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[DJ_Tet]

Setting a max? Sorry bro, capitalism doesn't fucking work that way. And why do you think Ricky Williams owes anything to the fans? If you wanted to quit your job, wouldn't it be YOUR decision? It's his job and he can quit if he feels like it.

You're the one who fucking needs to grow up. Do you think these guys are slaves for our entertainment? If the guy wants to quit, he can fucking quit....



If he could get more elsewhere (which he did), why blame him? Again, if you could leave your current job for a higher paying one, wouldn't you do it? I dunno why folks resent these guys for taking money that's fucking available. Fucking commies

Communism would do wonders to the sports world, like keep it alive. Lets see a few more athletes walk away in their prime. It's not good for the game. The NBA has a cap on salaries, it's rediculously high, but by your own words, it's the same thing.

You should grow up and think about the sports world as an entity. It's going to collapse upon its own greed. Hope you aren't an NHL fan, their sport will be first. Then the NBA, MLB and finally NFL will all follow. The upswing can't continue forever, yet owners continue to pay average players superstar salaries.

And then all the thanks we get is "I quit." It's pathetic.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

Communism would do wonders to the sports world, like keep it alive. Lets see a few more athletes walk away in their prime. It's not good for the game. The NBA has a cap on salaries, it's rediculously high, but by your own words, it's the same thing.

You should grow up and think about the sports world as an entity. It's going to collapse upon its own greed. Hope you aren't an NHL fan, their sport will be first. Then the NBA, MLB and finally NFL will all follow. The upswing can't continue forever, yet owners continue to pay average players superstar salaries.

And then all the thanks we get is "I quit." It's pathetic.

who cares whats good for the game. What about whats good for Ricky Williams? He doesn't owe you or any other fans, or the league a goddamn thing.

 

[DJ_Tet]

My point has little to do with Ricky Williams as a person, I'm just making an observation.

 

[Mrbob]

Hmm according to reports it could be that Ricky retired so he didn't get the hammer brought down from the league for violating their drug policy a third time.

 

[soulja224466]

This is offtopic slightly. but when can we get a stickied nfl thread to post in? I hate having to go through pages and pages searching for the old one.

 

[Incognito]

Communism would do wonders to the sports world, like keep it alive. Lets see a few more athletes walk away in their prime. It's not good for the game. The NBA has a cap on salaries, it's rediculously high, but by your own words, it's the same thing.

You should grow up and think about the sports world as an entity. It's going to collapse upon its own greed. Hope you aren't an NHL fan, their sport will be first. Then the NBA, MLB and finally NFL will all follow. The upswing can't continue forever, yet owners continue to pay average players superstar salaries.

And then all the thanks we get is "I quit." It's pathetic.

i'm sure there were a lot more people who thought like you back in the 50s/60s/70s. but guess what? the sports survived even with astronomical salaries, ticket prices, stadiums, etc.. if the people are willing to pay, and they are, then sports will never die.

and if ricky williams wants to retire, then so be it.

 

[Blackace]

This is offtopic slightly. but when can we get a stickied nfl thread to post in? I hate having to go through pages and pages searching for the old one.

search button...

 

[DJ_Tet]

And I agree with everything you say. Enough is enough though. Nothing will change until the ballparks are empty. And when that happens it will be too late.

I understand my ideas are unformed and full of holes, but the system can't, and more importantly won't continue to get bigger. Sports has hit it's max, Ricky won't be the last player to take his money and go home. Hell, if I was Ricky, I'd do the same damn thing. It's a complicated issue with no clear answer.

The lockout in the NHL should prove more interesting than even the steroid scandal though.

It's obvious most of you are too young to remember before sports went through this unprecidented 20 year growth period. That period is now over though, it's simple economics. The players and the owners should think about giving back to the fans a bit, before the fans take their balls (heh) and go home.

 

[Fifty]

search button...

Or the user control panel. It's what I do. Odds are we'll get a sticky once the season starts.

