Baseball is no longer America’s pastime. It has been replaced by the NFL, which is not only America’s new pastime but also America’s passion. That being said, you would think that no one would be paying any attention to baseball this time of year. Especially when you consider that the NFL season is winding down with teams fighting for their playoff lives on a weekly basis. Not to mention that the NBA (which I also love) season is in full swing, and is very exciting. However, one baseball team has still managed to grab national headlines. I will give you one guess as to what team I am referring to. Go ahead, I will give you a minute…. That’s right the NEW YORK YANKEES!!!!
After not only failing to win the World Series last season, but finishing an embarrassing THIRD in their own division the Yankees decided that changes had to be made. Random changes were not needed, but specific positions needed to be upgraded. They realized that they needed starting pitching and also needed to upgrade the first base position. Their next moves are what separate the Yankees from other Major League Baseball teams. They actually went out and got the absolute best players to fill their needs. This is very different from what the Atlanta Braves did when they needed a right-fielder a couple of seasons ago. Rather than sign a real major league talent and compete for the playoffs they decided to sign the washed-up Raul Mondesi and the even more washed-up Brian Jordan to platoon at the position. Instead of simply adding an arm to the rotation (much like the Braves did with an ancient Tom Glavine), they decided to sign CC Sabathia! Sabathia absolutely dominated the second half of last season. He didn’t just dominate he was historically good. In his final 17 starts he was 11 – 2 (he had 4 no decisions) with 7 complete games. Over this same time period he also had 128 strikeouts and only 25 walks. I will give you a second to take it all in and realize just how amazing those numbers are….
For those of you who don’t regularly follow baseball, I will tell you that he wasn’t a flash in the pan. He has been an absolute menace to opposing hitters his entire career. To join Sabathia in the rotation that also added AJ Burnett, who is also a very good starting pitcher. They followed these signings up by adding a switch-hitting first baseman, who has hit at least 30 homeruns every year of his career except his rookie year. That would be Mark Teixeira, a player that the Atlanta Braves traded away for a bag of baseballs, a pair of tube socks, and a pair of flip-down sunglasses (that was such a stupid trade, but I will address that on another day).
Although I am not a Yankees fan, I certainly have a huge amount of respect for them as a franchise. This is because (unlike the team in my home city) they do whatever it takes to try to win each and every year. They realized that they had some areas that needed to be improved and they went out and spent a total of $423.5 million (of STRAIGHT CASH HOMEY!!!!) to improve them. Not only has this off-season proven that the Yankees will spend whatever it takes to win, it has also proven that the New York Yankees are also recession-proof.
Since the Yankees went on their off-season spending spree, people from all corners have been speaking ill of them and their business practices. General Managers and front office executives of other teams have even been suggesting that Major League should consider implementing a hard salary cap to allow other teams to ensure that other teams can continue to compete financially with the Yankees. To all those speaking ill of the Yankees and their dedication to putting a winning product on the field for their fans, I simply want to say HI HATERS!!!!
The New York Yankees sale out virtually every home game and they also own their own cable network that airs their games locally. In addition to that they are also among the league leaders (if not the league leader) in merchandise sales. For those of you who don’t have a PhD in economics, what I’m basically saying is that they make more money than any other team. Therefore, they have more money to spend than any other team. I think the Steinbrenner’s deserve a lot of credit for re-investing this money back into the team rather than simply putting it in their pockets as a nice profit for the year.
To be truthful, I really question the business acumen of those who don’t like the way the Yankees do business. Last I checked, the object of professional sports was to win and make money. The Yankees have a history of doing just that. Now, there are those franchises that simply exist to make money and really don’t place a premium on winning. The Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City Royals, and the Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos have not put anything remotely resembling a winning product on the field in a very, very, very long time. If your team continues to make a profit each year, yet fails to compete for a playoff spot regularly, they are doing you a huge disservice.
If you have a problem with the way that the Yankees do business please comment and let me know. What should they do differently? Should they allow areas of their team to be weak so that everyone else has a chance to beat them? Should they not put the best possible product on the field for their fans (who pay the fourth highest average ticket price in baseball)? If your team did what the Yankees did and put themselves in a position to compete for the division titles and World Series Championships year in and year out, you would be elated. Remember they have the money. If they don’t spend it on players, they will simply pocket it. It is time for everyone to stop being so hypocritical about the Yankees’ business practices, and more importantly to STOP HATING!!!!
