Finding the Worth of a Superstar

" For 214 Million, I'll move wherever you want me to move, and do whatever you want me to do."

This was more or less my answer yesterday when a friend remarked his surprise at the Detroit Tigers being able to draw Prince Fielder to sign with them. It was said for humor, of course, but it got me thinking. I had already decided that the contract was very large, too large if you would ask me, and a very big risk for the Tigers. There certainly isn't anything that says Prince Fielder won't still be playing at a high level in 9 years, but this writer is only slightly skeptical that at some point, be it one year from now or eight, there will be some regrets in Detroit about this trade.

Now, Prince Fielder isn't the first superstar in professional sports to find the elusive piggy bank, he was just the latest to join the party. In a day and age where massive deals seem to be becoming the norm, teams are eager to be shackled to a player or players for anywhere from 5-10 years, oftentimes with a large sum of guaranteed money. So in today's article, the Committed Fan asks teams, fans and readers like you alike, "what is the value of a superstar?".

First off, lets take a look at the players in question. Now depending on your own definition of what a superstar is, there stands to be a large number of them in any league you look at. Tom Brady, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Peyton Manning, Candice Parker, Alex Ovechkin, Albert Pujols and of course, Prince Fielder. These athletes are superstars, no doubting that. They all garner immense publicity, fan support and merchandise sales. When you eventually lure one of these players to your team, it does not come cheaply, but if an owner plays their cards right, they stand to make a lot of money from a potential signing. Superstars are proven talents, freak athletes who owners never have to worry about getting production from, because like the local ice cream truck, when the time comes, it'll be there. It always is. And just like in the world of sports, if the ice cream man is being particularly extravagant one day and wants to charge more for extra sprinkles, there's always the DQ down the road (AKA every other player in the league). The question that needs to be answered, then, is why do owners like sprinkles SO DAMN MUCH?

I'll tell you right now, NFL wide receivers and NBA superstars are the worst. By far. I've never heard of a prima donna hockey player but considering the amount of teeth they've all lost, I'm surprised we hear them speak at all. Everyone has heard a superstar whine or rant at some point in their life. Mostly because we've all more or less been alive for the careers of Terrell Owens and Chad Johnson (Ochocinco). Oftentimes its the same sort of subjects (give me a new contract, "i'm open, throw me the ball", "I hate my team", "I'm always open, throw me the ball", "I'm so under-appreciated", "Did I mention i was open?"), and oftentimes these prima donna superstars will take to twitter or other media outlets to make their case public and, by default, an embarrassment. Suddenly, you realize crushed nut topping would have been a better choice than sprinkles.

Just wait, there's still 7 years left on that contract!

Fortunately, the sports world has taken some steps towards slowing this trend by instituting rookie pay scales and salary caps, and lowering guaranteed monies, but overpaid superstars will most likely always exist in this game, which makes it all the more important that the teams, as a league, decide to hold strong and let these superstars sit out for a while. Keep them on the free agent market for a bit, to give them a reality check they won't soon forget. Either that, or we're gonna see the NBA sign a 14 year old to a 30 year, 450 million dollar contract any day now.

Women in Sport: A Growing Disparity

Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream. 

You're probably quite familiar with that phrase just as I'm sure you are familiar with what he stood for; equals rights and social change. Now, King specifically spoke out for racial change, but throughout American history women have been discriminated against to almost the same extent as people of different races, and just as with racial discrimination, we still struggle with gender discrimination to this day.

It might seem that the sports world could be different, that race and gender would seem so much less important when measuring one person's success. In some ways, sports has been a wonderful medium for the emergence of this idea of a female champion or the groundbreaking success of an athlete of a different color. However, sports still has a long way to go, and after the anniversary of MLK day yesterday, it seemed fitting to me to discuss and point out some of the shortcomings I see in the world of sport today for a female athlete.

As young children, there aren't a whole lot of differences that exist between girls and boys. Physical stature is rarely different, and any gains in size will more than likely be in the girls' favor first, before the boys. At this age, boys and girls unify together to play a sport for fun, and exercise. Winning and losing are present, but are somewhat of an afterthought compared to the pure joy of playing with other children.   Here, on the playgrounds and inside the gyms of American schools, is one of the last places that boys and girls will ever have a level playing field for sports and one of the last times they may play on the same team and have no issues with that idea.

