Once a year —okay, maybe more than that— I use this space to remind you that greed is going to ruin sports.

 Players closing in on billion dollar contracts, with even mediocre players far exceeding the 10-20 million dollar range. Or in Brock Purdy’s case the 180 million range. Billion dollar TV contracts rule the day. Professional leagues watering down the regular season by adding more and more teams to their playoff fields in order to make even more money.

Speaking of adding teams to playoff fields, let’s look at how greed is messing with something that is part of the fabric in America.

Will college sports succumb to greed?

Okay, maybe that is a bit dramatic. After all, this isn’t a soap opera. Or is it?

College sports used to be pure. No, not you 1980’s SMU. And, well, most schools south of the Mason-Dixon Line were a little slimy to be honest. I mean, the SEC was dominating college football until NIL made it so everyone could pay players.

But you get the picture. It was college kids playing for their schools, with only a certain small percentage prepping to become professionals.

There was no NIL. No portal. No foot warmers in locker rooms. No collectives. No mega conferences. No billion dollar TV deals. No 700 million dollar stadium renovations.

Just football and the occasional under the table C-note or two.

Pure. Or as pure as we were going to get.

Anybody that says those days weren’t better must be too young to remember them. We weren’t wringing our hands over strength of schedule and recruiting rankings. We certainly didn’t need a list of who was in the portal. Heck, we didn’t know what a portal was back then.

As the years went by, the money became more and it became too enticing. In the past five years we have watched as conferences, schools, coaches, and now even players realized they better get theirs while the getting is good.

Greed.

Greed took regionalization away from us.

Greed took the joy of all New Year’s Day major bowls. It will now take sunset away from the Rose Bowl.

Greed took great intersectional games from us.

Now greed is trying to take tradition and more.

Regardless of who you want to blame, the USC/Notre Dame rivalry is in jeopardy. Penn State doesn’t play Pitt. Oklahoma doesn’t play Nebraska. Rivalries don’t matter in this greedy new world. Giant conferences requiring 9 league games, playoff ramifications, and the desire to have as many home games as possible have taken precedent over tradition.

The need to make super conferences robbed us of regionalization, which in turn is putting some of the traditional rivalries in jeopardy. Nobody is particularly eager to play an emotional rivalry game against a tough opponent in the middle of a grueling conference schedule. A game that could be the deciding factor in not making the playoff. It is a money play. Playoffs mean money for schools, coaches, and in the future probably the players will start to get a cut, too.

Notre Dame wants the USC game to be played as is because they don’t have to worry about a conference schedule. As an independent, Notre Dame doesn’t have to share anything.

Greed.

The latest example of greed is showing up in both college football and college basketball. In both sports it appears that the playoffs/tournament will expand. It isn’t that I am losing sleep over these decisions, but at the same time it just isn’t necessary. But you know the deal. More games, more revenue. 

The NCAA basketball tournament is perfect. I wasn’t for the jump from 64 to 68 but must admit I now like the First Four games. They feel like a preview of what’s about to come. There is no need to expand further.

We Already allow teams in the tournament with conference records of 7-11, 8-12, etc. If you can’t finish .500 in your conference you don’t need to be in the post season tournament. By increasing the field to 72, 74, or 76 simply means more of those sub .500 teams will get invites to the Big Dance. If deserving small conference teams got most of these additional bids it would be more palatable. There is ample evidence to indicate that won’t happen..

There is more balance across the country these days. More teams are capable of winning games in the tournament. That doesn’t mean they should all get a bid. The idea of the tournament is to find a national champion. Teams 69, 70, 71, and 72 are not winning a title. It does, however, create more TV opportunities for Tuesday and Wednesday before the first round begins.

I am not sure there is a market for more games, but the powers that be will squeeze every possible dollar out of the tourney. They will never admit this is a money play. They will do it under the guise of more equity for the parity that exists among teams.

I am not going to go bonkers over 4 to 8 more teams being added to the tournament. In the long run, it won’t make a difference in the outcome of the tournament. It does beg the question of whether it will stop there or whether the group wanting to go to 128 teams will get louder and push harder. One thing you can count on is the almighty dollar will guide their decision.

College football went to an expanded playoff system last year. They went cruising right past the correct number of 8 teams and landed on 12 teams. Next season it is likely they will already expand to a 16 team playoff field. More playoff games will break the bank in TV money.

