Quote:
Originally Posted by grossnex
I can understand where Qwerty is coming from with loyalty issues with the players although I also understand where you're coming from keefriff. I take a wait & see attitude whenever a player across any sport is a free agent. That's where the loyalty vs paycheck theme is really tested as it was here with LeBron.
To use baseball as an example, I first have to say that I'm a Yankees fan. Derek Jeter is a free agent after this season & although I couldn't envision him playing for another team, all I can say is "You never know".
I'm sure Packers fans in the NFL couldn't see Brett Favre playing anywhere else (even though he forced a trade). I'm sure back in the day Qwerty couldn't see Gretzky or Messier playing anywhere else. Just curious how it made you feel Qwerty when Messier held the Stanley Cup up for the Rangers?
It seems like the only good sports rivalries anymore are in College Football. The players in those rivalries don't like each other. Professional rivalries seem to be more fan based. For example, as a Yankees fan I hate the Red Sox. I doubt Yankees players feel the same way I do. I just don't see the team pride & loyalty from the players that I saw as a kid in the '80's anymore.
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I hear you on the loyalty of players but I think it goes both ways. Owners don't have loyalty to many players. When players reach the point of diminishing returns, they get released or traded. End of story. I know we all pine for the old days but those days are gone, gone, gone. No sense in wishing because they ain't coming back. I hear you 100% on the feeling that the players don't "care" as much as fans do. But that is a fan talking. How do we know what the players feel? This is their job and I think most do it with a real passion. If you don't play these sports with a passion to win, I don't think you would last long at the proffessional level. That desire and passion is part of what makes them pro athletes. I don't think they feel the same passion as fans do because they look at it through different eyes. But if you watch sports you see players crying at the end of championship games and you see guys rejoicing ecstatically. I think most, if not all, care alot about winning. Maybe just not the same way as a fan cares.
Not to be a know it all, but Messier, Gretzky played for Edmonton and not Montreal. Let's not get our Canadian brothers longjohns in a bundle.
Like they are reading this thread anyways. Where's the hockey thread eh?
Now don't get me started on college sports. I love college sports, especially the passion of the participants, but it one of the most hypocritical operations that has ever existed. The NCAA is a complete joke but that is for another thread.