Costas delivers, underrated greatness and overrated market value
04/05/2002
Codding Home / Sports Channel / Bullz-Eye Home
I stayed up last night to watch the Dodgers/Giants game, hoping to again see Barry Bonds dismantle the LA pitching staff. Instead, I watched Bob Costas dismantle Bud Selig on HBO's "On the Record."
It was sweet.
Bonds disappointed, going just 1-2 with a double, walk, groundout and a hit-by-pitch, but for once Costas did not. He was relentless, firing questions at Selig about contraction, steroids, Pete Rose, the designated hitter and, of course, labor negotiations.
The commish said he was "optimistic" that some sort of labor agreement could be reached without another work stoppage, a belief he alluded to about a week ago when he assured fans that baseball would not lockout the players this season. Of course, as Costas pointed out, it was a meaningless declaration because once the regular season started, the owners lost all their leverage, meaning they wouldn't agree to a lockout until next winter at the earliest.
"We did give up a lot of leverage," Selig said, "but that's not important. It is now April, and we have four or five months to work something out. We will not lockout." In other words, Selig has effectively taken the spotlight off of baseball and instead shifted the potential blame to the players, who now would look like the bad guys if, in fact, there is a work stoppage this year. Slick move, Seņor
Selig.
He wasn't done dodging, though.
Again trying to avert our attention from the real problems, Selig, who for once looked like he actually knew how to use a comb, minimized the monetary issues involved with the current labor negotiations by saying, "Competitive balance is the real issue here. However, economics play a part." No kidding? Economics play a part in the game of baseball?
I know, it's a stunning revelation.
But for fear of falling asleep at my desk, I don't really want to delve any further into this whole "labor dispute" topic -- Shawn Griffin already
did a fine job of that earlier this week. Instead, there were more interesting aspects of this interview to look at, including the possible inclusion of a ban on steroid use in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement ("We have to deal with the issue, and we should"), the future of the DH in the American League (which he hopes to remove someday through either re-alignment or some other changes), and his stance on Pete Rose, which shockingly remains unchanged.
But then Costas dropped the bomb, a question that very nearly forced me to suddenly like him despite his maddening arrogance. Saying that he's been accused of giving the team he formerly owned, the Milwaukee Brewers, special treatment and that he's already associated with some of the game's darkest days, Costas asked Selig if it's in "baseball's best interest" to have him remain its commissioner. Bud, of course, took offense.
"I've bent over backwards to make sure the Brewers aren't treated differently,
and they haven't been," he said. When again prodded to reflect on his job security, Selig said, "There's no doubt that if I don't succeed and we don't succeed (in fixing baseball's problems), the game many of us have grown up loving will have a very hard time persevering in the coming decades." Then, using a tired baseball cliché to basically suggest that perhaps a change may soon be in order, he added, "We're all in the bottom of the ninth."
Really? We could be that close to a much-needed change in the commissioner's office? Wow... .
Bring in the closer. Just make sure it's not Byung-Hyun Kim.
Classified in Cleveland
You've got to feel sorry for Andre Miller. I've watched this wonderfully gifted point guard score and pass his way to 40 double-doubles (the sixth-highest total in the league) and three triple-doubles (second to Jason Kidd's eight) this season, all while playing for the lowly Cleveland Cavs. On the year, Miller's leading the NBA with 10.7 assists/game while scoring 16.5 ppg and pulling down nearly five boards a night, but because of Cleveland's pathetic 26-49 record, his name is rarely mentioned when casual fans talk about the game's elite players. Hell, he didn't even make the All Star team, a transgression that really set Miller off after the break, averaging 22.3 points, 13.7 assists and 6.8 rebounds in seven games from February 6-22.
"He's made himself into a very, very good player. He can score. He can pass, obviously. He can rebound. He can be whatever type of point guard they ask him to be." Those are the words of John Stockton, who himself is a pretty good lead guard. High praise indeed.
But while players, coaches and fans who closely follow the NBA know that perhaps the game's best pure point guard dons a Cavaliers jersey every night, Miller still continues to shine without much public respect, dishing out at least 15 assists this season on 12 separate occasions, including the 22 he totaled against the Sixers on December 15.
With less talented point guards like Nick Van Exel, Damon Stoudamire and Jason Williams getting unwarranted publicity, you have every right to feel sorry for Andre Miller.
But because his rookie contract runs out next year -- assuming the Cavs exercise their option for 2003 -- you should really feel sorry for us Cleveland fans. At 26-49 and only getting worse, you can bet Miller's already dreaming of his escape.
Chew on this
Excuse me? People are now fighting over "game-used" gum?
Tempting... but I'll pass, thanks.
It seems the temptation was too much for other people to resist, though, as the bidding for a piece of Bazooka gum supposedly chewed by Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Luis Gonzalez during a March 7 spring training game has skyrocketed to (are you ready for this?) $600.
That's right, 600 bucks for a piece of chewed gum. Six-hundred-freaking-dollars for a chunk of used Bazooka. Unbelievable.
The auction currently is taking place on NoContraction.com, a Web site based in Minnesota that's championing the fight against contraction by selling "Selig is not my Bud" shirts and buttons along with some other rather humorous items.
The "game-used" gum, though, is just disgusting if you ask me.
But one person's saliva is another person's souvenir, I guess, and Jill Mosher, a 45-year-old real estate executive from Phoenix who currently leads the bidding, is prepared to spend anything to land Gonzo's gum. "I'm going to put it on my nightstand next to my bed," she says.
Now look, I love sports memorabilia -- I have a couple autographed baseballs, a bunch of bobbleheads, a crate full of baseball cards, a Browns mini football and a few replica jerseys.
But ABC (Already Been Chewed) gum? For $600? That's a little too much for me.
"People are crazy," Gonzalez said, "or at least a little weird."
I'd say Ms. Mosher is a bit of both.
QuickQuote:
"Some guy must have lost his welfare check and he's just looking for another source of income. But if he wants to do that, then he can go to bed every night thinking about selling us out."
~Miami Hurricanes center Matt
Romberg, talking
about whoever stole two Miami playbooks
and then posted them on the Internet