The Newest Major Rivalry

With record breaking numbers being seen throughout the major leagues, a new rivalry has been formed between the steroid raging Barry Bonds and baseball's golden boy Alex Rodriguez, or at least the media would like you to think so.

Although A-Rod recently failed to break the "Month of April Home Run Record" (he only tied the previous record set by the Cardinals Albert Puljos at 14) his power hitting seems to be all that baseball fans can talk about this season. And with Bonds now only 13 homers away from the all time home run leader, Hank Aaron, his quest to break one of the most sacred records in the sporting world has been overshadowed. Even though Bonds had his best opening season since April of 1996, when he hit 11 home runs and notched 32 RBI's, no one is willing to remove the 28 million dollar man (who by the way took about 4 years to prove his worth it) from his pedestal and mention the pill-popping junkie.

Now, obviously I'm no fan of Barry Bonds either. I actually find it kind of funny that if A Rod stays on track he could potentially hit over 100 home runs this season. I find it even funnier that if he continues his career numbers and only hits 30 home runs a season from here on out, he'll be in Bonds all time record range by the time he's 40. So then what's the point?

I find it ridiculous that while Barry Bonds suffers simply because he was the only person actually caught using performance enhancing drugs his numbers are over looked while Alex Rodriguez is drooled over by the media and fan alike. Hasn't anybody noticed his considerable change in over all size since he first appeared in the big-leagues? I realize that there are a few out there have written on the subject and questioned his liegitimacy as a player, but for the most part, and more specifically this past month, he has been nothing but glorified for his incredible numbers while Bonds remains ridiculed and seemingly forgotten. I'm not syaing I want Bonds in the headlines, in fact I'd prefer not to hear about him either. I'm only suggesting that before we bow down to all that is A Rod, maybe we should keep in mind that that the MLB is a level playing field these days.

Don't Want to Think

Our generation loves action. Our parents may have loved the ‘thinking man’s games’ but we want more action. Two of the most popular sports for your parents were boxing and baseball. Both are considered thinking men’s games but both considered too slow by many in the new generation. We are more into the UFC and football.

The UFC is a bloody alternative to boxing. It encompasses fighters with mixed martial arts backgrounds in fights that almost look like street fights. There are rules in the UFC but they do not stop the two fighters from beating each other senseless with fists, kicks, slams, and submission moves. The sport aims their product at 18-35 year olds and they have a lot of young men who love to watch. Boxer Floyd Mayweather recently called the UFC a fad.

I would have to disagree 100% with Floyd’s assessment. The biggest money grossing boxing fight in 2006 was the fight between De la Hoya and Mayorga. It drew 925,000 pay-per-view buys in the United States at $49.95 per buy, which generated gross PPV revenue of $46.20 million. The UFC has publicly and repeatedly predicted that UFC 66 will draw 1.2 million PPV buys, and with a price of $39.95, the gross PPV revenue would be $47.94 million. This would mean that the UFC is making more money than boxing. Now that UFC just bought its biggest rival (Pride) they can now have super fights between the two organizations that will draw even more attention.

The claim that the UFC is a fad is just absurd. I guarantee more people watch UFC’s Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV than people watch Friday Night Fights on ESPN. This combined with the PPV numbers listed above show that more people are watching the UFC. Not to mention that I used the current most popular fighter (De La Hoya) to compare the 2 sports. There is little star power is the sport of boxing today outside of a few names, and they only fight once a year. A UFC fighter fights several times per year.

Football is now America’s #1 sport. The 2007 AFC Championship game was watched by more than twice as many people as the 2006 World Series. I am not even comparing the World Series to the Superbowl, which would yield even a greater disparity.

More people go to college these days more than ever, but that doesn’t mean we always want to think. Our generation grew up on Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Steven Segal. This should show you that we don’t care to think at all. We just want action.

K-Will backs off statement.....sort of

In a busy off-season that has seen him trade 17-game winner Freddy Garcia to the Phillies and his likely rotation replacement Brandon McCarthy to the pitching depleted Rangers, always controversial White Sox general manager Kenny Williams backed off a statement he made in December about overpaying for average pitching......well, sort of.

In December as MLB teams overpaid for average to below-average pitching, cough Gil Meche cough, K-Will made a statement about his recent moves that brought in several young pitching prospects so he could avoid overpaying those pitchers. When asked if the trades were unpopular with fans, Williams responded:

"But you know what would be more unpopular? It would be if we did nothing and got old and got too expensive and then had to go scrounging for leftover talent and overpaying for mediocre talent."

Well, apparently Sox southpaw Mark Buehrle didn't appreciate the comments and assumed that his playing days with the South Siders would come to an end once his contract ran out at the end of the 2007 season. Williams had a sit-down with Buehrle although he never apologized for what he said, just that he said it in public. Wasn't that nice of him? Either way, the two seem to be on the same page now.

Buehrle had his worst MLB season in 2006 as he compiled a 12-13 record with a 4.99 ERA. Blame overworking during the World Series championship 2005 season, arm mechanics, batters figuring out his tricky style, whatever, it doesn't matter. The Sox need Buehrle, and if he rebounds this season, he'll be due a big pay-day.

But K-Will's comments bring up an interesting point. Sure, the market is set for overpaying pitchers, but does that mean teams should pay for those crazy salaries? I know, stupid question, teams need pitching. So is Williams insane or a genius for trading one big-game pitcher in Garcia and an unproven but highly thought of pitcher in McCarthy?

I'll hold judgement for now, but Williams and Sox manager Ozzie Guillen will need some of those recently arrived young pitching prospects to step up if the 2007 Sox plan to contend in a loaded AL Central. But here's the question that MLB and fans will have to answer in the coming years? Baseball is as popular as ever, but will it keep up? With these bloated salaries, only time will tell. And just to say it again, $55 million for Gil Meche?!