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Part C - Salary Cap in MLB

I agree that the players should care more about the game of baseball instead of worrying about how much they are getting paid. It’s true in order to win it is key to play together as a team, the Mets have never played very well together and they have a pretty high payroll just like the Yankees. When a team realizes this I think a team can not be stopped.

Salary Cap in MLB? …Final Project

For my “final project” since I’ve been blogging about sports this semester I chose another sports issue to talk about. The issue that I found was about the baseball team that I think everybody loves to hate, the New York Yankees. Ever since the beginning of baseball history the Yankees have been “the team to beat”, and why is that? The reason for this success I think is that they have the money to go out and get great ball players such as: Roger Clemens of the 90’s, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez aka “A-Rod” of today. What I think makes people love to hate the Yankees is the ability to get any great player that they want because they have the money to do just that.

The article I read is about the New York Yankees latest acquisition Curtis Granderson. The hard hitting, lighting fast centerfielder, is the Yankees new “centerpiece” of there already all-star lineup. The article explained what the Yankees had to give up in order to acquire Granderson. The Yankees gave up their No. 1 or No. 2 centerfield prospect Austin Jackson, but also a large sum of money which meant an enormous increase in Curtis Granderson’s paycheck.  Also in this article there is talk about the Yankees trying to get the ex Minnesota Twins ace pitcher Johann Santana. If the Yankees were to get Santana they would almost have an unhittable pitching staff, not to mention that they still have the by power hitting “A-Rod” and the always consistent Derek Jeter.

After reading this article and being a huge baseball fan, I think it is terrible that the Yankees are able to just get anyone that they want just because of the money they have! An easy way to resolve this problem would be to enforce a salary cap in baseball so that teams may not acquire these high dollar ball players by persuading them with insane amounts of money. Having a salary cap would even out the playing field between all the teams in Major League Baseball, and would even make for a more exciting season and post season. This would make the game more about the actual “team unity” rather than just for the love of a big paycheck. The National Football league has a salary cap and it is a lot more competitive. There are several great games every week. If National Football did not have a salary cap, Randy Moss, Payton Manning, Reggie Bush, and Adrian Peterson would all be on the same team making up an unstoppable force.

I’m totally against what the Yankees are doing with the ability to spend as much money as they want to win a world series. As a fan I want to see great games of well balanced opponents. This would make Major League Baseball a lot more entertaining and could even draw more fans. Teams like the Twins who do not have that much money to spend on players makes it hard to keep the all-star players they have on the team. A good example of this is Johann Santana; he was an all-star pitcher for the Twins who was bought by the New York Mets for a huge increase in his paycheck. I would rather see a team earn a world series by playing good baseball as a team, rather than “buying the world series” by signing half the all-star team.

Vikings vs. Cardinals

The Vikings have had a amazing season so far this year, and hope to carry this success deep into the playoffs. The Vikes will have a big test this week against the returning superbowl contenders from last year the Arizona Cardinals. I think that the Vikings should win pretty easily after coming off a huge win last week against the Bears. While the Cardinals lost to the Titans in a close game, but the Cardinals gave up 500+ yards to a weak Titan offense. I think that the Vikings have a lot of key offensive players. Percy Harvin and Adrian Peterson will have a big games tonight. With a weak run defense, I think that Peterson will go over a hundred tonight, and Harvin will get close to a hundred recieving yards as well. With the Vikings winning 38-24.

Titans Bounce Back

The Tennesse Titans had a rough start to the 2009-2010 season; starting out with 4 consecutive losses, but that is all turning around now because of a quarterback change. Kerry Collins started the season at quarterback but now is sitting behind Vince Young a second year quarterback out of the University of Texas. Young has been a competive player all through his career setting several college records as well as leading his Texas Longhorns to a national championship in 2006. He won the game on a quarterback scramble by running for the touchdown from 12 yards out. Now Young is leading a different team but with the same results. Since the 25 year old QB took over he has lead the team to 5 straight victories over some decent competition, the latest being the Arizona Cardinals who were 7-3.