That isn’t the only greed driven decision we will see. The real fun will come in determining the criteria for teams making the field.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, the king of greed and SEC hyperbole, wants his conference to be assured 4 automatic bids. The other of the Big 2 conferences, the Big Ten, would also receive 4 automatic bids. Sankey, however, wasn’t sure that format would be fair to his conference. He insinuated that a system like that could cost his conference a fifth, sixth, or seventh bid. Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said he thinks the best 16 teams should make the playoff. Of course, Kiffin thinks 14 of those teams would be from the SEC.

I’ve got news for Sankey. The SEC is no longer head and shoulders better than everyone else. Not in football(check last year’s results). Not in baseball(again, check this week’s results from the tournament). Not in basketball, despite having a phenomenal performance last year.

Meanwhile, the Big 12 and ACC are not so keen on getting short changed on possible playoff bids. They will push back. 

The whole thing could turn into a money grabbing disaster. I’ve said it before and I will say it again. Maybe the BCS computers weren’t so bad.

Anyway, 16 teams is too many and leads to many legitimate questions.

How many games will be at campus sites? How will the giant pot of money be divided? How long does the season last? What happens to the legitimate bowl games that aren’t part of the playoffs? Will the conference championship games maintain any meaningfulness? What about the regular season?

All of those questions raise legitimate concerns. The top five concerns of the college football power brokers?

  1. $$$
  2. $$$
  3. $$$
  4. $$$
  5. $$$

It is becoming ridiculous at this point.

One of college football’s most iconic programs, Penn State, is spending 700 million dollars to renovate their erector set of a stadium. Meanwhile ticket prices will go up, donor expectations will increase, parking will be more expensive, and satellite campuses will be shuttered.

Other schools will do similar things in an effort to keep up with the competition.

The fans are a distant last in terms of who and what is taken into consideration in this new money driven world. As fans, we are partially responsible. You know you are going to watch however many games they put on our TV sets. Diehard fans will continue to tailgate and show up at stadiums all across America. We complain, but the reality is we can’t get enough.

Because of the amount of revenue being taken in by schools for college sports, the players had to start getting paid. In typical NCAA fashion, there were no rules set up for how this paying players would work. Enter greedy parents and greedy agents/handlers. Until the House ruling gets handed down to set some type of guardrails, Wild West conditions will continue.

Because of the pay for play, kids are transferring at will to go to the school with the fattest bag of cash. Again, Wild West conditions.

Often times change is good. Often, change is necessary. I’ve always hated change but being as objective as possible, this is not good change. This is destructive and damaging to a product that has always grabbed our hearts.

With that said, take me back to my childhood of the 70’s and 80’s. Players remained loyal to their schools rather than a bag of money. They wanted to play in the bowl game no matter whether it was the Orange Bowl or Bluebonnet Bowl. New Year’s Day was a bonanza of major bowl games, many times with the winners of two or more of those games claiming a national title.

It was an imperfect system for finding a champion, but it sure was more pure. It was college sports. Bowl games were fine. 64 teams for March Madness was plenty. Kids stayed with their original school more often than not.

Money and greed is eroding college sports. It is essentially becoming a semi-pro league.

Change can be good. It can also be destructive.

If common sense doesn’t come along real soon, greed will destroy college sports.

Two Cent Takes

NHL

~The Penguins are expected to name a head coach this week. The rumor mill is speculating it could be former Ottawa head coach DJ Smith. Smith had a losing record and no playoff appearances in Ottawa, but he did help them while they were in transition. The Pens are in that same situation, so maybe that is why he is a finalist for the job. For me this would be an “eh” hire.

~Edmonton in 6 to become the first Canadian Stanley Cup winner in 32 years. It is time for Connor McDavid.

NBA

~Pacers vs Thunder. Just what the league needs but doesn’t want. Two different teams give fans for every team hope that, they too, can see their team in the Finals. For ten straight years starting in 1980 the Lakers, Celtics, or both were in the finals. Then starting in 1991 the Bulls and Michael Jordan won 6 championships in 8 years. In 2000, the Lakers appeared in 7 of 11 finals. Beginning in 2015 we got Warriors/Cavs four years in a row. Something tells me we could be in for a whole lot of OKC.

~We saw the end of Inside the NBA on TNT this past weekend. The boys will move to ESPN, but even Charles Barkley admits it won’t be the same. ESPN tends to ruin everything it touches these days. Do yourself a favor and get on social media and play all the “greatest of” clips being passed around. Never has a studio show had this much fun while still providing solid analysis.

 

 

 

NFL

~Stefon Diggs is living life to the fullest this offseason, which is a problem for Mike Vrabel and the Patriots.