Lets look at the high schools. When most people think of high school sports, men's basketball and men's football will probably come to mind, depending on where you live. In some areas of the country, prep football is so worshipped that I'm surprised they even bother having other teams. High school football games are the thing to do on Friday nights, and basketball games always have the largest student sections, people with painted chests and school colors showing proudly. Now here is where the disparity shows. At most high schools, what I described does not happen at any girls sporting event. Women's sports events got so little attention at my school it almost seemed like they were an underground organization. Perhaps this has changed, perhaps it was different where you grew up, and I definitely hope it has and was, because it needs too. I see an awful pattern of submission in the sports world, a trend that surrounds women in sports where they ought to depreciate their efforts to idolize and showcase the men's. I see women and men in sports situations together where confident and skilled young women will essentially close up and default to the men on the team, simply to not offend or "let the better player get the ball".

Now I understand the anatomical differences between men and women as they pertain to sport. Men will almost always be bigger, stronger and faster than their female counterparts. A 6'3" female is considered a forward or even a center on most basketball teams, but a 6'3" male could just as easily be the point guard, the shortest player on a men's starting five. Some sports are easier for men to excel at, some easier for women. However, for someone to think that they are an inferior player to someone else simply because of race is more than just absurd, its appalling. I just don't buy that idea. Women should be considered equals to men in all aspects of life, and they themselves should realize and embrace this principle. Given the chance and opportunity, I believe, no, I know that a confident, focused female player will have no trouble playing as an equal to men. In this day and age, the sports world does not put too much focus on any particular woman's sport, nor do they focus on developing women's sports careers after college sports. All different levels of professional sports leagues exist for women just as they do for men, but you'll never see a WNBA mock draft making the premiere show times for Sportscenter.

When it comes to finding and realizing a practical solution for this disparity, the responsibility lies amongst all of us. Female athletes at all levels should relish the opportunity to challenge men and focus on not giving excuses as to why their performance should be lesser. Male athletes should learn to not take being beaten by a female athlete to be an insult, just as they not insulted by losing to another male. The college sports world needs to change their priorities and stop pushing their two big moneymakers, mens' college basketball and football, while leaving other sports teams struggling to even stay afloat. Respect is hard enough to earn from sports fans in a world with so many teams, we should not give women's sports a harder climb simply because they are played by females.

Martin Luther King's dream was not about sports. It wasn't specifically about women playing sports and being treated fairly doing it, but it was a dream about everyone being equal and having equal rights, and that is a dream I can respect.

"Labels are for filing. Labels are for clothing. Labels are not for people."

-Martina Navratilova

NCAA Title Game Recap

YAWN.

I'll tell you right now, I did not watch the game. It was supposed to be a really good game, just like the last time these two met, a 9-6 win by LSU, and an epic snooze fest for all who watched. So this time around, I didn't allow myself to be lured into watching the game just because it was a national championship game. I sat close to people who did watch it, and for the vast majority of the game, it seemed to be going the same way as the last game, a low scoring, field goal kicking frenzy.

If you know me well, or can tell from this blog, I'm not the biggest fan of college football. There is something about the game that has never appealed to me, actually several aspects why college football has never had me as a serious fan. Some fans swear by college football, and they completely shun the NFL, for a multitude of reasons and logic.

One of the mains reasons I don't particularly enjoy college football is the players. I feel like there is a general lack of maturity with a lot of young college players, and I do not think there is enough guidance and discipline enforced by programs to keep their egos in check. The bad thing about college football being ruined by the players is that its very similar to a director making a top tier movie and then it comes out that they stole the idea and can't write for shit. Basically, I have beef with college football. I have my reasons, and a lot of people probably wouldn't agree with me, and thats okay, because this NFL fan is happy to take your players after their game (and hopefully them) has matured and fully developed.

