I believe this is the trend in sports now. the San Antonio Spurs and New England Patriots seem to have started this. The Portland Trailblazers and Atlanta Falcon's recent moves seem to suggest this. The Drays traded Delmon Young and rid themselves of Elijah Dukes. My guess is that teams want people who are more focused on the idea of winning as opposed to the "me me me $ $ $" culture that permeates hip-hop and general fame driven society. At the bare minimum, teams are limiting their exposure by having as few selfish anti-team athletes as possible, and hoping that the rest of the more team-oriented athletes can influence the bad apples to conform their behavior or at least read and understand the playbook. Good discussion topic for today. Go.
Take a look at the NY Giants.Addition by subtraction.Jeremy Shockey out of the line up who I think of a clear "me" guy.And they win the SB.The only person you really knew on the team besides Eli.Now, everyone knows who they are.
whats hard for guys to understand that if your team wins then everyone knows your name and understands you are a winner.
I hated the yankees of the late 90's but I respected them they were good individuals that played team baseball.
Jeter,O'Neil,tino,Brocius et al.
whats hard for guys to understand that if your team wins then everyone knows your name and understands you are a winner.
I hated the yankees of the late 90's but I respected them they were good individuals that played team baseball.
Jeter,O'Neil,tino,Brocius et al.
I think in smaller, conservative markets like Green Bay and Portland, it is wise for them to do so.
The Bulls are another team. Wallace was the Clubhouse lawyer and many rules were centered around him. Now he's gone.
This is a great trend. Hope it filters to college hoops and OJ Mayo.
The Bulls are another team. Wallace was the Clubhouse lawyer and many rules were centered around him. Now he's gone.
This is a great trend. Hope it filters to college hoops and OJ Mayo.
Pat, that's a good example. The Giants staff stated that they were forced to force the ball to Shockey early so he wouldn't throw tantrums.
I will say that baseball, because it is an individual sequence game, is less subject to this trend, though the Rays shipping off Delmon Young helps.
I will say that baseball, because it is an individual sequence game, is less subject to this trend, though the Rays shipping off Delmon Young helps.
I'll also add that I'd rather have one MAJOR felon on my team than 3 or 4 semi-bad guys. Peer pressure would help keep the one guy in line. I think if your team is 95% good guys, then you should take a flier on the thug, ala the Patriots and Moss.
Good post. Green Bay has always tried to get "Green Bay Type Players" which means guys that hopefully will not cause the team public embarassment and are willing to contribute time to the community. Yes, there have been a few times that they've taken a moderate risk on a guy or times that guys make mistakes. But I commend their attempts to build teams with high character individuals.
And yes....let's hope this filters to every level of sports with all teams.
Late 80's-early 90's Green Bay went through a rash of bad PR from players like Tiger Green and others. Blue-collar towns like Green Bay don't want to hear the players bitching about contracts, or read about them in the police blotter. The media scrutiny is much harsher because they are the only thing going. One of the best signings Green Bay ever had was Reggie White. HOF on and off the field.
Spot on with Reggie. And the other added bonus was that he atttracted some other key players to join the team and gave them the push over the top to make it to back-to-back Super Bowls.
James Lofton and Mark Chmura were other sources of embarassment. Even Antonio Freeman, Gilbert Brown and Ahman Green had a "bad" moment in the public eye just before they left town. (Freeman hit a light pole while drunk and had his passenger take the wheel when the police arrived. Brown threw his woman over the couch in a rage. And Green's wife called the cops to a domestic disturbance incident.)