 

Is it not possible to be a WR1 without being a question mark off the field?

~With everyone in Pittsburgh on Aaron Rodgers watch, word leaked out that the Steelers may be interested in Kirk Cousins if the Falcons make the financials work. Despite Donald Trump referring to Mason Rudolph as the Steelers starting QB over the weekend, it appears the Steelers are trying desperately to make sure that isn’t the case. Just when it appeared the Steelers couldn’t look any worse in this situation.

~In more confusing news, the Steelers appear to be kicking the tires on trading for any former Arthur Smith tight end. First it was Dolphins tight end Jonnu Smith and now Atlanta’s Kyle Pitts. Apparently the Steelers are trying to compensate for a lack of wide receivers with as many tight ends as they can roster.

Golf

~Tell me where you’ve heard this before. Scottie Scheffler won a tournament. Scheffler defended his title at The Memorial by playing smart, steady golf. I told you in my column two weeks ago that you were witnessing greatness. Maybe you didn’t believe me, but you can believe this guy.

 

~Why is Max Homa a fan favorite despite going through a tough stretch? Not only is he trying to qualify for the U.S. Open, but he is on the bag for himself. Good stuff. Homa three putted on 18, which cost him his spot.

 


MLB

~Last week I told you Phillies pitcher Jesus Luzardo was a Cy Young candidate. His next outing: 3.1 IP, 12 hits, 12 ER. You’re welcome Phillies fans.

~Just how bad are the Colorado Rockies?

 

~Don Kelly has got the Pirates playing much better baseball, but unfortunately Ben Cherington is still employed as the GM. Sunday the Pirates lost because they don’t have major league caliber pitchers in the bullpen. Well, that isn’t totally true. Carmen Mlodzinski proved to be a quality reliever last year but the Pirates are insisting on him being a starter, which they have plenty of. Genius.

College Baseball

~I have enjoyed watching more college baseball this year. The regionals have been drama filled and fantastic. Wake Forest’s manager will probably be reprimanded for this incident caught on camera.

 

I am not condoning his choice of words, but I get his irritation with the Tennessee player at which his words were directed. I have never seen anything like these SEC teams, and particularly Tennessee, that pimp every home run and strikeout. Many times directly taunting the opponent. I would last about three batters against these teams because I would hit every batter than steps into the batter’s box. It is completely ridiculous. Nice to see that most of those bids Greg Sankey was bragging about flamed out already.

The Weekly Shiny Penny

If you are not a fan of the movie The Sandlot we probably can’t be friends. If you are a fan, you are well aware of The Great Hambino. He made an appearance at the Savanna Bananas game, and was a big hit.

 


A Penny For My Final Thought…

I wasn’t sure it was possible, but ball/strike umpiring has gotten worse. This fact begs the question, why doesn’t MLB use the challenge system that the minor leagues use?

There is far more scrutiny on home plate umpires these days. Everybody has the K zone box on their TV. Every team has multiple tablets in the dugout so players and coaches get immediate feedback on calls. There is even a website/Twitter feed called umpire auditor for all to see. It is more imperative than ever for these umpires to be better.

This has been a bad stretch of years for ball/strike calls, but here are just a few from the past few days.

 

That should have been a bases loaded walk to tie the game. It prompted this reaction from the Pirates, including mild mannered Andrew McCutchen.

 

This one is interesting because of who got thrown out.

 

Carlos Correa was thrown out from the on deck circle where he could see that pitch was clearly low.

This one is the most bizarre situation of all.

 

Apparently tapping your helmet is the signal in the minor leagues that you want to challenge the call. Apparently that didn’t sit well with that particular umpire.

Finally, here is the umpire auditor on Andy Fletcher his last time behind the plate. It bears reminding that Fletcher is a crew chief.

 

You can find horrible calls like this every night of the season.

 Everybody misses a call here and there, but this has reached an egregious level. In addition, the umpires have a short fuse when they are questioned on calls.

The technology is available for the challenge system to be implemented. The usage of the challenge is quick and immediate, so it would not grind the game to a halt. It is insane that this system has not been put in place at the major league level.

The umpires simply aren’t good enough. Today’s players, for all their faults, have an excellent sense of the strike zone. This is becoming a major problem, and baseball doesn’t need more problems.

The challenge system would be a perfect solution that would allow the game to avoid robo umps.

This would be a win-win if baseball would just open its eyes. Something home plate umpires can’t seem to do.

Just my two cents…