First Post!

Well, blogging is something that I have always wanted to do but I have had a hard time thinking of how to come up with a successful idea for what to blog about. I have always been a huge sports guy and also this past year I started working at my church in West Hartford. Talking to a fairly experienced blogger (Bill) He suggested narrowing down my focus to make this blog more about one thing or the other. Well I wanted to narrow it down to two things. Sports and Job. So without further a due here we go.

It figures I decide to start blogging on a day where I am super excited about my favorite team going out and winning a fantastic World Series. I stayed up till about 1 A.M. last night watching the game and it's post game coverage. (I am paying that price at work this morning)

The first thing that I took away from the Yankees season was the sense that it was much more like past seasons where they won. There were many walk off wins, pies in the face, and just a genuine sense of team atmosphere. Since their last win in 2000 against the Mets I have always felt that the ownership (Steinbrenner) has been pushing and clawing to win a world series again, and it just didn't feel like the Yankee baseball. Signings like Kevin Brown and Randy Johnson always left me feeling like we were the franchise with the highest payroll and also a bit to"desperate" to win.

And before I go any further I did want to talk about payroll. There are a lot of facebook posts of very uneducated "fans" of baseball who just posted after the Yankees won, "I guess you can buy a championship." And you know what it is actually true. The Yankees went out and got the best players available. CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett (Not my favorite) and Mark Teixeira (My favorite signing). They spent tons of money on a fairly young group of great players that brought them the ultimate prize. A World Championship!

Now is this wrong for them to "buy" a championship? As it stands MLB doesn't have a salary cap. So it is up to team ownership to see how best to spend their money and how much of it they are willing to spend to make their team what it is. For those who don't know check out this article on revenue sharing in baseball (http://www.bnet.com/2403-13502_23-210897.html). It is a little known fact that the higher the payroll, the more of a "luxury tax" that you have to pay back to the league and in turn that money goes to smaller market teams.

I agree that without a salary cap any team can pay however much they want and outbid a smaller market team. But is that being greedy or is it a desire to win? If you have ownership that truly has a desire to win they are going to go out and spend the money in a way they see fit to win. Steinbrenner has been doing this for years, I just haven't always agreed with who he has spent it on. So sure go ahead and say the Yankees bought this Championship. If that is what makes Red Sox fans or Marlins fans or any other "fans" feel better about this past season, say it. True fans of the game know better!

But higher payroll hasn't made that much of a difference over the past 9 years in MLB. Since 2001 8 Different teams have won the World Series with only one of those teams winning more than one. (Red Sox 2004, 2007) And then check out this link (http://www.baseball-almanac.com/ws/postseason.shtml) from the baseball Almanac to see how many different teams have even gone to the ALCS or NLCS in that time. Looking at the facts in those numbers it proves that even with a higher payroll and no salary cap it doesn't matter what you spend, it's how you gel as a team. We saw it with the Colorado Rockies in 07, winning 21 out of their last 22 games. Or last year with the Tampa Bay Rays who had the 25th lowest payroll out of 30 teams. (Respectably both these teams lost in the World Series) I guess my point is that it isn't always about the money. It is about a team and playing together as a team.

I find that many of the people who made negative comments on Facebook last night were people who I know never played a day of baseball past middle school. And that bothers me. You gain a whole different perspective growing up and playing the sport. For example my best friend is a huge hockey nut and played for a good portion of his life. He also refereed and religiously watches the Rangers. Whenever I used to watch a hockey game with him I would sit their and try to critique the game and say why would so and so do that it doesn't make sense? He would then calmly explain to me that I was wrong and educate me on the sport. I still don't know enough about hockey, but at least now I know a few things (Keep your head up, a 2 goal lead is the most dangerous lead in hockey, and what offsides is, haha). Last the night the only true respect I saw for this game that I love came from a friend who is a Red Sox fan. And he simply stated "the best team won, enough said" This is coming from someone who grew up playing baseball and various other sports as well. He is someone who actually respects the game for what it is. It was the culmination of a great World Series and playoffs. And for the first time in a long time, the two best teams were in the World Series.

All the credit in the World goes to Cliff Lee, Chase Utley and the Phillies! They have a lineup that doesn't have a lot of holes in it and their pitching this series mostly left them in the game. CLiff Lee was outstanding, and Chase Utley had MVP type numbers in the Series. They have a team that is poised to make a run again next year. And if they had won last night, I thought they had the advantage going into game 7. Congrats on a great year for them, and I am sure we haven't seen the last of that team!

And now with baseball over I guess I will just have to deal with America's most popular sport Football! I have said enough for post #1. Thanks for a great season MLB and thanks Yankees for pulling this one out!

-C-