As fans of professional sports teams & players, we read about HUGE sums of money. Maybe it’s about the players’ salaries, the owner’s profits, the agent’s “stipend”, the college’s investments, etc. We become immune to the size of the salaries of these entertainers & their reps. We start to think that…IT’S ALL IN THE MONEY! Yet, without our attendance or viewing on cable, TV, PPV, it’s the consumers money also!!..
…The Jimbo Fisher firing @ Texas A&M highlights this cavalier attitude of throwing around money. Note.. please note… the Athletic Director isn’t spending HIS money…it’s the tax money of the state or the donations of the private schools. Fisher originally had signed a 10 year, $75m contract in 2017. Just before the 2021 season after a robust recruiting off-season, Fisher was a “hot” name in the NCAA-Football circle. Sooo…to beat their opponents to the punch(specifically LSU who was “courting” Fischer, A&M “bucked up” again!! They extended Fisher to 2031 with a $95m commitment—fully guaranteed!!! NO buyout for Fischer!! (Even Nick Saban has a buy out if he wants to leave) But …no buyout..Fisher. Sooo…here we are in 2023(2 years later) and Fischer gets fired. He’s still owed more than $70m on his contract. This buyout is triple than the next biggest buyout in NCAA-Football history! IT’S ONLY MONEY….my supposition is that the Texas fans (and population) don’t really seem to mind!!
….How bad was Texas A&M? They smashed the opening day cupcake 52-10. 2nd game was a loss to Miami 48-33; 3rdgame was another cupcake-N.Mexico St. A&M crushed them 47-3. Then A&M beat Auburn & Arkansas In SEC games. Bama beat them in the next game 26-20. A&M then lost to Tennessee but bounced back to beat S.Carolina. When Mississippi edged A&M 38-35…that was too much for the fans, financial supporters and the A&M administration. Please note A&M didn’t have a losing record when he was fired. Oh well..IT’S ONLY MONEY!
…One final addendum on Fisher, his staff also gets paid also until the end of his contract. That means that A&M will actually be paying out$120m (give or take a million or 2) total to Fisher & his staff!! But…IT’S ONLY MONEY…apparently, A&M does have it!
….We can look much closer to home to find another questionable use of money . In Jan 2017, the Cards acquired Miles Mikolas for $15.5m after pitching 2 years in Japan. Prior to that he had pitched 10 games for Texas in in 2014. He posted 2-5 record with a 6.44-ERA!! His WHIP for that year was an ugly 1.43. However, his very 1st year in the Lou was terrific! He went 18-4, 2.83 ERA, 146 strikeouts only 29 walks. The Cards signed him for 2018 & 19 for $7.5m/year. IN 2019, he recorded a 9-14 record with a 4.16 ERA. He hadn’t recovered from his surgery in 2020. For some reason, the Cards raised his salary to $15.75m for 2021 & 2022. Results—in 2021—Mikolas went 2-3 as he only pitched 44+ innings. In 2022, he did fill the spot in the rotation faithfully. He started 32 games, held a 12-13 record while pitching 202+ innings. In 2023, he received a salary increase to $18.75m. Opponents batted .283 against him as his record fell below .500 @ 9-13 for the season. Sooo…Mikolas has earned over $100m with a lifetime record of 54-53 and a 3.93 ERA. BUT……IT’S ONLY MONEY!
…It was a wonderful 1st season for City SC in the MLS. The fans supported the team in tremendous fashion. Not only by their attendance, but by their emotion, with strong financial support of City SC. Now, it’s time for City SC to raise their salary scale. City SC was 28th (2nd lowest) in the MLS in payroll. Come on…your pressure style worked very successfully earlier in the year as the team won its first 5 games. As teams adjusted, City’s winning dropped off. It appears to me that City needs more high quality players. You don’t need to revamp the entire team but adding some better skilled players (probably with higher salaries) are needed to rise in the standings. That’s probably true for EVERY team in the league 😊Get some of those type players…ITS ONLY MONEY!
