Baseball Realignment

It's the big topic right now. Rumor has it that Major League Baseball wants to realign and get an even number of teams in each league. I say that's great, except for one thing. There are currently 30 teams in the Major's. If you have 15 and 15 it will cause scheduling nightmares as there would have to be one team from each League that doesn't play every day. The only way to combat this with the current 30 teams that are playing would be to incorporate Interleague Play into a season-long event. Instead of putting all the Interleague games at the end of June/beginning of July portion of the schedule, the Interleague matchups would be happening everyday. I am not completely opposed to this but I have an even better idea. Expand. There are many markets that come to mind when I think about expansion. Let's take a look.

Las Vegas, NV - The big knock on Vegas is not the gambling issue. It's more the Transplant issue. Everyone contends that people in Vegas aren't from Vegas. They just moved there. They have their own favorite team. They won't support the local team. I say bunk. A new ballpark in Vegas would bring tourists and fans alike. It's not always easy to follow your hometown team and who says you can't root for two teams? I think Vegas is a great location for a team.

Charlotte, NC - Think about the American League and National League East divisions. There is a complete lack of Mid-East Coast teams. From Baltimore/Washington D.C. down to Atlanta there are no Major League teams. The Carolina's are full of Minor League teams but it is time for them to get a Major League team down there for the good folks of North and South Carolina.

New York, New York - The city has over eight million people. It supported three teams at one time and could easily do it again. Another team in New York, specifically the Brooklyn Area, would be great for the sport and the city. Especially with the Nets getting ready to move as well, you could have an Arena/Ballpark area much like Detroit is proposing and Cleveland has.

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada - The western part of Canada has no sports representation other than hockey. The Winter Olympics revived the area and gave them a great sense of local pride. Major League Baseball needs to capitalize on this and put a team in Vancouver.

Other possible locations that come to mind include San Juan, Puerto Rico and Nashville, Tennessee. By adding two teams, you can do a number of things that would be good for the game. First, you realign with both of the new teams in the American League. Then, you create four four-team divisions within each League. This gives you playoff expansion by giving you four Division winners and two Wild Card teams. The top two records in each League would receive a first round bye and the Wild Card teams would play a three-game series in which they are the visitor for all three games. They are a Wild Card. They've got to earn that birth into the next round.

Realigning is easy from that point. Make sure you keep the good rivalries (i.e. Boston/NY, LA/San Fran, Cle/Det/Chi) and then just go geographically from there. No one needs to switch Leagues a la Milwaukee. It's clear that something is going to happen. I just really hope expansion is involved as well. Something just feels wrong about an American League team opening up against a National League team on the first day of the season. Whatever the case, more baseball means that we all win!

JaMarcus Russell - Poster Boy for Rookie Wage Scale

Jamarcus Russell, Quarterback, 292 pounds. Go ahead and lift your jaw off the floor and put your eyes back into their sockets. That is not a typo. That is how much Russell weighed when he reported for a workout with the Miami Dolphins in November of last year. Another thing you should know about Russell is that he made $31 Million dollars, just for signing his name. But Oakland did get more than just his signature. They also got 18 Touchdowns, 23 Interceptions and 22 Fumbles not to mention a QB rating of 65.2. I can't believe it was that high!

When Russell signed his contract, it was for a, then rookie record, of $62 million dollars. Luckily, the Raiders only had to pay him half of that amount. If a single player and a single contract had to be chosen to make Exhibit A in the "We need a rookie wage scale" trial, this is the perfect contract to use. Have there been #1 overall picks that have earned their contracts? Of course. But the majority of them do not work out and usually end up setting a team back five or six years rather than helping them become playoff teams.

I know that the rookie wage scale is just a small portion of what is being discussed in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement but I think that even the veteran players would agree that the rookie contracts are completely out of hand. Does Sam Bradford really deserve to make more money than Ray Lewis? The NBA has really got things right when it comes to rookie salaries. LeBron James, as much as I hate to admit it, played well above his contract while he was in Cleveland. Luckily for him, there are no limitations on sponsorship money. And trust me, if you're the #1 pick in the NFL draft, you're going to get plenty of endorsement opportunities.

If you only make $2 million your first year instead of $10 million, your life is still going to be better than 99% of Americans. Play hard, earn more. That's how we do it in the real world. We work hard, we do our jobs well and THEN we get raises. We don't sign inflated contracts and then take pay cuts later because our production wasn't what they thought it would be. We don't get chance after chance after chance. If we don't do our job, we get fired. We don't get to stick around just because we have a guaranteed contract.

No matter how things turn out, it seems that when Millionaires fight with Billionaires, the fans are the ones that lose. Figure your issues out, come to an agreement and get on the field so we can continue to pay you. Because remember, if you alienate your fan base, you eliminate the people paying your salaries.

Chicago School's Packed Lunch Ban - My Thoughts

So the Little Village Academy in Chicago has decided that they are not going to allow their students to bring in the lunches that their parents make for them in an effort to get students into a healthier eating lifestyle. You know what? I think it's a step in the right direction. Some, and I emphasize some, parents don't take the time to really think about what they are putting in their child's lunch bag. As a one time substitute teacher, I can't tell you how many times I saw kids pulling out chips, cookies, a sandwich and something coated in sugar out of their home-packed lunch. Where is the nutrition in Funyuns? How healthy is a Twinkie? As long as parents aren't going to take care of the children, they might as well let the people who have their kids for seven to eight hours a day take care of them.

