100th Post Explosion of Sports

by Slate Quickilver

Iroquois had his extravaganza, so I will have an Explosion. It's wonderful that this site reached 100 posts and it's a great milestone. Yet, we can't dwell on it. We still have objectives to reach. But thank you for your support of this site, we know that you are out there (even if you don't post...) and we will continue to do better. That being said...

On to the explosion.

Issue #1: This is why we need a goddamn salary cap in baseball!

Please don't give me the standard "You are a fan of a small market" argument, because this is not a standard "Fan of a small market shooting at the big markets" argument. It's infuriating that the big market teams consolidate their power in just a 2 week swing.

Halladay to the Phillies? They don't need him! Yes, Philly is trading the gems of their system for the lone show horse of the Blue Jays organization. But the Phillies had Cliff Lee, who they could have had this upcoming year for cheaper.

Then we see the Red Sox getting John Lackey. Yet again, they do not need him! Lackey now reinforces the Red Sox already great pitching staff. The Red Sox getting John Lackey is like getting bacon on Double Quarter Pounder at McDonalds because you want more calories.

Hideki Matsui is going to the Angels, and guess what... THEY DON'T NEED HIM! Interestingly enough, this ties into my next target. Curtis Granderson to the Yankees!? THEY DON'T NEED HIM! Is Johnny Damon, Melky Cabrera and (formerly) Hideki Matsui not enough!?! The Tigers got Dombrowski'd. I do not weep for them, because the Marlins got Dombrowski'd several times. What is a Dombrowski? It's when your GM overreacts and trades your most popular players for marginal prospects just because the owner said "we need to lighten the load." A Dombrowski is an overreaction akin to lighting a cigarrette with a cruise missile.

Now listen, yes, I am a small market team. The smallest of the small market teams. The Marlins don't want to pay their players any more than $6.15 and hour. But should I change teams just because my owner is terrible human being who is leeching off of the system (the CBA that allows for shared revenue)? I don't condemn those teams because they do it. They can and it's good for them. But it kills the competitive balance of the game.

And that's why we need a salary cap. The salaries are already ludicrous. Randy Wolf for 29 million over 3 years? That's a joke and marginally insulting. We need a cap to kill those stupid contracts and to limit the big teams from ruining the game for the others. The big teams can still spend right up to the cap and the lower teams probably won't go that high. But it will return balance to the game. In fact, the NHL (yes, hockey) has it right (no that isn't a typo). They have a salary minimum. If you don't want to pay a minimum salary, then don't own a team. Competitive balance will return and the argument of "big market teams are killing the game" will go away.

Issue #2: The BigTen wants to add a 12th team?

Maybe. Maybe, possibly. It has to go through a vote with all of the school presidents and boards. And it will take years. But it could happen.

This is wonderful news for a conference trapped in the 1990s both in game strategy and structure. A 12th team will allow for divisions, a conference championship game and maybe a chance to bring in a new power team to return the conference back to respectability.

So who will it be?

Notre Dame: No. They are too stupid to jump at this opportunity. They have their fading NBC contract and will probably fade to nothing as a result.

Pitt: This is a legit one. They fit geographically, they have a tradition in playing Penn State and they are doing well.

Cincinnati: If Cincy goes and Notre Dame doesn't, wouldn't that make Brian Kelly a touch pissed? This would be good seeing as how the state of Ohio has only one team yet is the second largest state by population in the conference.

Issue #3: Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Tiger Woods, Tiger Woods Tiger Woods, Tiger Woods Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods, Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Tiger Woods! Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Tiger Woods.

So that's it folks. Thanks for a great first 100 posts, and we'll be back (hopefully) for another 100. We promise more Picks (we'll figure it out), more wrapups (we'll figure it out), more SVG auto sales and more food columns (yes, we remember those too).