JUST THINKING…
I woke up this morning with a few things on my mind . . .
Funding such a beast would be the tricky part. The city would have to charge moderate fees for access (though no exclusive memberships), security, and maintenance. With discount offers to the city school system, this could turn into a different kind of investment in Memphis future than the one Sidney Shlenker envisioned, way back when (in the late Eighties!). Let FedExForum be the plaything of the adult and affluent . . . and give The Pyramid to Memphis kids.
Major league baseballs players union — arguably the most powerful such entity in America — has fought tooth and nail against a salary cap (any salary structure, really) for years. They want an open market, which in todays baseballs lexicon reads Boss Georges Market. The best players want to be paid the most money BY WHOMEVER CAN AFFORD IT. If only one franchise can bear the weight of nine-figure salaries, so be it. Its the players who have shaped modern baseball into a two-tier system where the best talent eventually graduates to New York or Boston. Until these short-sighted athletes Ñ and their agents Ñ recognize a fundamental rule from Sports Biz 101 (that competition in athletics is . . . GOOD), baseball will remain a Yankee world that other franchises merely revolve around. A salary cap (and floor) is a must.
This time last year, the Cardinals were said to have the best lineup since the ’27 Yankees, that the NL Central would be theirs by August. The lineup struggled to drive in runs all season, and the Cards finished a weak third (behind Chicago and Houston). So take that into consideration before anointing the Cubs and Astros unbeatable. Pitching is a more reliable variable than hitting, but its an element of the game that can explode with one elbow twinge. Houstons Roy Oswalt and Wade Miller and the Cubs Kerry Wood have wrestled with injuries before. If they all reach 200 innings, the Cardinals may be playing for third place. Big if.
And heres something to look forward to with all the new blood among the divisions pace-setters: Roger Clemens in the batters box. Houston and St. Louis have had an intense rivalry for the better part of a decade now. Theres sure to come a moment when the Rocket delivers some chin music to Pujols, Jim Edmonds, or Scott Rolen. The beauty now, though, is that hell have to step in and face Matt Morris or Woody Williams. I, for one, cant wait to see it