In-Class Column Exercise: The Inevitability of the Baseball's 1994 Work Stoppage

What do you do in the case of an age-old argument where neither side has ever been willing to truly compromise and an entire industry is on the verge of a flop?

You stop working. At least that's what happened in baseball in 1994.

When the big-shot players and uber rich club owners hang everyone else out to dry, the bomb will drop. This is why the work stoppage of 1994 in baseball was inevitable.

Baseball was in a deadly state; small club owners weren't breaking even, while big club owners continued to rake in the cash. There was little authority, seeing as there was no commissioner and plans to find a new head-honcho had been dragging along. Free-agent players were asking for more and more money that many clubs didn't have, and yet they continued to be signed.

The game was no longer about the fans or the love. It was about the green goblin: cold, hard cash. Even Hall-of-Fame players noticed.

"For all the players have gained, the changes took something away from baseball," former Phillies pitcher Robin Roberts said, noting the union's role in the downfall.

The tug-of-war between small club owners and big club owners over revenue-sharing was a major issue that led to the stoppage. The small-city teams were aching for money, many having to cut talent in order to keep from selling teams to bigger cities. The San Diego Padres traded starting-pitcher Craig Lefferts and other key (but expensive) players from its roster in order to keep from going bankrupt or losing its team to another city.

But big-city teams didn't want to share the wealth. The owners didn't think it would be fair to give a large sum of money to a small-city team when they were the ones drawing in the cash.

Salary-capping was another contested issue. The players wouldn't have been happy with having their salaries cut because they didn't fit the budget, but the owners would have recieved some economic security by guaranteeing that the players salaries didn't grow exponentially every year.

One might argue that an essential break-down of the MLB's economic system would have stopped the stoppage. If everyone could have given a little, the game could have continued. If the big teams gave a percentage of revenues to small teams... If the players salaries were lowered, but they were offered other benefits and guarantees...

But there was a history behind the system. It had been broken in the past, and nobody was willing to budge.

Lords of the Realm author John Helyar put it well by comparing the players to the pigs from Animal Farm. They had been struggling to reform a system that kept them down, as the players had in the earlier days when Marvin Miller struggled with the owners to raise the minimum salary for players. But after a while, the players let it get to their heads and wanted more more more money, and pretty soon they appeared as greedy and indistinguishable from the Lords as the pigs were from the humans they struggled against. And what pig would want to go back to living in a mud-filled pen?

The small teams couldn't fiscally afford decent players, but without decent players, they couldn't make money. The big teams wouldn't give them money because they didn't think they deserved it, some arguing that certain small-teams had been poorly managed.

At the same time, there was noone to rule over the league. After Fay Vincent resigned as commissioner in 1992, no commissioner had been instated. It was in a state of political chaos, as Henry J. Aaron of the Economic Study Committee put it in his report in 1992.

So what else could baseball have done to prevent the stoppage besides going back in time to repair its torn roots?

Everything looks different in hindsight.

Chi-Town: 2016 Olympics? PLEASE NO

The chairwoman of the International Olympic Committee came away from inspection of Chicago for the 2016 Olympic bid saying, "We are leaving with a very strong impression that the bid is a strong one," according to the Associated Press.

The IOC was impressed with the support that Chicago 2016 is receiving from all areas of government, including that of President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Apparently, the worldwide economic crisis isn't throwing up too many red-flags. Of course (well, hopefully) it won't last forever.

It would be nice to bring the Olympics back to the U.S., but I really don't want them to be that close to home. Yeah, they would bring in thousands and thousands of jobs and tons of money, but I hate the idea of not being able to drive down I-90 to get anywhere around Rockford, Belvidere, Wisconsin, etc. 

Also, I'm sure the Chicago 2016 committee has all the answers, but I'd like to know where they're going to put all of the facilities. I love the lake front area in Chicago, and would hate to see it all developed into buildings that won't get much use after the Olympics.

Bad Lance!

I love hearing about Lance Armstrong in the news. I have no idea why because I have never really been interested in cycling, minus the few vomit-inducing spin classes I've done over the years.
So Imagine my delight today when I saw this story by Reuters on the NY Time's website.
An unidentifiable French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) employee approached Armstrong last month, while Armstrong was training in France, requesting blood, urine and hair samples to test for illegal drug-use.
The AFLD filed a complaint to the International Cycling Union (UIC), saying that Armstrong behaved oddly when the samples were requested.
Lance told authorities and the press that he did not know who the guy was.
"I had never heard of labs or governments doing drug testing and I had no idea who this guy was or whether he was telling the truth," said Armstrong.
Naturally, he was skeptical of a random dude asking him for his pee. Who wouldn't be?
Armstrong requested that the man show him identification.
The tester did, but Armstrong and his team manager got no real evidence from the papers he produced.
"I was there with (team manager) Johan Bruyneel and two other people," Armstrong said in a statement. "We told the tester we wanted to check with the UCI to confirm who he was and to make sure he wasn't just some French guy with a backpack and some equipment to take my blood and urine."
As creepy as that would be, I'm sure it has been done.
Once Armstrong received confirmation of the tester's authority, he immediately complied, making this the 24th drug test he has taken since his return from retirement. (Uhh, how long has it been? A few months?)
It is only natural for the host country of one of the world's biggest cycling races to question a man who has won it a billion times (or seven times...but who's counting), especially when he's coming off of a very recent collarbone surgery and is still looking good to compete this year. But, without having been there, it seems a little shady for someone to approach him without immediately supplying documentation of authority.
I'm not saying the French are weirdos or anything like that...

