12/21/24
August 28, 2006
Dallas Teams Offer Fabulous Parting Gifts: With A-Rod, Michael Finley, Shawn Bradley, Chan Ho Park and others receiving $150 million, Dallas appears to be leading the sports world in "dead money," salaries paid to athletes who no longer play there.
But in Bill Guerin's case, the fans were dead, dead wrong. Bill, if they had expected you to be the same player they would have still been disappointed.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:14 AM on August 28, 2006
I love how long it haunts the team. Most of those contracts didn't make sense at the time they were signed. As long as they are still on the books, maybe they won't make the same mistake again. I'm glad they learned the lesson that developing players is the way to go.
posted by bperk at 08:43 AM on August 28, 2006
No wonder ticket prices keep going up -- it's not to pay for the contracts of the guys still playing (okay, in part it is), but to pay for the guys who got the sweetheart deals and are no longer there! This clearly shows the chances that teams are willing to take and the prices they're willing to pay to try to win a championship. Wait -- win a championship and then they'd have to pay performance bonuses, too!
posted by gdvbranz at 08:50 AM on August 28, 2006
It's amazing the amount of money in pro sports. It's also interesting that the idea of developing players is mentioned, except, there are approx. 30 teams trying to get the same talent, you face the luck of the draw in the draft & as soon as a player 'gets it' he becomes a free-agent in a bidding war.
posted by jaygolf at 09:12 AM on August 28, 2006
Speaking of Bill Guerin, do these guys pay some sort of commission to Joe Thornton when they get their big free agent payday after they leave BOS (and now SJ)?
posted by holden at 09:50 AM on August 28, 2006
No wonder ticket prices keep going up -- it's not to pay for the contracts of the guys still playing (okay, in part it is), but to pay for the guys who got the sweetheart deals and are no longer there! False.
posted by yerfatma at 10:05 AM on August 28, 2006
TO next?
posted by sfts2 at 10:49 AM on August 28, 2006
No wonder ticket prices keep going up -- it's not to pay for the contracts of the guys still playing (okay, in part it is), but to pay for the guys who got the sweetheart deals and are no longer there! As yerfatma states, this is a fallacy that owners have been feeding the media and the fans for years. Ticket prices have absolutely nothing to do with team salaries.
posted by grum@work at 11:12 AM on August 28, 2006
TO next? The Cowboys seem to have another approach in mind there.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 11:30 AM on August 28, 2006
I would love nothing more than for the Cowboy's to give T.O. a nice going away present.
posted by T.C. at 11:51 AM on August 28, 2006
TC, Are you a Dallas or (Giants, Skins, Eagles) fan?
posted by sfts2 at 01:32 PM on August 28, 2006
"When I signed the contract, I pictured myself going down there and winning the Stanley Cup," said former Stars winger Bill Guerin, who will be paid $4.4 million after a buyout this summer. "When you compare that feeling to this one [being bought out], you feel horrible." Then DON'T take the money, Billy boy.
posted by joromu at 02:58 PM on August 28, 2006
"The thing about A-Rod is that he has to be perfect; he can't make one mistake," Guerin said. "It's funny, but I bet if you gave Michael Young A-Rods contract, people would start to find all sorts of holes in his game." I think that is very true as well.
posted by mjkredliner at 03:28 PM on August 28, 2006
"The thing about A-Rod is that he has to be perfect; he can't make one mistake," Guerin said. "It's funny, but I bet if you gave Michael Young A-Rods contract, people would start to find all sorts of holes in his game." Maybe in the past. Right now arod has holes big enough to drive a mac truck through.
posted by justgary at 03:50 PM on August 28, 2006
But Young's flaws would appear larger under the same microscope too, don't you think?
posted by mjkredliner at 03:57 PM on August 28, 2006
sfts2: I am actually a Steelers fan but I live in Ft. Worth so it's Cowboys all the time on TV. I follow the Cowboys and go as far as rooting for them unless they are playing my Steelers
posted by T.C. at 04:08 PM on August 28, 2006
But Young's flaws would appear larger under the same microscope too, don't you think? Sure, but his successes would be larger also. It has nothing to do with being fair or not. Arod has the biggest contract in the biggest city in the u.s. He strkes out and the world ends, he wins the yankees a world series and they'll build statues of him. Gotta take both. It's not either/or.
posted by justgary at 04:34 PM on August 28, 2006
True as well.
posted by mjkredliner at 04:35 PM on August 28, 2006
One problem with big-money deals, Guerin said, is that fans expect players to get better simply because they are paid more. Truer words have never been spoken.