Bengal’s Finally Make a Stand

The Cincinnati Bengals have played second seat behind the Pittsburgh Steelers for almost 20 seasons, but now the tables have turned. The Bengals beat the Steelers 18-12 on Sunday to take control of the AFC North. It seems like the Bengals have came out of no where, after coming of a rough 2008-2009 season. This year the Bengals have stepped up and making them a legitimate threat to make a superbowl run. By sweeping the season series for the first time since 1998, the Bengals effectively lead Pittsburgh by two games because they own the tiebreaker and, for the first time in their history, a 5-0 division record. Usually by now they’re playing for next year, to get a high draft pick, but this year they may be playing for home field advantage in the playoffs.

Dan Marino’s Record

Dan Marino has owned the all time passing yards in one season with 5,084. He has held this record since 1984. Many great quarterback have came close to breaking his record. Quarterbacks such as Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, and Tom Brady. Drew Brees came the closest last year only falling 14 yards short. Peyton Manning came within a hundred also coming up 54 yards short. The reason many believe Brees was not able to top Dan Marino was because Marino had three more games to accomplish this feat. ESPN’s Tim Graham said, “Earlier this week, the NFL sent out a release that listed the 10 quarterbacks who are on pace to finish with more than 4,000 yards passing this year”. Among the ten quarterbacks Drew Brees is once again in the running to break the record. This year I think Brees will in fact break the record. He is way ahead of the pack throwing already for 2,006 yards.

BENGALS DEDICATE WIN

The Cinicinati Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, came home to what no one would want to come home too. He came home to his wife Vikkie Zimmer unresponsive after he came home from practice. The death was a huge shock to the whole Bengal organization. Vikki Zimmer was no stranger to the coaches and players of the Bengals football team. She would cook and bake cookies for them before games and would often call the players to make sure they are doing alright. Before the game on Sunday, the Bengal football team dedicated this game for Vikkie and wanted to win at any cost. The Bengals defense played its best game of the season, holding the NFL’s leading offense to 257 yards and one touchdown. Carson Palmer lead the Bengal offense down the field with less than a minute on the clock and through 20 yard touchdown pass to win the game. What suprised me, was that Mike Zimmer still coached that day. When he was asked why, he said, “Vikki was one of the biggest fans and he wanted to win for her”.

Denver Broncos 5-0

The Denver Broncos football team has been a struggling organization since there future hall of fame quarterback and running back retired ten years ago. The Broncos have always been on the edge of the playoff bubble, but could never quite break that barrier. This year may be the year to break that barrier after starting out 5-0. Over the past five years the Denver Broncos have drafted several key players to their roster. One player that has been a standout wide receiver is Brandon Marshall. He has already put up very impressive stats so far in his career. Marshall has scored a total of 17 touchdowns with 3,118 receiving yards. He has been the heart and sole of the Denver Broncos offense, and has proved that this year but beating the New England Patriots; an always very tough team. Brandon Marshall had a great game against the Patriots by catching 8 passes and gaining 64 yards receiving while scoring 2 touchdowns.

New Orlean Saints for real?

The New Orlean Saints football team has been flying under the radar for the last couple years. They started out strong last year, motivated by Hurricane Katrina by started out 3-0. They seem to let that great start slip away and miss the playoffs. This year may be the year that the Saints go all the way. Lead by Drew Brees who has thrown 9 touchdowns so far this season, and by their tough back field of Reggie Bush and Peirre Thomas. The Saints have a unique offense that switches every week to keep opposing defenses guessing. The Saints offense so far this season has averaged 40 points per game. With all eyes on the Saints offense they forget about their solid defense that has improved by leaps and bounds to hold teams under 10 points per game. Today the Saints met the New York Jets who also were 3-0 and walked all over there defense that is in the top five for the NFL. Today New Orleans really proved that they are here to stay, and will be the team to beat.

Professional Football

The last several years the New York Jets have been a struggling football team. Playing some of the best teams in the NFL such as the Patriots, Steelers, and the Giants, the Jets have been the “push over” game for all of these teams for the last couple years. To some people it seems as if one name changed that. That name being Mark Sanchez a first year rookie who is the starting quarter back for the Jets. Sanchez was a two year starter for the power house USC Trojans in college. Then he entered the draft in 2009 getting drafted by the Jets. Sanchez has proved himself as a starting quarterback in the NFL by defeating to highly ranked teams right from the start, first being the Houstan Texans and the always tough New England Patriots. Against the Patriots Mark Sanchez lead his team down the field against a tough Patriot defense to set up the game winning field goal. That drive really proved Sanchez’s confidence and shows that he doesn’t fold under pressure.