Where Have You Gone Willie Mays Hayes?
I love the movie Major League. Its a classic late 80s film about an underdog team, in an underdog city, making a run to the World Series. Its about sports lifting the spirits of a downtrodden place and a team of nobodys coming together to spite a greedy owner (plus its starred Charlie Sheen, Wesley Snipes and Rene Russo when they were relative unknowns and one our greatest American actors, James Gammon).
Its a film that defines to me what makes sports so great. Its also the reason that college basketball is my favorite sport and the reason baseball is becoming my least favorite.
There was a time in baseball when I was growing up, and even around the time that movie came out, where you actually felt at the beginning of the year that any team had a chance to win.
john and mikehudack got me thinking about this as they discussed the pros and cons of a ticker tape parade (see conversation below) but as the city celebrates the Yankees 27th World Series win downtown, I can’t help but think of that movie and how this years win exemplifies how the Yankees (and the corporatization of baseball) have officially ruined the game.
There is alot to discuss on either side of this issue so I’ll leave it to the sports writers who have a better knowledge of salary caps and baseball history to make the case.
Lee “Hacksaw” Hamilton at SDNN, has some great perspective from a small market that nails all the points I’ve been feeling.
Big Payroll Bombers Win The World Series
I hope for one that they move forward with the salary cap ceiling and spending floor minimums so that we might have a chance to see a real underdog make a run at the World Series again.
john: I’m a bona fide Yankee fan - but in terms of throwing ticker tape parades thru the Canyon of Heroes for sports teams that win trophies after spending 208m - with U.S. unemployment at 10%?
I’d think best we save such celebrations for things like landing on the moon.
mikehudack: Really? Give me a break. People need sports and distractions and levity and wins even more in times of recession and unemployment. It doesn’t matter if the win is landing on the moon or winning the World Series. It’s all about celebration in bleak times.
And those $208mm were injected into the economy just like the billions spent on the Apollo Program.
john: I get the part about the uplifting celebration in bleak times - my point was does lower Manhattan need a massive ticker tape parade around what is really a commercial enterprise. Can’t compare the wins? Please. Take the parade to Yankee Stadium, save the big ‘Canyon of Heroes’ show for epic national events (wars won) and true heroes (U.S. astronauts first on the moon).
