When 80 Large Isn't Enough

You know there's an old saying in sports that is so true in life: "You should play for name on the front of the uniform, and not the name on the back of it." I love that line. First of all, it's the sign of a true teammate, and secondly it represents an era gone by. And era that I fear may be gone forever.

Because eighty million dollars doesn't go as far as it used to, this week the Tribe had to trade CC Sabathia to the Brewers, and HAD to is the right word. The Indians were going to lose him at the end of the season when his contract was up. Eighty million of the Dolans' money was not going to be nearly enough. I feel CC would liked to have stayed here, but with the Players Union quietly behind the scenes urging him NOT to sign and his agent telling him NOT to sign, the pressure was just too much. The system in Major League Baseball is totally broken. No salary cap means no end to the spending. The union and the agents just don't care about anything else except their interests - period. This is going to happen to the Indians and teams like them again and again and again.

A number of years ago, professional sports stopped being sports by and large and became entertainment. It is not about winning and losing anymore to the players; it's about putting out a good product. This is where players and fans split and go down separate paths. To fans, it's all about winning and losing. Players are now just like actors in Hollywood. It's not about the game anymore; it's about what you can pull out of the game. Actors do the same thing. As long as Mike Myers is making 20 million a picture, he doesn't care if the work is good or not or what people think of him. He just collects, as does his agent. You seldom hear of big stars turning down 10 million for a movie, but they do. But only when another project is promising them 15 million for 8 weeks of work. That story is just shoved under the carpet.

In sports it's all right out in the open. We have ESPN, sports sections, sports stations on radio, that LIVE to tell you that CC turned down 80 million or so. But HE didn't... the system did. We get mad and feel betrayed, and go off on ownership, but to be fair, you can only offer a 26-year-old 80 million dollars so many times. After awhile, it's obvious his agent isn't going to take your 80 large; he's only going to accept 125 million of New Yorks, Bostons, Chicagos or Los Angeles' money. There's just not enough coin in Cleveland. That is the bottom line. Sad!

To be fair, in life sometimes you "gotta do what you gotta do." People in all our lives make decisions all the time that affect their own lives and the lives of those around them. That is what happened to us this week when CC left. He did what he had to do, and it's a shame when 80 million isn't nearly enough. The difference between CC and us, it doesn't all play out on Sportscenter. CC can't play for the name on the front of the uniform because the system won't let him, or anyone else in his position, and that's ridiculous!

I'm thinking that the lucky ones are the people who play for the name on the front of the uniform, while respecting their own name on the back of it. There is something inherently good about being able to make a good living while working for and believing in the people you work for. You can then spend your working life rewarding one another for a job well done. Those that fit into that category are the happiest people I know. Honest work - honest pay.

So I'm going to cheer for the name on the front of the Tribe's uniforms and not the back. I am a fan. A sad one this week, but a fan, nonetheless. It's too bad we've got to go through this, but I think we'll all survive. But conversely, I think I may have seen my last Mike Myers movie though. I don't have to go through that again.