EL BARRIO, EL FALLS – This might be the easiest week I have had, as the news kept finding me. I will say one topic was meant to be talked about last week but I forgot so it is now part of this week’s topics. Here is the batting order for today: CC Sabathia, Jimmy Butler, NY Giants and Corrupt Soccer Agents.
CC Sabathia: I heard about this last week. Carsten Charles Sabathia, Jr. came short of making a 500K performance bonus on September 27th. Apparently, he is more worried about the game’s rules and direction than he is about money. CC needed to pitch 7 innings to earn his bonus and he was cruising to it until the top of the sixth inning in the Yankees vs Rays game. The Home plate umpire Vic Carapazza warned Rays reliever Andrew Kittredge in the top of the sixth inning after he threw a pitch behind Yankees catcher Austin Romine. Sabathia yelled out to Kittredge after the pitch. The Yankees went on to post four runs in the top of the frame. Sabathia’s first pitch in the bottom of the inning drilled Jesus Sucre and the Yankees starter was kicked out of the game. Now, me and you may never see 500K in our lifetimes but Sabathia is worth 80 million, according to spotrac.com and he signed to a 1-year, 10 million dollar deal. In all likelihood he’ll get another 1-year deal because the Yanks don’t have enough arms. It is still the act of a purest of the game and for that he deserves credit.
Jimmy Butler: We are all Jimmy Butler or want to do what he did earlier this week. Butler requested a trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves, but the front office has decided against it. After missing two weeks of practice and pre-season games since his request was denied Butler finally showed up to practice. He took a team made up of himself and the reserves and soundly defeated the starters. In the process he called plays that isolated the big name stars of the team like Karl-Anthony Towns and had them have to guard him 1 v 1. He won all these match-ups resoundingly and while making shots and playing, he was yelling at the coach and GM, who were both present, about how much they need to quit playing with him and give him what he wants. As soon as practice ended, he left the building without saying a word. I wish I could exit one of my jobs like that.
Eli Manning: I don’t believe Eli is done as a QB. He still has gas in the tank. I believe this because, I look at Tom Brady and he is still at it. The problem for Eli is he is the football equivalent of Henrik Lundquist. The team is rebuilding but kept a QB from the last era. They didn’t have the decency to trade him to a team like Denver or Arizona or even Buffalo. Teams with defenses and a running game that could win with more solid QB play. That could have been a second birth for Eli. Instead he is stuck behind one of the worst offense lines in the game. He is literally like Martaugh, “too old for this shhhh.” Trade him at the deadline and get a 2nd and a 3rd rounder that will help the offense. Use the #1 pick next year on a QB since the Giants are destined for a top 5 pick looking at their performance to date.
Corrupt Soccer Agents: I bring this up because I am a sports fan. There is a scandal in European soccer right now, primarily in the Belgian Juniper league. It appears like soccer agents were doing more than taking their 10 percent as they were actually having clubs pay them the money directly or getting the non soccer related businesses belonging to themselves and extended family involved in making money of the player sales by way of sponsorship or sweet deals with the clubs. I am not surprised that this happened. I am just suprised that it took this long and it is only soccer. Like when an NCAA team gets caught for cheating or paying off players. I am pretty sure, they only got caught because they started getting egregious with some of their acts. If the light was ever shined on American pro sports and all the big money that goes on, I am positive some of this stuff would come out.
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