Coaches Never Stay

I was recently reading about Alabama head basketball coach, Mark Gottfried, resigning from his position. No one sticks around anymore. Gottfried isn't a great example because he resigned, but most coaches don't get a chance to prove themselves these days. The NBA has already fired a handful of coaches before midseason. The longest tenured NFL coach is currently Jeff Fischer of the Titans, holding down the reigns for 13 years.
What ever happened to the Joe Paterno's? Coaches are in, and before they can get a chance to get their system in place, and get a few players to fit that system, they're canned. Teams hire these coaches to turn things around. If you aren't going to give them a chance, then what's the point? Jerry Sloan of the Utah Jazz is one of the few men of his position to be treated fairly. When the Jazz have a down season, which they rarely do, they don't show Sloan the door. They know he can turn it around.
I believe you really have to hire a coach that shares the philosophy you want to build on. When it doesn't work in the first season, let him work out the kinks. There's just too much in and out. Kids coming into college rarely know who their coach will be coming into school. It's likely that by the time they get there, he'll be gone.

High School Media

Here's whats really putting me at my boiling point today. The amount of high school recruiting and media coverage that goes on now its absurd. If going to college is really about education first and athletics somewhere after that, what chance do these kids have? They're going to college why? Because most of them have to for a year or two before they can go pro. Recruiting is an absolute joke these days. There are All-American games for about every sport. It's not about prestige like it used to be either. Multiple site rank high school players. They are ranking kids in middle school now. What in the world is going on? These kids are being told in the 8th grade that they are going to be professional athletes. How are they supposed to keep their heads on straight? The rankings are a joke anyway. The majority of the kids you seen on the lists don't make it anyway. I wonder why that is. I mean, that's not exactly a lot of pressure on a high school kid is it?

Mo media mo problems

You know what really eats away at me? I'm watching ESPN, and on every show, they are talking about the altercation between Anquan Boldin and Cardinals offensive coordinator Todd Haley. I absolutely hate this. The media blows something like this way out of proportion.
When you get players and coaches on the same team that have a desire to win, you are going to have run-ins. That's part of the game. If these guys didn't care, it would have never happened. The guys and coaches get into all the time in the dugout on my team. It's not because we hate each other, it's because we're not seeing eye to eye at that moment and we are expressing ourselves.
I just don't understand why the media has to focus on the Boldin incident so much. Bolding actually had to do an interview to protect himself. It's so weak that a squabble like this took away from a great game. Let's not forget that the Cardinals are actually in the Super Bowl. Is ESPN talking about that? Some... but that is all they should be talking about. And I know it's not even put on there by guys who don't know sports and think it's a huge deal. The Bolding altercation is shown over and over so the commentators have something to talk about, and ESPN can create a soap opera that doesn't even exist.

Economics and Baseball

The world of baseball is not fair. The Yankees, who as I mention I highly dislike, will go into '09 with a payroll well over $200 million. What did the formerly lowly Rays pay? Only $43 million in base salaries to earn their way into the World Series. What the Rays did is not so highly uncommon. The Marlins do it quite frequently. You build young, selling off your veterans for good minor league prospects, and then reap the rewards. The downside is that once these prospects prove themselves, small market teams can hardly afford to resign them, losing them to the large market teams (Yanks, Red Sox, Cubs, Mets, Angels). Do any of those teams sound familiar? That's because their in the playoffs about every year. Teams like the Rays and Marlins can't realistically build "dynasties" because they have to sell off their current talent for younger talent.
I am a Reds fan. We're middle market. In a year like this where the market is fairly slow, we still can't add enough players to be a legitimate contender. While other teams struggle to sign relievers and role players, the Yankees drop near a billion on contracts for Sabathia, Burnett, and Texiera. Where is the justice? The economy has gone down. This affects everyone, including the MLB, so it should come as no surprise that teams aren't throwing out as much money this offseason. Some teams still are. Will there ever be a level playing field?

Reds Still Out For a Power Hitter

The Reds are still on the market for a power hitter. They could have had Jermaine Dye by dealing away Homer Bailey. What they wouldn't do is pick up Dye's $12 mil contract. This really pushes my buttons because a mid market team like the Reds can't pick up one solid veteran bat, while the Yanks, Cubs, and Red Sox spend literally over $1 billion on new contracts this offseason. Shouldn't the Yankees luxury tax alone be enough to let the Reds sign Dye? Come on.