****SPECIAL SHOUTOUT****
The award for "BEST GAME THEORY REFERENCE ON A SPORTS BLOG" goes to SCOTT (a regular reader of STRAIGHT CASH HOMEY!!!!) for masterfully referencing the "Prisoner's Dilemma" in his comments on last week's blog entry.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
GIVE A BROTHA A CHANCE
IT FEELS GOOD TO BE BACK!!!! Unfortunately I haven’t been able to write anything new for the last three weeks. I spent the first two weeks studying for a final exam and completing a final project. I am proud to say that I have completed the first semester of my MBA program with very good grades. All of my hard work is definitely paying off. I also spent five days on vacation in Cancun with the wifey. It was nice to have a week not to think about work or school. It was much needed, and very relaxing.
Today I want to discuss a very serious topic, therefore this entry will not be as humorous or light-hearted as some of my previous entries. As a matter of fact, I would like to get some good opinions on this topic and also some feedback on possible solutions to the problem that will be discussed (remember this is a family blog, so keep the language clean in the comments).
As you all should know by now, Auburn University hired Iowa State Head Coach Gene Chizik to replace Tommy Tuberville as their Head Football Coach. They have been roundly criticized by many in the sports media and Charles Barkley (arguably Auburn’s most famous former athlete). There are those who wonder why they chose Chizik who has a stellar 5 – 19 record as a head coach and is riding a current 10 game losing streak, to lead a program that plays in arguably the toughest division in the toughest conference in college football. There are also those (namely Barkley) who wonder if the hire was racially motivated. This is because they passed on one of the hottest coaching prospects in the country in Turner Gill (University of Buffalo). In just three years Gill took the Buffalo program from laughing stock to conference champion. He is without a doubt a more accomplished head coach than Chizik. I am not inside the head of Jay Jacobs, Auburn’s Athletic Director, which means that I don’t know what his motivation for the hire was. However, he did say that Chizik is the right fit for Auburn. Only time will tell if he was right, or if he made a huge mistake.
The controversy that followed this hire has brought to the forefront an issue that comes up each off-season, but remains a problem each year. That issue is the lack of African American coaches in major college football. Today 4.20% of Division 1 head coaches are African American. That is 5 out of 119 to be exact. The only black head coaches in the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division 1A ) are Randy Shannon (University of Miami), Turner Gill (University of Buffalo), Kevin Sumlin (University of Houston), Mike Locksley (University of New Mexico), and Ron English (Eastern Michigan University). THAT IS ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!!!! There is no way that you can tell me that only five African American coaches in America are qualified to be a head coach at the major college level.
In the NFL 21.88% (7 of 32) of all head coaches are African American. Although this is not as high as it should be, it is definitely a step in the right direction toward diversity. It is ridiculous that the college game is so far behind. In 1993 the NFL instituted the Rooney Rule, which makes it mandatory that all NFL teams with coaching vacancies interview at least one minority candidate during their coaching search. Although I wish that this rule was not necessary, it has proven to be invaluable to the advancement of minority coaches. The biggest problem that black coaches have faced in the past was the inability to even interview for head coaching openings. The introduction of this rule made NFL decision makers consider candidates that they usually wouldn’t have given a shot. It also gives minorities a chance to keep their interviewing skills sharp. This rule works, and should be implemented in the college game.
I believe that there is one simple reason that black coaches simply don’t get opportunities to be major college head coaches. This is because the vast majority of college presidents, athletic directors, and big-money football boosters are not African American, and are reluctant to give opportunities to people who don’t look like them. I have heard college Athletic Directors say on several occasions that they hired someone that they were comfortable with or someone that they knew. That is all fine and well, but there will never be true diversity in the major college football coaching ranks until someone steps outside the box and takes a chance.
Not only should black coaches get an opportunity in college football, they should also be treated fairly once they get that opportunity. I can only think of two situations where black coaches were fired fairly. Karl Dorrell was let go at UCLA after five decent but not great seasons. He had a record of 35 – 27, but was not able to win the conference or get to a BCS game. Tyrone Willingham was fired by the University of Washington this season. It was a just firing because he had a record of 11 – 37 in his four seasons at the school. He also went 0 – 12 this past season.