 

[Shinobi]

Arc already made the point, but since I typed my rant out before reading his I'm gonna post it anyway...

Yeah but this isn't like a regular job. He signed a contract for X amount of years at X amount of dollars. He isn't even a free agent. This is the problem I have. If he was a free agent, that's fine. But he signed a deal that said he would be with the team so long and he should honor it.

Are you fucking kidding me? This is the same goddamn league that cuts contracts anytime they want to just so they can get under some ridiculously restricted salary cap (and half the time that's done right before or during training camp, which is no worse then Ricky's timing). Don't tell me a player has to honour any contract, when a team can up and cut up a contract anytime they fucking want.

Eh, NFL contracts aren't guaranteed anyway. If the team has a right to cut him because they don't feel like paying him as much any more(See Eddie George), he has the same right to walk away from the contract.

Fucking right.

Communism would do wonders to the sports world, like keep it alive. Lets see a few more athletes walk away in their prime. It's not good for the game. The NBA has a cap on salaries, it's rediculously high, but by your own words, it's the same thing.

You should grow up and think about the sports world as an entity. It's going to collapse upon its own greed. Hope you aren't an NHL fan, their sport will be first. Then the NBA, MLB and finally NFL will all follow. The upswing can't continue forever, yet owners continue to pay average players superstar salaries.

And then all the thanks we get is "I quit." It's pathetic.

Total melodrama. If the salaries are too high, the market will correct itself. Just like the stock market did after the dot.com crash. And for you to whine about the amount of money athletes make while ripping on Ricky for walking away from his lot and leave a ton of money on the table is about as contradictory as it gets. But that's typical of fans who are jealous about the green made by athletes.

Man, all of a sudden I've gone into full defend Ricky mode now...fuck his haters.

 

[levious]

where did this rumor about jordan being forced to leave the game start?

 

[DJ_Tet]

Total melodrama. If the salaries are too high, the market will correct itself. Just like the stock market did after the dot.com crash. And for you to whine about the amount of money athletes make while ripping on Ricky for walking away from his lot and leave a ton of money on the table is about as contradictory as it gets. But that's typical of fans who are jealous about the green made by athletes.

Man, all of a sudden I've gone into full defend Ricky mode now...fuck his haters.

I'm not ripping on him for leaving money on the table, I'm ripping him for quitting. Big difference.


The Jordan thing isn't a rumor.

 

[Blackace]

I'm not ripping on him for leaving money on the table, I'm ripping him for quitting. Big difference.


The Jordan thing isn't a rumor.

to be honest...the Jordan thing is a rumor... Rumors do have a way into becoming true.. but the NBA has never said otherwise... so until the NBA admits that they did indeed supend Jordan it is a rumor

 

[DJ_Tet]

to be honest, the Charlotte Observer reported Stern and Jordan having "secret meetings" during the 93 Finals about his gambling problems. Doesn't make it true however, I just find it strange that while I saw the reports with my own eyes, people refuse to acknowledge it ever happened.


To be fair however, the Observer also reported that Coach K was going to take the Celtics coaching job in 1990, so you can't believe everything you read

 

[Blackace]

to be honest, the Charlotte Observer reported Stern and Jordan having "secret meetings" during the 93 Finals about his gambling problems. Doesn't make it true however, I just find it strange that while I saw the reports with my own eyes, people refuse to acknowledge it ever happened.


To be fair however, the Observer also reported that Coach K was going to take the Celtics coaching job in 1990, so you can't believe everything you read

I am not saying it didn't happen or it couldn't have happened... just we don't really know. So you can't say THE JORDAN THING ISN'T A RUMOR because even at this point it is...

 

[DJ_Tet]

It may not be true, but it's a little more than a rumor. Backdoor meetings took place followed by a convineint tour of Birmingham.

 

[Blackace]

It may not be true, but it's a little more than a rumor. Backdoor meetings took place followed by a convineint tour of Birmingham.

