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Originally Posted by keefriff
I agree with you about cheering for your team as opposed to the players. I am right there with you on that but I don't blame the players for trying to get everything that they can. Torii Hunter was/is one of my favorite players. When he became a free agent he expressed his desire to stay with the Twins. The Twins offered him a contract that was approx 70 million less than what the Angels offered. He signed with the Angels. Am I pissed at him for that? No. Am I pissed at the team for that? Not really because they felt he was dispensable and they had priorities with other players who were going to get big contracts. Sure it's great when guys take the hometown discount but I can't blame the ones that don't. That's the way it goes. That's business. I still support my team and I don't get pissed if the player tries to get what the market will support. That doesn't mean I support the player more than the team. It means I support the players right to get his fair market value. And yes, I remember Guy LaFluer 
Why do I care how much LeBron makes? I don't. Why do you seem to object to how much he makes? And don't forget, LeBron didn't chase the money, he took less to sign with Miami.
As far as J. Russell goes, I don't begrudge him one bit for his contract. The NFL has a slotted pay scale for rookie draft picks in their current CBA and that was the figure he was entitled to as the first pick in the draft. Is this a good system? Not in my opinion and it will likely change in the next CBA. Is he a bust and a complete waste of money? No question about it but the Raiders are partly to blame for that. They selected him at number one, he performed poorly and they released him with I thnk 1-2 years left on his non-guaranteed contract. There are no guaranteed contracts in the NFL so that is why agents and players demand so much up front. Now if the Raiders decide to go after that money because he was a doper or violated terms of his contract, I would support that too. I think both players and management realize the need to fix this problem regarding NFL rookies but I can't blame Russell for getting that money. I can blame him for being a lazy, unmotivated, overweight bust but not for getting that contract. Actors get huge upfront money to make movies that suck and make no money. Musicians get paid big money up front to release crappy albums that don't make money. What's the difference? Performance is performance and when their next contract is up it will reflect that. Just ask J. Russell.
As a union guy, I am surprised that you wouldn't support players trying to get the most that they can. If salaries rise throughout the league because of new and bigger contracts isn't that good for all of the union members?
As far as KG goes, it was a mutual decision by him and the team.He did play hard, so did LeBron, and was rewarded for that with the biggest contract in the NBA. They felt they couldn't win with him anymore and he wanted to win. They traded him to the C's. Fair enough. He held a press conference when he got to Boston and it rankled alot of T-Wolves fans. KG handled it with relative grace. LeBron handled it very poorly as I stated in my first post on this thread. He acted boorishly and self centered. No question about that but KG and LeBron were two different situations at two very different times.
No hard feelings between you and me Qwerty007, we just see things a little differently. That's okay...that what makes the world go round. But I am pissed that you blew my cover about my hometown. Now I may have to move across the river to the 651. |
WOW - how was Torii going to make ends meet?
Hmmmmmmm - it was tough to figure out (The 612)
I appreciate your candour.
Ironically (although they haven't released the terms of the deal) Lebron is taking less to play with Wade and Bosh, which I applaud - I cannot get past the way he got there.
The general sentiment I have is that winning takes a back seat to earning max dollars. That, IMO, is wrong.
Secondly, I cannot understand why fans would be happy for a guy (or even encourage them) to 'get paid', as they call it (or 'get yours'). Me working for $25 an hour in a union, has absolutely nothing in common with Lebron making $15 million...apples and oranges.
There is a general sense of entitlement that raises my hackles, about the players today.
Albert Haynesworth ring a bell? All the holdouts who want to renegotiate 2 years into a 5 year contract? I guess the answer would be "Well - he outperformed his contract" and I would ask - so guys like Jamarcus who underperform, they'll be returning some money?
How much is enough? $5 million? $10 million? $1 million?
I'm just rambling, but at the end of the day - players have lost sight of whatever game they play...it's all about the dollars