Tyrone Willingham is an interesting case because he was treated so unfairly while at the University of Notre Dame. He was fired by Notre Dame after only three seasons. In those three seasons he had a record of 21 – 15. Normally I would say that if Notre Dame didn’t think that 21 – 15 is good enough at Notre Dame, then they had the right to make a change. However, I found it very strange that Willingham’s successor, Charlie Weiss went 22 – 15 in his first three seasons. Notre Dame even gave Weiss a ten year contract extension during his first season, when he had a similar record as Willingham. Just for the record, I would like to state that Weiss experienced his most success when he was leading a team of players recruited by Willingham. Once he got his own recruiting classes on campus, everything went downhill. Please tell me how it is fair for two coaches to have similar records at the same school, yet be treated very differently by that University.
I can think of three potential solutions to this problem. The first of which is to introduce a rule that mirrors the Rooney Rule that has been implemented by the NFL. I am very skeptical of the chances of this rule working at the college level. This rule works in the NFL because NFL teams are run by business men whose primary goal is to win and make money. If they feel as though an African American candidate is the best person to lead that football team, they will hire him. However, college football is run by boosters. The person that is hired to lead the football team has to be someone that the big-money boosters approve of, or they will simply stop donating to the program. More often than not, these boosters know very little about the technical aspects of football and simply want the coach that they like to be leading their team. If they don’t want a minority, then that school will not hire a minority, no matter how qualified he is.
The next potential solution is for a black coach to get an opportunity at a major program and hire a staff that consists primarily of black coaches. If this coach is wildly successful, then coaches from his staff are likely to get opportunities to be head coaches. This is strategy that Tony Dungy employed in the NFL. It is amazing that every current African American coach in the NFL except for Marvin Lewis, Romeo Crennel, and Mike Singletary (and of course, Dungy) have at one point in their career worked for Tony Dungy.
My third potential solution to this problem is for the elite black high school athletes to go to schools that have African American head coaches and coordinators. If this happens, the number of black coaches being interviewed for job openings will sky-rocket. A college football program is only as good as the players that it can recruit and if a school is put at a recruiting disadvantage, even the boosters that are staunchly against diversity will embrace and demand it.
This is a real problem in a country that is supposed to be the land of opportunity. I think that it’s ridiculous that African American coaches are still treated as second class citizens in the world of college football. They are simply not given equal opportunities. Am I the only person that thinks that it is funny that America feels as though an African American can be qualified to lead our country in these difficult times, but an African American can’t be qualified to lead a college football team to a BCS game? It is time for colleges and universities all over America to treat all coaches equally and give everyone a fair chance to be a head coach.
If you have any additional suggestions as to how this problem can be solved, please comment and share them. (Remember to keep it clean, this is a family blog).
Today I want to discuss a very serious topic, therefore this entry will not be as humorous or light-hearted as some of my previous entries. As a matter of fact, I would like to get some good opinions on this topic and also some feedback on possible solutions to the problem that will be discussed (remember this is a family blog, so keep the language clean in the comments).
As you all should know by now, Auburn University hired Iowa State Head Coach Gene Chizik to replace Tommy Tuberville as their Head Football Coach. They have been roundly criticized by many in the sports media and Charles Barkley (arguably Auburn’s most famous former athlete). There are those who wonder why they chose Chizik who has a stellar 5 – 19 record as a head coach and is riding a current 10 game losing streak, to lead a program that plays in arguably the toughest division in the toughest conference in college football. There are also those (namely Barkley) who wonder if the hire was racially motivated. This is because they passed on one of the hottest coaching prospects in the country in Turner Gill (University of Buffalo). In just three years Gill took the Buffalo program from laughing stock to conference champion. He is without a doubt a more accomplished head coach than Chizik. I am not inside the head of Jay Jacobs, Auburn’s Athletic Director, which means that I don’t know what his motivation for the hire was. However, he did say that Chizik is the right fit for Auburn. Only time will tell if he was right, or if he made a huge mistake.
The controversy that followed this hire has brought to the forefront an issue that comes up each off-season, but remains a problem each year. That issue is the lack of African American coaches in major college football. Today 4.20% of Division 1 head coaches are African American. That is 5 out of 119 to be exact. The only black head coaches in the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division 1A ) are Randy Shannon (University of Miami), Turner Gill (University of Buffalo), Kevin Sumlin (University of Houston), Mike Locksley (University of New Mexico), and Ron English (Eastern Michigan University). THAT IS ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!!!! There is no way that you can tell me that only five African American coaches in America are qualified to be a head coach at the major college level.
