A Sport Can Only Be As Good As Its Players And The Leadership That’s Shown By Its Executives.
Much like a profitable company is viewed as a viable investment opportunity for equity investors. The same can be said for professional sports. And in particular , baseball and the fans who are avid followers and supporters of not only the game but the franchises as well. The fans are much like that of an investor as they’ve a vested interest in seeing the equity maximize its profit potential exponentially . However of late the share price of baseball were it a share price on the New York Stock Exchange would be at an alltime low. Baseball’s share price has dropped precipitously low . It’s now nothing more than a penny stock at present and is not about to rise anytime soon.
Unfortunately for baseball at present it’s not looking as worthy an investment as say the Big Three (Chrysler, Ford , GM) automotive companies or that of the failing banking industry on Wall Street. About the only thing that separates these entities at present. Is the mere fact that now the titans of those two particular industries have finally the will to stand up and admit to the mistakes that they’ve made. Albeit that they’re now being bailed out at the taxpayers’ expense. But then again the automotive industry hasn’t been a worthwhile entity in well over a decade ! However the game of baseball hasn’t the leadership or presence of mind to even admit that it is at fault in any way.
If nothing else Commissioner Bud Selig and the owners have shown that they don’t possess a backbone or the willingness to stand up to the union. If anything at the owners’ beckoning and acting in collusion with Donald Fehr of the Players’ Union they’ve seen fit to defraud the public and the fans at large. And we’re meant to believe that these individuals have the best interests of the game in their mindset ? In reality nothing could be further from the truth. Selig couldn’t spot the truth if it were written in 5 foot high letters and place atop of the Time Magazine building in New York City for the world to see. One thing is now becoming abundantly clear is that Selig lives in his own imaginary world of make belief. And each of the characters in it are merely those from a fairy tale. As to which to fable that might be , is open to a great deal of debate.
Now as the game finds itself in perhaps the most unexpected of controversies concerning that of one the pre-eminent players in the game . It has to be asked is there nothing a shoe awaiting to be dropped concerning Alex Rodriguez or any other player who might well be on the infamous list of 104 names ? Rodriguez’s admittance that he’d used steroids for three years whilst playing for the Texas Rangers. Though it has to be said the veracity of the argument being put forward by the player himself has so many holes in it. That the press conference convened by the New York Yankees was merely nothing more than a charade. Clearly the player is still delusional and his thinking that this may well lead to a dissipation in the ongoing interest in the matter.
Baseball for its part has grappled with one PR disaster after the other with as much presence as a blind man trying to handle an unexploded grenade. Ineptitude is the norm within the hierarchy of baseball. And about the only thing favorable that one might feel comfortable with is the mere fact that the inaction shown by the game’s hierarchy overall hasn’t been as inept as that of the Big Three automotive companies(Ford , GM , Chrysler) or even the bumbling dunderheads behind the financial behemoths such as Bank of America , Citibank, AIG or JP Morgan Chase. Unfortunately for the public at large we’ve had the government seen fit to intervene to bail out the concerns mentioned. But we also should be grateful one would suppose that they even had time on their hands to conduct meaningless hearings on Capitol Hill concerning steroid use within the game of baseball. What has been borne out of this all hasn’t amounted to anything tangible.
OK so there’s some semblance of a steroid policy in place. But with this latest furor surrounding Alex Rodriguez. The public’s patience with this matter is beginning to border on apathy. Nothing that now comes out of the mouth of the hierarchy much less a player can be treated with any veracity. And even with someone such as Yankees’ captain showing support for his teammate. I’d be somewhat perturbed to even take anything that Jeter has to say seriously. There might’ve been a time when one could’ve looked at Derek Jeter and just say …………”well he’s the one guy in the game that I’m prepared to believe” . But as of now can anyone believe anything that a player within the game has to say about matter concerning the game and many of the acute issues that it now faces ? The players forsook that right when they sought to defraud the public. There may well be some players who are indeed innocent of having not chosen to go down the road of using steroids to give them an edge. And as of now the public at large would be hard pressed to state which active players haven’t succumbed to the temptation of using steroids. We can deliberate as to whether or not those actions legitimately tarnishes a player’s credibility and legacy.
One thing is now clear the game itself and its belief that its once pristine image is above reproach is no longer valid. The players and the game’s hierarchy forsook that privilege by enacting and colluding in this large scale subterfuge. Not unlike the malevolent the large scale frauds that’ve taken place on Wall Street and thereby defrauding innocent victims far and wide. The only thing in those cases it’s hoped , that the legal ramifications for those involved in these frauds will be the fact that the full weight of the law will be brought down on the shoulders of those behind this all. Whereas within the game of baseball nothing more than a slap on the wrist at best has been meted out to the players that’ve made a personal choice to cheat and then look to obfuscate their responsibilities to the game and the fans.
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