Worst Major League Sports Commissioner?
- Thread starter Tarrant
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Eomer
Trakanon Raider
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Fair enough. I can't really see how anyone would vote Goodell considering how successful and profitable the NFL is.
Louis
Trakanon Raider
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That's a really tough choice. Don't give a shit about baseball so Selig is a non factor. Bettman has basically destroyed hockey multiple times over. I haven't agreed with 90% of the shit Goodell has did in his tenure, but that's with a very heavy bias because of bounty gate. All that said, I can't stand fucking Stern. Just looking at him pisses me off. He looks like a fucking weasel and the NBA turned into a joke within the past decade, so I guess I choose him.
Falstaff
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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I don't see how anyone in this country even likes the NHL unless you are fairly hardcore... I'll admit it's been a year or two since I actively watched Sportscenter, but they didn't even have the fucking Stanley Cup in their opening montage.
Women's NCAA Basketball Championship? You betcha!
NASCAR? Hell yeah!
Women's NCAA Basketball Championship? You betcha!
NASCAR? Hell yeah!
The job of the commish is to be the public face/scapegoat for the owners while implementing plans to increase profits for said owners. They've all been demonstrably successful at this with even the NHL pulling in 60% avg franchise value increases over the last decade. Bettman has been the least successful, but to rag on commissioners for steroids and fixing is playing into what a large part of their job description is: to take flak for unpopular but ultimately profit driving decisions.
I think you also have to consider the strength of each league's player's unions as well as the fact that the owners are really the ones the commissioner works for. Whether or not Selig genuinely cares about getting the steroids out of the game he definitely has the strongest union fighting testing and shit every step of the way. And a salary cap/floor system that would go a long way in fixing some of the fucking laughable disparities in baseball like the Yankees and the Astros.
Bettman and the NHL owners, on the other hand, have bent the players over in at least the last 2 CBAs..even though it took work stoppages to utterly break them both times. Utterly broken is the key phrase there. As far as the owners are concerned, Bettman is probably the golden boy. Ask Jeremy Jacobs how mad he will be with successfully raiding the players share of the revenue AND potentially winning the Stanley Cup this year.
I guess my point is that it's harder in some sports to really get your agenda through the players than others, and it's hard to hold that against the commissioner.
Bettman and the NHL owners, on the other hand, have bent the players over in at least the last 2 CBAs..even though it took work stoppages to utterly break them both times. Utterly broken is the key phrase there. As far as the owners are concerned, Bettman is probably the golden boy. Ask Jeremy Jacobs how mad he will be with successfully raiding the players share of the revenue AND potentially winning the Stanley Cup this year.
I guess my point is that it's harder in some sports to really get your agenda through the players than others, and it's hard to hold that against the commissioner.
Kirun
Buzzfeed Editor
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While a lack of salary capcanbuy you some wins, this isn't the '90s Yankees anymore. Baseball has actually seen quite a bit of parity, in the last decade or so. Sure, money alwayshelps, but it doesn't necessarily guarantee rings. There are some bottom-feeder teams like the Astros, Royals, Cubs, etc., but many teams are just horribly mismanaged, from the top down. The Marlins are one of the best examples of that. They gutted both teams after each of their WS wins, for no real reason at all, other than greed. Hell, teams were taking in tons of money in profit sharing, yet their salaries were only increasing by 6-10% each year. A lot of the issues surrounding bad teams in the MLB anymore, is a product of bad management.
Who's responsible for the fact that baseball officiating could be easily remedied by implementing a booth review in a sport with non-stop natural stoppages and yet we have games where Umps blow obvious calls with no repercussion or attempts to resolve whatsoever.
Alex
Still a Music Elitist
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This board is overwhelmingly full of larger NFL fans than any other sport. Just look at the activity in that thread. Even in the offseason, it's continuously towards the top of sports threads.
The salary cap/floor complaints in MLB are warranted, but the past three World Series champions have had very run-of-the-mill salaries. Look at the top teams in baseball right now. All are spending around $50-$80 million on their teams. Actually, the teams paying hundreds of millions of dollars on their teams are towards the bottom of their divisions currently. A great farming system wins in baseball - not superstar contracts.
Stern, I was completely flabbergasted that he fined the Spurs for Popovich not starting their big 3 against the Heat earlier this year because the fans would have been upset of not seeing the superstars play. Popo playing his bench on a long stretch against a non division rival to rest his starters for a following game against a division rival was a smart move on the coach. And the Spurs almost beat the Heat that game, shows how good their bench can be.
Yeah, that and veto'ing trades that have no business being veto'd are inexcusable. Stern is terrible, and I feel terrible for voting for Selig now. Neg Daezuel to offset this injustice.
Kirun
Buzzfeed Editor
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So, you want to addmorestoppages to a game already littered with them, because of a bad strike call? They already review homeruns, there isn't a whole lot else they can review that isn't going to slow down an already slow game. Besides, the umpire's union is too strong, they aren't going anywhere.