In the NFL 21.88% (7 of 32) of all head coaches are African American. Although this is not as high as it should be, it is definitely a step in the right direction toward diversity. It is ridiculous that the college game is so far behind. In 1993 the NFL instituted the Rooney Rule, which makes it mandatory that all NFL teams with coaching vacancies interview at least one minority candidate during their coaching search. Although I wish that this rule was not necessary, it has proven to be invaluable to the advancement of minority coaches. The biggest problem that black coaches have faced in the past was the inability to even interview for head coaching openings. The introduction of this rule made NFL decision makers consider candidates that they usually wouldn’t have given a shot. It also gives minorities a chance to keep their interviewing skills sharp. This rule works, and should be implemented in the college game.
I believe that there is one simple reason that black coaches simply don’t get opportunities to be major college head coaches. This is because the vast majority of college presidents, athletic directors, and big-money football boosters are not African American, and are reluctant to give opportunities to people who don’t look like them. I have heard college Athletic Directors say on several occasions that they hired someone that they were comfortable with or someone that they knew. That is all fine and well, but there will never be true diversity in the major college football coaching ranks until someone steps outside the box and takes a chance.
Not only should black coaches get an opportunity in college football, they should also be treated fairly once they get that opportunity. I can only think of two situations where black coaches were fired fairly. Karl Dorrell was let go at UCLA after five decent but not great seasons. He had a record of 35 – 27, but was not able to win the conference or get to a BCS game. Tyrone Willingham was fired by the University of Washington this season. It was a just firing because he had a record of 11 – 37 in his four seasons at the school. He also went 0 – 12 this past season.
Tyrone Willingham is an interesting case because he was treated so unfairly while at the University of Notre Dame. He was fired by Notre Dame after only three seasons. In those three seasons he had a record of 21 – 15. Normally I would say that if Notre Dame didn’t think that 21 – 15 is good enough at Notre Dame, then they had the right to make a change. However, I found it very strange that Willingham’s successor, Charlie Weiss went 22 – 15 in his first three seasons. Notre Dame even gave Weiss a ten year contract extension during his first season, when he had a similar record as Willingham. Just for the record, I would like to state that Weiss experienced his most success when he was leading a team of players recruited by Willingham. Once he got his own recruiting classes on campus, everything went downhill. Please tell me how it is fair for two coaches to have similar records at the same school, yet be treated very differently by that University.
I can think of three potential solutions to this problem. The first of which is to introduce a rule that mirrors the Rooney Rule that has been implemented by the NFL. I am very skeptical of the chances of this rule working at the college level. This rule works in the NFL because NFL teams are run by business men whose primary goal is to win and make money. If they feel as though an African American candidate is the best person to lead that football team, they will hire him. However, college football is run by boosters. The person that is hired to lead the football team has to be someone that the big-money boosters approve of, or they will simply stop donating to the program. More often than not, these boosters know very little about the technical aspects of football and simply want the coach that they like to be leading their team. If they don’t want a minority, then that school will not hire a minority, no matter how qualified he is.
The next potential solution is for a black coach to get an opportunity at a major program and hire a staff that consists primarily of black coaches. If this coach is wildly successful, then coaches from his staff are likely to get opportunities to be head coaches. This is strategy that Tony Dungy employed in the NFL. It is amazing that every current African American coach in the NFL except for Marvin Lewis, Romeo Crennel, and Mike Singletary (and of course, Dungy) have at one point in their career worked for Tony Dungy.
My third potential solution to this problem is for the elite black high school athletes to go to schools that have African American head coaches and coordinators. If this happens, the number of black coaches being interviewed for job openings will sky-rocket. A college football program is only as good as the players that it can recruit and if a school is put at a recruiting disadvantage, even the boosters that are staunchly against diversity will embrace and demand it.
This is a real problem in a country that is supposed to be the land of opportunity. I think that it’s ridiculous that African American coaches are still treated as second class citizens in the world of college football. They are simply not given equal opportunities. Am I the only person that thinks that it is funny that America feels as though an African American can be qualified to lead our country in these difficult times, but an African American can’t be qualified to lead a college football team to a BCS game? It is time for colleges and universities all over America to treat all coaches equally and give everyone a fair chance to be a head coach.
If you have any additional suggestions as to how this problem can be solved, please comment and share them. (Remember to keep it clean, this is a family blog).
Sunday, December 7, 2008
STRAIGHT CASH HOMEY!!!! HAS A PROJECT
Thanks for checking in. Unfortunately, I am not able to post anything new this week due to a final project that I am working on this weekend. Please take the time to read any entries that you may have missed and comment on them if you would like (I do check old posts for new comments).Thanks for the continued support. Wish me luck on my project!!!!
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