…Mizzou’s exciting win yesterday over Florida will keep them in the Top 10 of the national polls. Just like when they lost to Georgia 2 weeks ago…it really doesn’t seem to matter about the score…the simple fact is…DID YOU WIN! In the game Mizzou again showcased their flexible offense. The running game, led by Cody Schrader, continues to amaze opponents. QB Brady Cook’s passing late in the game to star Luther Burden Jr brought MU within the range of their huge placekicker for the game winning FG with just seconds left. It was good to see MU go to Burden in the late, critical part of the game. While there are other strong receivers for MU, Burden is touted as the premier one of the group. Go to your best player in the critical times of a football game. It’s really NOT that complicated.
…Next year, the NCAA will begin a 12 team playoff system through the bowl system. While some fans have been clamoring for it for years, the NCAA has finally realized that they’ll reap a huge profit in this system (which you can bet will expand within 4-8 years).This system is ALL ABOUT THE MONEY. This system will deplete the value of each particular bowl. The Rose, Cotton, Sugar, Orange Bowls, which were the premier bowls for decades, will now be “just another” playoff game. I doubt in 10 years that those playoff games will still be called the– Rose, Cotton, Sugar or Orange bowls.
….The Blues are off to a strong start after a shaky, very shaky, first few games. It’s fun to watch the Blues as they have abandoned the ol’ idea of the defensemen lugging it up the ice. The Defenseman DO START the counter-attacks by using cross-ice, diagonal passes to the forwards. The passes make the forwards really skate to get them – hence, it’s a quicker exit from the defensive zone. Binnington has been very sharp through November. Colton Parayko looks like the younger version of Colton Parayko. The 22-23 version of him wasn’t so hot! The Blues are almost “maxed out” on the salary cap (only $280,000 under). Soooo…they’re doing their part by spending….after all….IT’S ALL IN THE MONEY!
….Friday was a “doomsday” for several MLB players. Many were released and now face the task of
finding a new team that’s interested in their services. Some are hoping for a “raise” but that’s unlikely with this type of release. For many of them, who are veterans and have moved up the salary scale in modest terms (according to MLB standards), it’s starting over again. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY. Teams don’t want to invest substantially in bench players. While a good bench player is useful, they aren’t the stars. They won’t bring fans through the turnstiles.
…. It’s a part of the MONEY game played by the MLB. The Cards released (that means no compensation is coming back to the players) RHP Dakota Hudson, 1B Juan Yepez, C Andrew Knizner, RHP Jake Woodford. All elected free agency. Knizner was a bit of a surprise but…from my view, it simply came down to money. The Cards have an $89m catcher in Willson Contreras. With that salary, he should be playing most every-day. Knizner, who had probably his best year last year was holding a $1.85m/year contract (I had thought that it was a $5m contract until I looked it up) but the Cards will be going to a younger, cheaper, back-up catcher in Herrara. For many MLB players, their lives changed drastically yesterday with these transactions. IT’S ALL IN THE MONEY!
….BTW….the Cards positioned themselves well after the horrible 2023 season. Only 6 players are signed under a guaranteed contract—Goldschmidt, Arenado, Contreras, Mikolas, Matz & Gallegos. I must confess seeing Matz, Mikolas & Gallegos on the list surprised me. They don’t seem like “cornerstones” of the team to me.
…Currently the Cards are #15 in team payrolls across the 30 MLB teams. Across our division, the Cubs are #12 in team payroll, Milwaukee is #20 in payroll, Cincinnati is #26 & Pittsburgh #27. There are 7 National League teams with higher payrolls than St. Louis. The Mets salary base is TWICE that of the Cardinals. To win BIG…IT’S ALL IN THE MONEY!
… Many Cardinal fans are anxiously awaiting the off-season moves by St. Louis. In order to really acquire “star” level players…it’ll be ALL IN THE MONEY! Thanks for your read! It’s great to read YOUR thoughts on any of the topics! Just post them on my Facebook page. Bob
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