And backdoor meetings are taking place now...and we have no idea what is going on! unless you have some insider info that I don;t have you are going on hearsay... I just wanted to point out that for now it is a rumor until big David Stern says otherwise...

 

[Pimpwerx]

My hatred has temporarily subsided, and I can be rational about this. The reasons he gave are pretty cool. He's just tired of the bs involved, and I hear that. We've all worked jobs we didn't like, and the NFL is most certainly a job. And I guess not everyone is in love with the game, and shouldn't be. If you can earn enough to be comfortable early, why not retire? I'd do the same world traveling thing too, donating to charity and all of that. But Jesus, the timing for this couldn't be worse. What a waste. PEACE.

 

[Cauliflower of Love]

He probably just wanted out of his contract with the corrupt dolphins(all miami teams are corrupt).

Prediction: He'll be back in one/two years.

 

[Cerebral Palsy]

Dolphins would just choke in December again and miss the playoffs anyway. At least this way they have an excuse this time.

 

[levious]

I'm trying to remember the last season Miami fans DIDN'T have an excuse - in my years of watching football at least. I believe it started with, "Marino is just a rookie."

 

[Cloudy]

Communism would do wonders to the sports world, like keep it alive. Lets see a few more athletes walk away in their prime. It's not good for the game. The NBA has a cap on salaries, it's rediculously high, but by your own words, it's the same thing.

You should grow up and think about the sports world as an entity. It's going to collapse upon its own greed. Hope you aren't an NHL fan, their sport will be first. Then the NBA, MLB and finally NFL will all follow. The upswing can't continue forever, yet owners continue to pay average players superstar salaries.

The NBA salary cap is in place to keep the league competitive (unlike fucking baseball) and there is a CBA (decided on after discussions between the players association and the owners). It's not communisim since players are not all paid the same so I don't see where you're going with that. Owners pay the salaries cos they are getting a LOT more than that from team revenue and tv deals. It's not greed, it's CAPITALISM. If the fanbase is there and people are willing to pay to watch these guys, they will get cashed out.

The NHL is in trouble because there is not enough interest in the sport so the owners are not getting profit after paying the players. The NFL, NBA and MLB (for the most part) don't have this problem.

And then all the thanks we get is "I quit." It's pathetic.

You seem to think these guys owe you something. Wake up, dude. They don't owe the fans shit!!!

 

[Tommie Hu$tle]

News out of Hawaii yesterday came from Dolphins running back Ricky Williams. The all-pro was retiring at the age of 27.

News out of Miami this morning seems to be pure, unadulterated rage.

Williams, the living, breathing definition of the word “eclectic,” has left the Dolphins without a running game, without a plan for this season and generally with a bunch of unanswered questions.

Fans, players and even reporters have gone nuts over this decision. Williams has been unabashedly called a "quitter" and been railed on for leaving his team in such a bind.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist Charean Williams lambasted the running back in today’s paper with an article titled “Selfish Ricky a surprise to no one,” adding that you can’t spell Ricky without the “I.”

But who’s really selfish here? Is it Williams for not thinking of his team, or is it the rest of us for expecting the man to entertain us on command like a trick pony. The running back wants to pursue the things in life he loves, and we act spoiled and bemoan the fortunes of a football team?

How does Ricky Williams owe us anything?

Williams gave up a lucrative career of his own decision, but that’s his decision to make. We all too often make the mistake as fans of thinking of these players as something we own, something we hold the rights to like a baseball card.

We don’t. Williams is a player, but he’s not Miami’s player, he’s not the NFL’s player and he’s certainly not the fans’ player.

As Miami Herald columnist Dan LeBatard pointed out today, the people of Miami never embraced Ricky the person, they embraced his accomplishments on the field. Imagine for a moment that no one in your office cared about anything you did outside of work, just that you got things done between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. People only talked work with you, never wondering if you had other likes, hobbies or interests. Wouldn’t you be tired of it after a while?

