The Great One - The Treatment of Athletes

OPINION/COMMENTARY
Since the advent of free agency in sports, the treatment of athletes has changed from revered and respected to overvalued and too closely treated like a commodity. While Billy Beane changed the way that teams managed their players and the value of contracts, he also changed the way that teams spent their money on athletes that were seemingly at the top of their games. Teams seeking to the best, began spending more to put those smaller market teams in the rear view even more than they already had been (salary-wise).

Players like Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols are viewed as business partners to be paid in order to bring the franchises value to an all-time level. Franchises aren't looking so much for an identity, rather they are trying to be identified by trophies/titles.

In the 1960s and 70s, athletes were paid because they brought a level of respect to a franchise or because they were respected by the franchise. Not because they solely brought in titles. The identity of a team was based off of its athletes, not its front office.

The relationship between franchise and athlete used to be based on a mutual respect. Now, athletes rush off to attain the largest possible contract and franchises pay athletes to bring in the largest possible win total. While winning is the measuring stick for a championship franchise, the result has been an athlete more driven by the amount of zeroes on a check rather than their positive impact on the game and its fans.

Billy Beane's model of attaining athletes by statistical output has had a similar impact on sports as free agency did. Franchises trying to be more efficient coupled with other franchises wanting to spend more in order to win, has left the average to good athlete undervalued and under appreciated. Teams either want to buy the best or save the most.

Can teams have both?

Franchises should seek to do both, while also keeping prices down so that fans of all economical backgrounds can enjoy the games that are played. Players should be shown respect for their value to the culture of a team. Wins and loses do not solely identify any one franchise.

QUESTION: With that in mind, how was the treatment of Wayne Gretzky similar to the ideas presented above? Do you think that athletes that are role players or minimally paid are treated with respect? USE EXAMPLES. RESPOND TO YOUR PEERS. WORTH 10 POINTS!

Fear and Miracle

DUE Wednesday, September 7th
Directions: Answer the question(s) below by responding to the original post. Do not create a new post. Be sure that you are responding to the original so that the entire class can read your responses.

REQUIREMENTS
1. Respond to the original post in at least 3 sentences.
2. Respond to the response of one of your peers by starting with...

"I agree with [FILL IN NAME HERE]..." I disagree with [FILL IN NAME HERE]..."

PROMPT
Using Roger Kahn's article, The Crucial Role Fear Plays in Sports, explain the role that fear played in the success of the 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team.

QUOTES TO CONSIDER
"It is never possible to conquer fear, but it can be subdued for a time."
"Watch the great athlete work at his craft and you see someone that has know fear before and who will know again but goes about his job fearlessly."
"...there is something to cause fear in every avenue of sport, and whatever exists is sufficient. To the athlete, fear is a condition of the job."
"The other fear in sports, fear of failure, is less predictable, more common, less understood, more discussed, and runs into the science of psychiatry."
"[Fear] also strikes athletes without regard to race, creed, or intelligence. It also strikes them without regard to the actual peril in their work."