In many days of our life, we feel like we’re “Coming & Going” at a constant clip. It’s true in the sports world also.

…In the NHL playoffs, momentum continues it’s “COMING & GOING”.  In game 5 against the Jets, it was apparent to me immediately that league officials had warned the Blues about their “checking”. To me, the Blues almost looked afraid to touch the Jets. The physically bigger Jets, pushed their weight around as “fights” broke out on a couple occasions. It was very disappointing to see the Blues hesitant to “use their body” to check the bigger Jets. It seemed to me that the NHL probably didn’t want the lowest seeded team in the division to beat the #1 team of the division. It was disappointing to me to watch the Blues “dance around” the Jets instead of checking them. I wonder if the NHL, through the officials, had contacted the Blues about their “rough”, checking style. Further, I’m not so sure that the highest NHL officials don’t want the Blues to advance. After all, hockey IS the Canadian Sport!  If the shackles are put on the Blues for game 6 in the same way, we won’t have to worry about a game 7. It’ll be COMING HOME for the Blues.

…In StL, some baseball fans expected more “COMING & GOING” in 2025 season. The season is still “young” so it may still happen. For 15 years, the Cardinals used the farm system & a supplement of acquiring a few “star” player(s) to keep the team strong. A 15 year streak of playing .500+ baseball came to a quick halt in 2023 with a 71-91 record. The Cardinals have NEVER totally jumped into the completely YOUTH waters. When Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray, Miles Mikolas & Willson Contreras each evoked their rights in their contract to refuse trades this past winter, the Cards had to travel a different path. Those individual decisions clearly slowed down, or brought to a halt—THE COMNG & GOING attitude for the Cards upper brass.

….in the MLB, players come & go quicker than you might realize.  The average length of an MLB career is 5.6 years. This includes both hitting and pitching players, with a range of careers from one year to 26 years. Back in 1950, the average length of an MLB career was around 10 years for players who made it to the big leagues. In 1960, the average length of an MLB career was approximately 6-7 years. Keep in mind that the MLB currently has 30 teams.  In 1960, there were only 16 teams. By 1980, there were 26 teams and the 5.6 year/player was the same as current expectations!

…In MLB baseball, team dynasties last as long as a nucleus of 5 or 6 superstars dot their roster. When they reach free agency (6 years)…it’s often, bye-bye. Sooo…. currently  players have a red-light for 6 years. Meaning that the original team has their rights for 6 years or until they trade them or release them.  Signing HIGH priced free agents just isn’t in the plan for many of the MLB teams. Generally, the last 3-6 spots on the roster are the players COMING & GOING.

…Unwritten titles as “the best team” in the MLB are centering around the super large metropolitan areas. NY & LA teams currently have the highest payrolls. This is NO SURPRISE. The Dodgers & Yankees are often ranked as 1 & 2 as far as best teams in MLB in 2025.The Mets & Padres are often also in the playoff hunt as they also reside as part of the same huge metropolitan areas. Competitive play where the majority of teams COME & GO in the playoffs by all the teams won’t occur until there is some type of cap that allows even the poorest teams to reach high up the ranks to upgrade their rosters. I don’t think that will happen in my lifetime 😊

… Big $$ DOESN’T COME & GO. It Wins!! Without a salary cap like many other sports use, the smaller MLB metropolitan cities are just “wishing & hoping” that they can draft 2 or 3 superstars and hang onto to them until they become a free agent (6 years) so that they can go deep in the playoffs with these home-grown stars.

… In 2025, the top 5 MLB teams by payroll are: New York Mets ($323.1 million), Los Angeles Dodgers ($321.3 million), New York Yankees ($293.5 million), Philadelphia Phillies ($284.2 million), and Toronto Blue Jays ($239.6 million). To give you an idea of the imbalance, the StL Cardinals team salary is $146.6m.

….With the expansion to 12 MLB playoff teams, reaching the playoffs is easier. That is 40% of the MLB teams making the playoffs. Teams understand that these star players will be GOING into free agency when  those golden free agent days arrive.

….The NFL’s salary cap is $255.4m/ per team.  With a 40 man roster that COMES & GOES frequently,  there is plenty of room for several “stars”.  The NFL college draft provides “new blood” each year. Most of those college players arrive at middle-of-the-road salaries.  However, Quarterbacks, star receivers & Offensive Tackles (to protect the QB) are now signed for multi-year contracts straight from college. Most of the roster, COMES & GOES, as performance, health, depth in the position shapes up the “new-comers” salary. With Head coaches changing with regularity, constant movement occurs throughout the NFL season.

….Speaking of the NFL, obviously NCAA-D1 football & basketball is their “feeder” system.  For decades NCAA players could not leave until the player had attended for 4 years.  Currently, NCAA players may make themselves available for the NFL draft after being out of High School for 3 years. It’s designed to make the COMING & GOING between NFL & NCAA easier. For the fans, the constant jumping to a different campus is frustrating.

…Btw…currently Mizzou has 13 players on NFL rosters. Who has the most?  To no one’s surprise…at least, not mine, Alabama has the most NFL player–57.

…….COMING & GOING is a not only a part of the MLB. It’s rampant in NCAA sports. NFL has some movement. Some college football coaches seemingly view the transfer process (using NIL money to lure players to their campus) nothing more than the recruiting of transfer players. The COMING & GOING to their roster doesn’t seem to phase them. Often, coaches who have accepted jobs at different schools, try to radically change their roster using NIL $$ to reshape their roster. For example, this spring, the leaders in taking transfers were W  Virginia’s Rich Rodriguez (31 transfers), Purdue’s Barry Odom (29 transfers) (former Mizzou coach) and UCF’s Scott Frost (27 transfers). That’s still not as many as Deion Sanders took at Colorado (43 transfers in 2024 and 52 transfers in 2023) in each of the previous two cycles.

…The NIL factor has really opened the gap for additional COMING & GOING at the College level. Roughly 40 percent of the all-league selections in 2024 (not including honorable mention) transferred at one point in their careers. Nearly a quarter of them (68 of 292) were acquired via the portal (NIL $$$) during the 2024 cycle. Twenty-five of those transfers were first-team all-conference honorees before they changed schools. I wish that the NCAA could devise a process that halts this prolific COMING & GOING from school to school. But….I’m probably too “old school” in my thoughts.

…Don’t think that the NCAA Football/Basketball players are the ONLY ones COMING & GOING. The average tenure for an NCAA football head coach is approximately 3.8 years. This means that, on average, a coach stays at their current school for about 3 and a half seasons. That’s a lot of schools for a “veteran” coach to move through during their career.

…But is that really DIFFERENT from the working Joe & Jane? Nope…There’s plenty of COMING & GOING for the Working Joe/Jane.  According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median time spent working at a company has decreased to 3.9 years. For those in management, professional, and related occupations, however, the median tenure is 4.8 years — and 4.9 years for those working in finance specifically.

… In Feb 2025, nearly half of American workers have been at their jobs either less than a year (22.2%) or more than 10 years (26.2%). The average American worker has been at their job for just under four years, according to January 2024 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) IN  2024. The Sports World seems equivalent to the Real World in COMING & GOING!

…Well, I’m GOING now & hoping that your responses will be COMING IN soon on this Buzz. Thanks for taking your time to read it! Don’t forget to check out the responses of some readers on my Facebook page-Bob Ryan.