Williams has interests outside of football, and he’s just young enough, free enough, rich enough and lucky enough to be able to pursue them. If only we all had that kind of freedom.

Ricky Williams took nothing away from us as fans. He has been fun to watch in both the NFL and at the University of Texas. He has left us plenty of memories.

But that’s all he owes us — memories. The rest of Ricky Williams belongs to Ricky Williams, not to the fans of the Dolphins, the fans of the Longhorns or others who watch him closely. He is not a baseball card we can have and hold and keep.

It’s time we stopped being the selfish ones.

Well said.

 

[andthebeatgoeson]

I can't lie, I would be contradicting my previous posts if D. McNabb retired today.

Pimpwerx=Mechanized Death?
Peace!!!1

 

[Ninja Scooter]

very well said. Why should Ricky Williams give a shit about whats gonna happen to the Dolphin's running game. He's not the coach. He's not the GM. I still ask all the people complaining and criticizing him for this: What would you have him do? Say he just woke up one morning and decided he was done with football. Should he just keep on playing when his head and heart are not in it? You want to talk about loyalty to an organization? No team in the NFL has any room to talk about loyalty. Look no further than the aforementioned Eddie George for an example of that. Dude gave everything he had to the Titans. Never once missed a game during his entire career, and the Titans repay him by cutting him because they want to save a few bucks.

 

[levious]

ninja-

I agree with nearly everything you and all the other defenders have said... but I still think it would have been more appropiate to publicly announce it, rather than merely placing a phone call.

Granted, if I woke up rich tommorrow morning, I'd definitely quit over the phone while on a plane heading somewhere south. But then again, I have no fans.

 

[Tommie Hu$tle]

very well said. Why should Ricky Williams give a shit about whats gonna happen to the Dolphin's running game. He's not the coach. He's not the GM. I still ask all the people complaining and criticizing him for this: What would you have him do? Say he just woke up one morning and decided he was done with football. Should he just keep on playing when his head and heart are not in it? You want to talk about loyalty to an organization? No team in the NFL has any room to talk about loyalty. Look no further than the aforementioned Eddie George for an example of that. Dude gave everything he had to the Titans. Never once missed a game during his entire career, and the Titans repay him by cutting him because they want to save a few bucks.

The second rule of Vegas. Quit while you are ahead. Or else you will have that "Well I was up 2 grand and then...." same thing here he got out while he was ahead. He will be replaced. If he felt like getting up and leaving he didn't need to tell the fans. That's wack, he isn't a hero he's a guy with a job and he wanted out. He's out. If he plays it right he doesn't have to work another day in his life, what's wrong with that. Really what's the goal? To get in the Hall of Fame or to look back and say guess what I've enjoyed my life. He shouldn't be made into a hero becasue he played ball and nor should he be demonized for not playing anymore. He got in and out on his own terms. Not bad if you ask me.

 

[Bat]

I sorta changed my opinion on this subject. I now think Ricky is really genuine in this....he never wanted to play football, and he finally decided that enough is enough so he's quitting. I actually respect him for what he's doing and others need to realize that football is not the end all profession in the world. The lack of dedication Ricky Williams displayed towards his team and the organization is a direct result of the mahco conformist culture of NFL locker rooms (Ricky has always been a pariah on his teams) and the ruthless cutting of contracts by managements that means there is no longer any sort of loyalty to organizations. The NFL CBA creates paraity, profits, and excitement for all the teams but there are always side-effects and one of them is that NFL players are now hired guns, per se, any you can't expect some grand loyalties of them.

 

[soulja224466]

Dolphins would just choke in December again and miss the playoffs anyway. At least this way they have an excuse this time.

When was the last time the chiefs won a playoff game? KC are the biggest chokers of them all

 

[isamu]

He got to do what he loved as a young man, probably fucked a lot of women and...

He'll have a lot more time to do that now that he doesn't have to report to field week in and week out ;p

Ahhh the life of the rich..