There is a great aspect of college football, and that part is the upset games. I remember watching Michigan State lose to my college, Central Michigan on a 48?? yard field goal and I went absolutely crazy. NOW let me tell you the problem with college football. I will not live to see Central Michigan in a BCS championship game. I will not live to see Indiana, or Northwestern, and possibly neither Michigan nor Michigan State in a title game in my life time. Now, you can debate  the likelihood that these teams could ever make it with the BCS system, or debate whether it is a good system at all. Seriously, join the party, its been going on for a while. It's Barack Obama's biggest presidential agenda item not named Healthcare System. Now here's why I will never see those things. There is a system in place, a natural order of things. There is a reason so many people who graduated from smaller schools don't wear their school colors and watch their team compete on Saturdays. In Michigan, its because they either have on Maize and Blue, Green and White, or Red and Silver, for those of us who are slightly confused. These days, in college football, you may like a small school, you may have a vested interest in watching Nicholls State or Binghampton or Sierra play on Saturdays. However, more than likely, a fan of those teams cheers on a bigger school, a state school, a major school. If you ever want to cheer for your team in a bowl game, if you ever want to watch the Chili's 3 Bean Dip Bowl because your team is going to take home the trophy, you have to like one of the big guys. You are going to have to pick a big school to like and follow, because your school will never make it to that point. They have no shot, no chance. That's just the way it is.

Week 17 NFL Recap

So, the playoffs are set, and the Giants, Broncos and the Bengals joined the party. As was expected, though maybe not so soon, today was a day of firings. Two head coaches were fired, Raheem Morris of the Bucaneers and Steve Spagnuolo of the Rams, and several general managers joined those ranks as well. We also witnessed the total collapse of the New York Jets, a team that has maintained a noticeable swagger since coach Rex Ryan took the reigns several seasons ago. On Sunday, however, the Jets lost all focus and unity, lost an important game to a lowly Dolphins squad and ultimately make Rex Ryan cry at his news conference after the game. Frankly, If I lost a game to a team who spent the week before the game doing this (credit to Shutdown Corner), I'd be real upset at my team too. I've always liked Rex Ryan, because he's a no bull**** type of guy. He has always been outspoken in defense of his players, and has never met an outlandish claim he couldn't make. By the same token, Rex isn't the type of coach to do this. I would say that in the next week, as a few coaches are expected to be fired, that Rex Ryan could find himself amongst them, because it is safe to say that the team has not performed up to expectations while he has been a coach there.

Well hey, the Colts lost again, wrapping up a beauty of a season in which they lost their star quarterback to neck surgery, then proceeding to limp through 16 straight games with the Three Stooges at quarterback. Now we get to see if this gamble of theirs pays off by bringing them the next Peyton Manning, after Manning's time with the team is done. Paying the price of the Suck for Luck sweepstakes were Bill and Chris Polian, the Vice Chairman and General Manager, respectively, who both were fired by the Colts on Monday. For a Colts fan, you've got to believe your team will return to their winning form simply with the return of Manning, but if you weren't impressed by your team this season without him, you weren't alone.

Not quite sure if they are reacting to the Colt's losses, or their wins. Ouch.

When I first visited Disneyworld, I was under 10 years old, and let me tell you, it was magical. I rode in the spinning saucer cups, went down the log boat ride, and found my first true love, Space Mountain. And for the record, I'm afraid of roller coasters. I don't particularly enjoy them, but Space Mountain is different. Maybe because its in the dark, which I also....don't like....hmm, thats probably not it either. Anyways, what I'm getting at is that the first couple of times I went to Disney, it was pretty damn magical. I took in every moment of it, and I loved it. Couldn't wait to go back. I can only imagine how closely this compares to Tim Tebow. His win streak was impressive, his will to win was inspiring, and yes, the people loved him! They enshrined him in their homes, wore his namesake on their clothing and bodies, even tatooed his likeness on their children, and at the end of the day, as with all magical things, the magic faded, and the joy was lost. And let me assure you, after a 3 game losing streak, with his most recent loss being a 7-3 loss to the CHIEFS, the magic is lost. Cheer him on in the playoffs (which he did make, I'll admit that) if you want, dispute this post with me and argue with me all you want, but the truth can sometimes be a brutal, cold, disturbing pill to swallow. Also, just a quick thing to point out. The quarterback who bested Tim Tebow this week? Kyle Orton. The guy the Broncos benched in favor of Tim Tebow. All quiet on the Elway front.


I don't know how the playoffs are going to go, but I'll tell you who I want to see in the Super Bowl. I love the 49er's  or the Lions from the NFC and the Bengals or Texans from the AFC. If for no other reason than a few new faces in the big game this year.

And from all the competent staff and unpaid contributors to the Committed Fan, Happy Holidays.