Some of you are long enough in the tooth to remember when a player was drafted by the team he would likely spend all - or at least the bulk - of his career serving. Back then, you cheered for your "team," and you knew who they were. You knew their names and their numbers. You knew their strengths and their weaknesses. And you knew they were your team.
Not so anymore. It is a rare bird, the athlete who stays with the team that drafted him. It still happens, mostly with the player a team identifies as the face of its franchise. It especially still happens with such players in the NFL, but not so much in the NBA or MLB. Those entities have stronger player unions, so the carrot-dangling is more attractive, and the bidding more cutthroat. I mean, come on, if you are a truly elite baseball player, you know you are going to end up in New York, Boston, or LA eventually, right?
I realize that as I fly through my midlife crises (yes, they are plural), I am apt to suffer from some Good Ol' Days Syndrome. Nostalgia is bound to set in, and I will view the past with my perfect-fitting, rose-colored glasses. But it was better then, wasn't it? It was better when most of the players on your team stayed on your team. You weren't just cheering for laundry and locale...you had heroes.
Nowadays, if you are, oh, let's say, a Cowboys' fan, for instance, you have to hate Terrell Owens when he plays for the Niners and desecrates the Star, but then love him when he dons the Star and decimates the rest of the league. If he is playing for the enemy, his over-the-top celebrations are annoying and self-serving. But if he is scoring those TDs for the 'Boys, well, we're just having fun, right? What's wrong with a little in-yo'-face celebration, anyway, huh? Grow up! Take it like a man, ya big crybaby!
It is dizzying the way our loyalties and logic change with every new wind that blows a player from here to there or there to here. Every year, we are cheering for a new set of players, but presumably, the same "team." How do I know they are my team? Look at the color scheme and the logo.
Ah well, the good ol' days are gone forever. But, hey, the good new days have brought us the Internet and Blogging...
Hm. Now that I think about it, there might be a little irony in my using today's technology to pine for yesterday.
Not so anymore. It is a rare bird, the athlete who stays with the team that drafted him. It still happens, mostly with the player a team identifies as the face of its franchise. It especially still happens with such players in the NFL, but not so much in the NBA or MLB. Those entities have stronger player unions, so the carrot-dangling is more attractive, and the bidding more cutthroat. I mean, come on, if you are a truly elite baseball player, you know you are going to end up in New York, Boston, or LA eventually, right?
I realize that as I fly through my midlife crises (yes, they are plural), I am apt to suffer from some Good Ol' Days Syndrome. Nostalgia is bound to set in, and I will view the past with my perfect-fitting, rose-colored glasses. But it was better then, wasn't it? It was better when most of the players on your team stayed on your team. You weren't just cheering for laundry and locale...you had heroes.
Nowadays, if you are, oh, let's say, a Cowboys' fan, for instance, you have to hate Terrell Owens when he plays for the Niners and desecrates the Star, but then love him when he dons the Star and decimates the rest of the league. If he is playing for the enemy, his over-the-top celebrations are annoying and self-serving. But if he is scoring those TDs for the 'Boys, well, we're just having fun, right? What's wrong with a little in-yo'-face celebration, anyway, huh? Grow up! Take it like a man, ya big crybaby!
It is dizzying the way our loyalties and logic change with every new wind that blows a player from here to there or there to here. Every year, we are cheering for a new set of players, but presumably, the same "team." How do I know they are my team? Look at the color scheme and the logo.
Ah well, the good ol' days are gone forever. But, hey, the good new days have brought us the Internet and Blogging...
Hm. Now that I think about it, there might be a little irony in my using today's technology to pine for yesterday.
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