Saj, these three commissioners are seeing some sort of scandal in their league.
MLB, Bud Selig, has to deal with an unlikeable lawbreaker breaking the greatest record in the sport.
NBA, David Stern, has to deal with a NBA ref who bet on games he reffed.
NFL, Roger Goodell, has one of his marquee players torturing dogs.
Saj, which commissioner would you want to be least and why?
Bud Selig. At least David Stern and Roger Goodell have tangible problems to deal with. Sure, Stern will have to answer questions about his league's credibility. And sure, Goodell will have to continue to pretend that the psychology of football does not lead to unruly behavior off the field. But Bud Selig? He'll have to sit there and watch a man he despises break one of baseball's most cherished records. All of this while Bonds' ex-mistress poses for Playboy because he reneged on paying her the hush money he promised her. And Selig can do nothing about it.
I don't envy any of these men. Well, except for Goodell who is relatively young and rules the most valuable sports league in the world with the iron fist of Zeus. And maybe Stern, a little. The wall of his office must be plastered with pictures of him shaking hands with ridiculously tall black men wearing ill-fitting NBA caps. But not Selig. Nobody likes him. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have his job. But I'd also have to look like this AND pretend I don't still own the Brewers.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
Two week vacation over
Saj, should Bud Selig attend Giants games until Barry Bonds breaks the record? Should Hank Aaron?
No. And here's why: I don't care. The closest thing I can approximate to Aaron and/or Maris breaking Ruth's records (in my twenty or so years of baseball viewing) would be Ripken breaking Gehrig's streak and McGwire hitting number 62. And this does not feel like that. Remember the pomp that surrounded McGwire as he circled the bases after hitting the most anemic homerun in his career? I cared. I cared, a lot. But I, like many fans, really don't give a s*** what Bonds does. The argument for Aaron to not attend is clear. Why should he put himself out to celebrate a man he cares nothing for? And if no one cares, and Bonds has the Feds breathing down his fat neck, why should Bud Selig support someone who could, in the next year or two, be charged with a crime in which cheating in baseball is implicit.
That being said, I'll be watching when Bonds goes for 756. Swearing at the television and all.
I agree with your personal feelings on the matter. I'll be cursing his breaking of the record. But Bud Selig is the commissioner of baseball. He always goes to these types of things. A non-attendence from Selig, however, is a critique of his own league. Steroids was happening under his nose. Either he was ignorant, incompetant, or dismissive during the steroid era. To then not show up for one of the roid-heads when they break a record is close to hypocritical.
What's your thoughts on Bonds being one short or tied when the Giants go on the road for six games next week? Do the Giants sit Bonds for all those games?
I don't think sitting Bonds for those games is the right thing to do. Obviously almost everyone in America would prefer it (including me) and the Giants will probably do it, but to sit him for four or five games dimishes the achievement. To sit at 754 and say to everyone in baseball that "I want to break this record on my own terms" is disrespectful. Hitting a homerun in a major league baseball game is not an easy thing to do, especially not 755+ times. The Giants and Bonds should not put themselves in a position where they have a choice on the matter.
That being said, I hope they play Bonds just so I can see him try his hardest to surreptitiously sabotage himself during every at-bat until he returns to San Francisco.
No. And here's why: I don't care. The closest thing I can approximate to Aaron and/or Maris breaking Ruth's records (in my twenty or so years of baseball viewing) would be Ripken breaking Gehrig's streak and McGwire hitting number 62. And this does not feel like that. Remember the pomp that surrounded McGwire as he circled the bases after hitting the most anemic homerun in his career? I cared. I cared, a lot. But I, like many fans, really don't give a s*** what Bonds does. The argument for Aaron to not attend is clear. Why should he put himself out to celebrate a man he cares nothing for? And if no one cares, and Bonds has the Feds breathing down his fat neck, why should Bud Selig support someone who could, in the next year or two, be charged with a crime in which cheating in baseball is implicit.
That being said, I'll be watching when Bonds goes for 756. Swearing at the television and all.
I agree with your personal feelings on the matter. I'll be cursing his breaking of the record. But Bud Selig is the commissioner of baseball. He always goes to these types of things. A non-attendence from Selig, however, is a critique of his own league. Steroids was happening under his nose. Either he was ignorant, incompetant, or dismissive during the steroid era. To then not show up for one of the roid-heads when they break a record is close to hypocritical.
What's your thoughts on Bonds being one short or tied when the Giants go on the road for six games next week? Do the Giants sit Bonds for all those games?
I don't think sitting Bonds for those games is the right thing to do. Obviously almost everyone in America would prefer it (including me) and the Giants will probably do it, but to sit him for four or five games dimishes the achievement. To sit at 754 and say to everyone in baseball that "I want to break this record on my own terms" is disrespectful. Hitting a homerun in a major league baseball game is not an easy thing to do, especially not 755+ times. The Giants and Bonds should not put themselves in a position where they have a choice on the matter.
That being said, I hope they play Bonds just so I can see him try his hardest to surreptitiously sabotage himself during every at-bat until he returns to San Francisco.
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