 

[Shinobi]

I'm not ripping on him for leaving money on the table, I'm ripping him for quitting. Big difference.

You're the one that's relating the two...you can't tell me it's a big difference when they're going hand in hand with your posts.

And the MJ/gambling thing is a rumour, in that it's never been confirmed or proven. But many people believe he was essentially suspended. And it's pretty easy to believe...MJ's retirement at that point made no sense whatsoever, even with the death of his father.

The NBA salary cap is in place to keep the league competitive (unlike fucking baseball)

While I don't neccessarily disagree with the point, I just want to say that there's only been two repeat champions in baseball in the last 25 years or so, while the NBA has seen a littany of repeats or even threepeats...or in the Spurs case, a couple in five years. In fact MLB has had 17 different franchises win championships since 1975, while the NBA has seen just 10 franchises win titles in the same time period (for the record, the NFL has had 13 while the NHL has had just 11). I just wanted to say that the myth that baseball isn't competitive simply isn't supported by the facts, since fans and media always love to throw it out there as if it's reality.

I sorta changed my opinion on this subject. I now think Ricky is really genuine in this....he never wanted to play football, and he finally decided that enough is enough so he's quitting. I actually respect him for what he's doing and others need to realize that football is not the end all profession in the world. The lack of dedication Ricky Williams displayed towards his team and the organization is a direct result of the mahco conformist culture of NFL locker rooms (Ricky has always been a pariah on his teams) and the ruthless cutting of contracts by managements that means there is no longer any sort of loyalty to organizations. The NFL CBA creates paraity, profits, and excitement for all the teams but there are always side-effects and one of them is that NFL players are now hired guns, per se, any you can't expect some grand loyalties of them.

Right on. And let's call it like it is...the vast majority of these NFL players become sheep to the system, slaves to the masters (wonder if this is what Warren Sapp was referring to). Players seem to think it's somehow grand to be practicing twice a day in desert heat for a full month while wearing padding, because that's the way it's always been done. Nevermind the fact that players have died doing this sort of shit. Nevermind the fact that most players train during the off-season and enter camp in tip top shape anyway. Nope, all the bumps, bruises, bone breaks, muscle aches, twisted up fingers, poked eyes and Lord knows what else, that's just part of the game...so suck it up and like it. It's sad really. Much of this attitude of course is directly related to the piss weak player's union, which got their ass squashed in '87. If their union was more akin to baseball's or even the NBA's, there's no way they'd be taking this two a day bullshit.

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

i'll tell you what dudes: i would GLADLY, and i mean with a fucking smile on my face, work out 2 times a day in the desert heat or whatever if someone wanted to pay me $500K+ per year to do it.

it's ridiculous to call these guys "slaves". if you are going to say that, then everyone is a slave. everyone who works. i am a slave to my job. you are a slave to your job and to your friends and whoever else. so, yeah call NFL players slaves. they have it a fuck of a lot better than most people. most working class people have to deal with the same shit NFL players do in regards to being cut (laid off), fired, demoted, etc. but the difference is an nfl player can play for 5 years and probably retire and not have to work another day in his life (if he managed his money well). i have already worked 5+ years of my life and i'm not much better off than when i started (meaning i couldn't quit today and be set for life).

think about that before you go around feeling sorry for NFL players and calling them slaves to a system.

 

[Blackace]

i'll tell you what dudes: i would GLADLY, and i mean with a fucking smile on my face, work out 2 times a day in the desert heat or whatever if someone wanted to pay me $500K+ per year to do it.

it's ridiculous to call these guys "slaves". if you are going to say that, then everyone is a slave. everyone who works. i am a slave to my job. you are a slave to your job and to your friends and whoever else. so, yeah call NFL players slaves. they have it a fuck of a lot better than most people. most working class people have to deal with the same shit NFL players do in regards to being cut (laid off), fired, demoted, etc. but the difference is an nfl player can play for 5 years and probably retire and not have to work another day in his life (if he managed his money well). i have already worked 5+ years of my life and i'm not much better off than when i started (meaning i couldn't quit today and be set for life).

think about that before you go around feeling sorry for NFL players and calling them slaves to a system.