And to be clear, this isn't a money making scheme by they school. They aren't serving Lobster and Steak. We're talking about less than $12 a week and that is only if they student doesn't qualify for reduced price or free lunch. Only 14% of the kids in the district don't qualify. Also, kids with allergies are excused from this practice. (Hell, if the allergy kids are smart, they'll start smuggling junk food in and start a black market within the school!) The school is required to meet certain nutritional standards that could be tough for parents to live by, especially on a limited income.

Some parents have complained that the lunches provided by the school are foods that their kids don't like. Part of me wants to say suck it up and try new things but the other part of me thinks that it should be the responsibility of the school to offer options if they are going to have a mandatory lunch. I can remember as a kid having at least three options every day and most days, I had a hard time deciding because all three looked good.

First Lady Michelle Obama's highly publicized Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, will make school lunches even healthier than they already are as the USDA sets calorie limits, and states that french fries will no longer be considered a viable "vegetable" option, as reported by USA Today. Unfortunately, I can't find a lunch menu of the Little Village Academy but I have a hard time believing that a lunch of Ho-Ho's, Doritos and a barely healthy sandwich is a better option than what they are offering. People will argue that it's all just a money making scheme for the corporation that makes the school's lunches but if only 14% of kids are paying the full $11.25 per week, how much are they really making? And what motive, exactly, do principals (they make the decision whether or not the school is home-lunch free) have in getting federal dollars for the provider of the lunches?

I'm not saying that this policy should stay in place forever, and maybe it should be revamped a bit, but until parents want to take the time to make sure that there are carrots, celery and fruit juice in place of Pringles and Pepsi in their kids diet then someone has to make sure these kids are eating properly. Who better than the same people who are preparing them for the future?

The Good Old Hockey Game

I know I said that my first blog would be a review of the album Chance Encounter by Jason Kaminski. I lied. It's a very time consuming process to do an album review and I want to talk about hockey instead.

Today is a huge day of hockey. My team, the Minnesota Wild, are taking on the Detroit Red Wings in a battle that has huge playoff implications for Minnesota. A "W" is extremely important for the Wild if they want to stay in the heat of the Western Conference playoff race. The standings are pretty stacked as most of you probably know, with just six points separating the 10th spot from the 3rd. It's going to be an amazing finish to the regular season.

Now, some of you may be thinking "Why is this guy from Cleveland such a big Minnesota Wild fan? It just doesn't make sense!" Well, that can be explained by two things. First, in my lifetime, Cleveland has never had an NHL team. I didn't really even get deep into hockey until right after high school. Second, when I was young, I could remember seeing Minnesota North Stars games on ABC's Wide World of Sports. So, when Minnesota was getting a brand new team around the time I started following hockey again, I jumped on board and have been a Wild fan ever since. The other teams I really root for are the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs and recently the Chicago Blackhawks. I like Vancouver and Calgary.

As for teams you will NEVER catch me rooting for, there are quite a few. Topping the list are the Detroit Red Wings. Yes, I love tradition and yes, they are an Original Six team but I just can't bring myself to root for them. Ever. No matter what. I hate any team that transplanted. This includes the Stars, Hurricanes and Coyotes. I can't stand the Columbus Blue Jackets. I feel like their fans are just too elitest for my taste. Their arena is a dump too. Their one redeeming quality is their new third jersey, which they never wear. Teams in the south I can't stand either. Florida, Atlanta, Nashville...What are they doing with an NHL team? Honestly? Hartford, Winnipeg, Quebec...THESE are they cities that need teams. I'm not a fan of Pittsburgh or their "Wonder-Boy" but the Capitals, on the other hand, I like.

I play hockey too, not very well mind you, but I do play. Most nights, I sport my original Minnesota jersey but recently I've been wearing my new Alternate Wild Jersey with Matt Cullen's name and number on my back. Also, I have been sporting a royal blue Quebec Nordiques jersey with Guy LaFleur's name and number. He only spent his last couple seasons in Quebec but it's Guy Freaking LaFleur we're talking about here.

Well, I think that's enough about me and hockey for now. I need to focus on the games!!!

Still My Perspective...

...just a broader range of subjects. I was tired of limiting myself to topics like how bad the Browns are playing or how bad the Cavs are playing or how bad the Indians are playing. Now, I'm not saying I will never right about how bad my favorite teams are performing but I will be talking about a ton of things ranging from music, movies, politics and many other subjects. My first blog will be a review of Jason Kaminski's solo project, titled Chance Encounter, his first venture into the world of solo music. If you go to my old blog, http://vdubssportsperspective.blogspot.com, you can see a review I did of Jason's band, Stalemate, and their album, Silhouettes and Syllables. Thank you to everyone who has read my blog in the past and who will read it in the future. I am very excited about starting this new chapter in my blogging. See you soon!