time to walk the walk Monday Shockey showed why he should have zipped his lip dropping assure TD pass in the 3rd quarter, as the Cowboys beat the Giants in overtime 35-32. Shockey would late get a TD, but overall his entire play left allot to be desired, as has his play the entire season and even preseason. Hopefully, Shockey has learned its better to remain quiet rather then play with a huge target on your back.