I agree that calling them slaves is going way too far.. but the right to quit/retire their jobs they have not lost...

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

i'm not saying he shouldn't have been able to quit. do whatever you want, i have no problem with that. but when people portray these athletes as victims, and how tough their lives are because they have to practice 8 times a week and play on sunday or whatever... that i just can't agree with. like i said, and i think i probably speak for more than a few people, i would love to get paid half a million bucks a year to play football. i dont really care what the job entails. much like ricky williams, you could play out your 5 years and be set for life. whats so "slave like" about that?

 

[Blackace]

No I agree with you... 100%

I'm just tired of people who think that he shouldn't be able to retire, and he is a pussy for doing what makes him happy and so on...

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

yeah but those people don't really understand that he is human just like us. nfl players aren't machines where their sole purpose in life is to entertain. i'm pretty sure most of us envy ricky in that he has worked hard enough in his life to where he can make this choice

 

[Shinobi]

i'll tell you what dudes: i would GLADLY, and i mean with a fucking smile on my face, work out 2 times a day in the desert heat or whatever if someone wanted to pay me $500K+ per year to do it.

You'd be on your knees bawling before noon.

I think about players who can't walk properly, can't use their arms properly, can't hold their children cause they can't curl their fingers, and I think to myself that I'd sooner work till I was 65 and be able to live in relative health, then live with a broken down body at the age of 35 or 40. Let's not even get into the reliance of pills, boosters and other things that they have to take just to get them through the days, weeks and months. It's a really fucked up lifestyle. I'm the sort of guy that values health above all though, so that's me. If you think walking with a limp is worth a few hundred thousand a year, then that's fine I guess. To me there's something seriously wrong with the whole culture in football, which again wouldn't exist if the union wasn't complete shit.

The wrestling culture is similiar, but even worse...200 days working a year, flying across the continent and all over the world, popping pills to keep the pain managable. Why? No union. Don't think it doesn't relate.

And BTW, I don't mean the players are slaves to the owners...I meant they're slaves to the football culture. Hearing ex-football players blasting Ricky Williams for what he did as if they know his fucking life just makes me want to throw up. Probably just jealous and bitter cause he left more money on the table then they could've made in 40 years.

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

there is a time to get out of everything, shin. do you think Robert Smith has trouble walking? think he can't hold his kids? but he is set for life. it isn't the cultures fault that people stay too long in the game. you have a choice. emmitt smith had a choice, he should have retired. barry sanders had a choice, he did retire. no one MAKES you play football. you can easily earn all the money you need in a few years if you play your cards right.

but guess what? some of these football players live a lifestyle that dictates they have to earn big bucks. you want fancy cars, houses, girls? earn more money. so, in a way its their own fault. you can pretty easily get out of football with the following:

1. money
2. health
3. satisfaction

but most players dont get out with all 3 for a variety of reasons. bravo to guys like ricky williams, barry sanders and robert smith. they played the game and won. do i feel bad for the dudes who can't walk properly or curl their fingers? sure i do, but sometimes you have to pay a price for fame and fortune. it isn't always fair but thats the risk you take playing a game where people beat the shit out of you on a weekly basis

 

[Shinobi]

But that's my point...when ex-football players are blasting Ricky Williams for leaving when he wants, that's just completely fucked up to me. WTF should he stay even another year and risk getting a broken leg or some permernent injury, just to make other people happy? It doesn't make sense to me, and again speaks to a total assimilation into the football culture that most of these players seem to fall into. Otherwise I agree with you...if a guy chooses to stay on past their prime and accept the risks, that's his choice. But I think the football culture makes accepting those risks far easier then they should be...almost like an silent peer pressure or machismo, so to speak.