Lucky-Tequila Custody Battle

A heated four month custody battle was settled Monday by Palm Beach Co. Judge James Martz.

Angela Colicheski lost someone near to her three years ago.

And Sarita Lytell found him, and had been taking care of him for nearly three years until, by chance, she met Colicheski at a Dunkin Donuts and began discussing her love of parrots.

Wait, what?!?!?

That's right. The women were in a custody battle over a $2,000 African Grey parrot named Tequila...or Lucky...

April Fool's Pranks in Publications????

Car and Driver Magazine ran a story on Tuesday hoping to fool NASCAR fans.

Apparently, they did. But the fans weren't laughing.

The magazine ran a Web story that said President Obama had order Chevrolet and Dodge out of NASCAR if they wanted to keep their federal funds, according to Yahoo! buzz.

The story was taken down after a brief Web frenzy from NASCAR fans.

Denny Darnell wasn't laughing either.

According to USA Today, Darnell, who does public relations for Dodge's motor sports program, wrote in an e-mail, "I've been in this business more than 30 years and I have never seen a story so irresponsible." 

April Fool's pranks are better left to school children. I agree with Darnell. It's irresponsible of any publication with a desire for credibility to run a prank story, whether it's April 1st or any other day. 

Skateistan

These past two weeks have been a whirlwind. My fiance was at Ft. Benning in Georgia for a week, training for his deployment to Afghanistan. After a week of training and a four day stay in Kuwait, he finally flew to Afghanistan yesterday.

Needless to say, it's been on my mind a lot.

So when I saw this video on NYTimes.com, I was particularly interested.

Skateboard-loving Australian native Oliver Percovich was warned of the dangers of skating in Kabul.

"When I got to Afghanistan, people told me not to skate with girls because it might attract criticism, not to skate in the streets because it might be dangerous, not to skate with poor kids because they would steal my stuff," Percovich said in an interview for The Guardian Weekly. "But none of that happened; I haven't had any problems with the kids at all."

In 2007, with a budget of about $1,000, Percovich started 'Skateistan', a skating school for Afghan youth.

But for Percovich, the school means more than simply teaching Afghan youth how to skate.

"I feel that this skate park helps to build trust between Afghans and westerners," Percovich said.

An established trust between two different cultures is a necessary condition for success in other programs, such as "healthcare, education and the rule of law," he said.

While it may be a lofty mission in a war-torn and class divided country, the Australian said one of his goals is to allow children from different social classes, ethnic and religious backgrounds to skate together in one place.

"I want them to learn that they're all the same on a skateboard," Percovich said.

Young girls--who would otherwise have little opportunity to play sports--have been especially encouraged to participate in the school and are given priority on skateboards.

But above all of the goals that Percovich has had for the school, the most important has been providing a positive place for the kids to be kids.

"They live in quite a complicated environment in Kabul," he said. "And it worries me that I see them copying the negative behaviour they see around them. We try to provide them with a safe and positive environment, and I think it's working."


*Link to Skateistan website

McCain seeking pardon for deceased boxer

I thought this was a pretty interesting story.

Sen. John McCain is seeking a posthumous pardon for Jack Johnson, America's first African-American heavyweight boxing champion who died in 1946. 

In 1913, Johnson was convicted of violating the Mann Act, which stated that women could not be transported across state-lines for immoral purposes. Johnson had a relationship with a white woman at the time--a woman whom he later married. 

Johnson fled the United States, but came back to serve a 10-month sentence. He was never able to regain his title.

Although posthumous Presidential pardons are rare, McCain and other supporters say that this will heal old wounds and send an important message to the sporting world.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said a pardon would "remove a cloud that's been over the American sporting scene ever since [Johnson] was convicted on these trumped-up charges."

This request for a pardon has been shot-down by Congress twice before, in 2004 and again last year.

But McCain and King both said that the pardon would carry important symbolism coming from Obama, and that it would show U.S. progress over the last century.

What do you guys think? 

*photo: Britannica.com; Britannica Blog