Off-Topic Forum

SO MUCH that I CAN reply to here, but I'll try to keep it short. I don't really follow NHL, so I can't comment on that. But I will say the Hurricanes have the same contractual deal to their location as the Panthers NFL team has (can not leave the state for X amount of years no matter who owns them).

I have to go with a tie for the worst "commishioners" being Roger Goddell (NFL) and Brian France (NASCAR). France practically destroyed NASCAR and Goodell is still wishy-washy on almost everything he says every 6 months. Goodell has no idea how to deal with situations and makes different "rules" for each case. France constantly ONLY though about his own pocket. Dale Sr. dying in the crash in 2001 "killed" the sport BECAUSE France let it happen. He started changing everything! There were still huge crowds and many fan-favorites were still racing then. But with each change he made, more fans left the sport. Eventually, the fans leaving the sport and tracks led to less sponsorship and that led to tracks reducing the seating to reduce maintenance costs of the tracks. I did like the introduction of the "playoffs" initially, but when they change every year or two there's a point when casual fans just don't care anymore. The addition of "stages" a few years ago is one change I do like and I think that was the doing of Jim France. I know adding the disqualification of a winner failing post-race inspections rule was a Jim France thing and that has been a fantastic improvement. Jim France is moving the sport forward!

In baseball, Selig did a lot of things right early in his run and a lot of things wrong later in his run. But Manfred is mostly doing things wrong. I can't think of a single positive for Manfred besides no player-strikes. That's not really a positive since there hasn't been a strike since '94. Just like the CBA's, I can't really commend or blame the exclusivity deal for cards on him b/c I'm sure that's a committee issue, not just the commish.

As for MLB rules, I'm on the fence with the DH. Fine with me in the AL but not in the NL, it's a long history of that now. Personally, I WANT to see the pitchers have to face other pitchers at the plate. I'm fine with the DH in the All-Star Game though. I also like Interleague play, but not a ton of games. They should do it similar to the way the NFL does. One series against each team in a set division of the opposite league each year. IE.: The AL East teams should each play a 3-game series against each team in the NL East one year and then against the Central the next year and then against the West the next year. And so on for each division in each league. We don't need to see the Yankees vs. Mets every year OR the Cubs/White Sox OR the A's/Giants or the Marlins/Rays EVERY single year. In the NFL, each division team plays one game each against the 4 teams in a specific division of the opposite conference and that is on a 4-year cycle.

Personally, I still think the best thing for MLB is to drop the total number of games in a season by a bit (at least 20 games). Adding a team in each league to the playoffs doesn't help anything. Just like the NFL adding a game to the season or a team in each league to the playoffs doesn't change anything. Most sports seem to ONLY be chasing TV money!!! They need to be chasing the money of butts in the seats AT the stadiums! That's where the money is, but even before the "pandemic", that's not where the butts were going. Most sports have priced themselves out of that b/c people would rather sit through commercials at home than spend a bunch of money at the field, stadium or track!

The only one I don't have an issue with is Adam Silver, but I don't follow basketball much. I dislike Goodell, Manfred and Buttman, but all for a whole laundry list of different reasons. 

Baseball, more than any other sport, has had its statistical integrity studied since the beginning of time.  There have been apple/orange comparison conundrums related to the dead ball, Astroturf, new stadiums ... these are acceptable, but for Bud Selig to allow Roid Ball to run unfettered is an indelible blot on his record.

Although his title was 'President', I think Clarence Campbell's 31 years at the NHL is the record for the "big four" sports commissioners.  His first 21 years with a six-team league was cushy and mostly uneventful.  But, the last ten years with serial addition of bad teams, the WHA, financial insolvency, on-ice assaults, off-ice arrests, Montreal robbing the weaklings' draft picks, yikes, I think he was completely in over his head.

Jim Gordon.  He allows vigilantes to run rampant and do his job for him while taking the credit for cleaning up the city.

The current mlb commissioner.

He has done nothing in the name of the game.

He has made the mlb all star game pay to play which means only teams that can prove they can afford to host it will get to host it.

He has even said he wanted to start this in his first year but since two teams were guaranteed the game he would implement this in his third year.

How many times do you think people will watch the game at fenway park or yankee stadium or dodger stadium before they start not watching at all.

Do you really think the diamondbacks will host it. Arizona in july. Yea never going to happen.

He has gotten rid of the home field advantage in the world series which was given to the league that won the all star game.

He has made it that a pitcher faces at least three batters and can not be pulled for any reason.

He has shortened the roster from 40 to 28.

Let me tell you something if your team is out of the playoffs and has no chance of getting in come september the only reason people go to your games is so they can see the next batch of players. You take that away and the fans will stay away.

He is also putting netting up from foul pole to foul pole just because people who are too stupid to pay attention have gotten tapped by things going into the stands.

This is because people who willingly and were not forced to sit in certain seats in the lower sections chose to do so and it is also because people are to busy looking at their phones.

If he does this he needs to put it all around the outfield wall as well and paint a line on the netting and say if a ball goes over this line on the netting it is a homerun, since it is only a matter of time before someone complains about getting hurt by a homerun ball.

Then he needs to put up netting to protect the upper decks from balls as I have seen balls land in the upper decks all the time.

He is also forcing the time between innings to go quicker which at the present time is 1:30 and he is trying to get that down to 1:00 and is trying to force tv companies to shorten commercial breaks.

He is also proposing having the team that is behind placing  a man on second base automatically without coming to bat while at the same time is denying the team that is ahead the same thing.

He claims he is doing  all this to get more fans in the game yet he and the owners are too stupid to realize that he is driving fans away.

After this virus is gone if it ever will be there is no way that the fans will flock back to the game. They will always be weary of other people and will practice safe distancing on their own which means less fans in the stands.

Also he is thinking of either getting rid of 42 milb teams or every milb team.

What are they going to do draft players from high school and college and put them in mlb right away.

Also milb does not have to pay the players anything.

Ever since the tax law was pushed through in 2017 it scrapped the fair wage law from milb players. 

So now the owners can force the players to play for nothing. Like the A's

https://www.si.com/mlb/athletics/news/athletics-standing-alone-with-decision-against-paying-minor-league-stipends

https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/05/30/what-the-oakland-as-sweeping-cost-cuts-mean-for-the-team/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaredwyllys/2020/05/27/oakland-athletics-to-stop-paying-minor-leaguers-furlough-scouts/#5c824edd4f58

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/05/27/oakland-athletics-wont-pay-minor-leaguers-rest-2020-season/

https://www.wsj.com/articles/minor-leaguers-make-400-a-week-the-as-are-cutting-off-payments-11590668350?mod=hp_major_pos2

Best post of the year! 

When you posted this, I had to google Jim Gordon.

Hockeydude, thanks for saying what needed to be said about Goodell:

“Roger Goodell has made plenty of blunders running the NFL, with his inconsistent and inadequate handling of player discipline. His "protect the shield" mantra has been a PR nightmare and has been harmful to players past and present. Goodell gets a failing grade on just about every major issue the NFL has had - CTE, "Deflategate", domestic violence, players speaking out against racial injustice - and now he wants to expand the season to 17 games when the owners are hardly hurting for money and players are already retiring young due to health issues. I honestly can't think of one good thing he has done.”

I hate what is happening to minor league baseball.

Billy, great point about David Stern.  We can’t cure racism by getting rid of racists; they will always be among us in some small number. It’s how we act in response to racism, as individuals and as a society, that truly matters.