I don't want to let Ricky completely off the hook though...again, his timing was just ridiculous. But apparantely this sort of talk had been going around for a while now, so the Fish should've been prepared for it anyway. If they're not, that's their fucking problem.

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

his timing was completely fucked. i'm cool with him leaving whenever he wants, but he should have done one of two things:

1. notified the dolphins WAAAAAAAY earlier

and if he couldn't do that (for whatever reason)

2. play out one more season. i know this sounds selfish on my part, but it would have been the honorable thing to do. this is like those pricks at work who, when they quit, dont even give a two week notice. they just dont show up to work or they call in and say "um i quit". then you are left scrambling to get someone to come in and work their shift. not EXACTLY the same, but it's the same style

 

[Shinobi]

Agreed...though they've been conflicting reports that Ricky had been hinting at this all summer, and made the Dolphins aware of this.

 

[Bat]

While I don't neccessarily disagree with the point, I just want to say that there's only been two repeat champions in baseball in the last 25 years or so, while the NBA has seen a littany of repeats or even threepeats...or in the Spurs case, a couple in five years. In fact MLB has had 17 different franchises win championships since 1975, while the NBA has seen just 10 franchises win titles in the same time period (for the record, the NFL has had 13 while the NHL has had just 11). I just wanted to say that the myth that baseball isn't competitive simply isn't supported by the facts, since fans and media always love to throw it out there as if it's reality.

Just as a side point/observation: I think the inherent nature of each sport is responsible for that. In the NBA, a single player (Jordan, Duncan, etc.) can make a team very good just by himself, so you get teams that get lucky in the draft doing very well for extended periods of time. The thing about baseball is that the difference between "great" and "bad" is small. A bad hitter might only be half as effective as a great one (in terms of OBP, RBI etc.) but in the NBA a great player is infinetly more valuable than a bad one both in stats (something like 25 ppg vs 2 ppg) and in how he effects his teammates (which doesn't usually apply in baseball). This also translates into how good teams are. While the Yankees are a very good team, they still only win 50% or so more games than the worst team in their division. In the NBA very good teams often win three times the amount of games as the bad ones. Essentially, there is an inherent parity in baseball as a game, which is why you can have a different champion each year despite having no salary cap(and once your actually in the playoffs, the team with the hottest bats at that specific time often wins anyways).

That being said you can still buy good teams in baseball because there is no cap. The Yankees get to the world series every other year or more (recently), the Diamonbacks essentially bought their 2001 championship (and proceded to post a huge loss that year), the Marlins won the WS the two times they decided to spend money, and the best teams usually do have the highest payrolls while perennial losers have payrolls a sixth of the Yankees. You might need luck to win the WS, but for the most part you need cash to stay competitive enough to actually get to the playoffs.

However, salary caps, like all aspects of America pro sports, must be collectively bargained. Using the "it's capitalism! free market!" argument is incredibly faulty, though. If pro-baseball (just using it as an example) was a free market then there would be 10 teams in NYC alone, because there is a huge demand there for baseball, and thus over time the Yankees would not get those huge revenues that allow them to have a $200 million payroll. However, since MLB regulates when and where new teams can go, you get the Yankees and Mets having monopolies of sort over pro baseball in such a huge market. This is just one example, but the point is that when you are talking about pro sports, you can't argue in terms of capitalism and free markets, but rather in collectively bargained rules.

 

[Blackace]

his timing was completely fucked. i'm cool with him leaving whenever he wants, but he should have done one of two things:

1. notified the dolphins WAAAAAAAY earlier

and if he couldn't do that (for whatever reason)

2. play out one more season. i know this sounds selfish on my part, but it would have been the honorable thing to do. this is like those pricks at work who, when they quit, dont even give a two week notice. they just dont show up to work or they call in and say "um i quit". then you are left scrambling to get someone to come in and work their shift. not EXACTLY the same, but it's the same style

I agree playing out the season would have been the better thing to do if he didn't tell the dolphins earlier... but like Shinobi said I have heard that Ricky was trying to tell or make them aware...

Ricky seems like the type of guy who has trouble with conflict.. I am sure he was telling them in the softest way possible....

 

[DJ_Tet]

Agreed...though they've been conflicting reports that Ricky had been hinting at this all summer, and made the Dolphins aware of this.

Sounds as likely as Jordan getting banned for gambling. There are backdoor calls/meetings everywhere, WE don't know what's going on /Blackace

 

[Blackace]

Sounds as likely as Jordan getting banned for gambling. There are backdoor calls/meetings everywhere, WE don't know what's going on /Blackace

So that changes his right to retire?

 

[DJ_Tet]

No that means until Paul Tagliabue says that Ricky contacted the Dolphins in March, it's just heresay.



I've heard the same rumblings as you have, but I haven't seen it in a paper anywhere. Unlike the Jordan "retirement."

 

[Blackace]

No that means until Paul Tagliabue says that Ricky contacted the Dolphins in March, it's just heresay.



I've heard the same rumblings as you have, but I haven't seen it in a paper anywhere. Unlike the Jordan "retirement."

Even so he has the right to retire as anyone does... So is there any point to what are saying besides you feel bad about clinging on to the Jordan rumor as fact?

 

[DJ_Tet]

I never said Ricky didn't have the right to retire.


I heard that Jordan got thrown out of the league for 18 months for gambling.

Someone else heard that Ricky Williams told the Dolphins he would retire in March.



You said that the Jordan thing was a rumor until David Stern said it was true.


I'm saying that the Ricky Williams "thing" is a rumor until we hear Wannstad, Heizinga, or Tagliabue say it's true.

It's pretty simple, and eerily similar.

I know I've had a lot of "contradictory" things to say in this thread. That's my fault for coming out that way. I never meant to claim anything was Ricky's fault. Had I been in the same situation, I'd retire too. I was saying things were wrong with the system, not the player. Read it over again and perhaps it will make more sense.

 

[Blackace]

I never said Ricky didn't have the right to retire.


I heard that Jordan got thrown out of the league for 18 months for gambling.

Someone else heard that Ricky Williams told the Dolphins he would retire in March.



You said that the Jordan thing was a rumor until David Stern said it was true.


I'm saying that the Ricky Williams "thing" is a rumor until we hear Wannstad, Heizinga, or Tagliabue say it's true.

It's pretty simple, and eerily similar.

I know I've had a lot of "contradictory" things to say in this thread. That's my fault for coming out that way. I never meant to claim anything was Ricky's fault. Had I been in the same situation, I'd retire too. I was saying things were wrong with the system, not the player. Read it over again and perhaps it will make more sense.

I believe the biggest difference in these two is the defamation of Jordan's character… Also if Jordan was involved in gambling on NBA this would have a severe impact on his career. Hearing that Ricky tired to tell the Dolphins he wanted to retire doesn’t change the fact that he can retire at any given moment. Just to be even more nitpicky Paul doesn’t have to say Ricky told the Dolphins he wanted to retire the Dolphins front office has to confirm it since Paul really doesn’t have anything to do with their day to day operations. While David Stern and the NBA were the ones that “suspended” Jordan as you and other people say.

 

[DJ_Tet]

Actually, you're wrong. When a player retires, he informs the league, not the team.

I agree with the fact that Ricky telling the league he's retiring in March doesn't defame his character like gambling does. Of course the rumblings that he failed a drug test or just plain quit aren't much different though.

The point is, if we'll never know that Jordan was suspended, we'll never know that Ricky told the Dolphins in March that he was going to retire.

You and a couple of others threw out the "rumor." I simply stated the rumor has no basis. It certainly has LESS basis than the rumor that Jordan was suspended. I got shot down when I defended that rumor, tough you can't handle the same.