$$$ BALL

The Steelers, The Penguins, The Pirates…. What’s the one thing they all have in common?

PITTSBURGH.

Really, all of the comparisons end there. The Steelers are one of the classiest organizations in pro sports as well as one of the most successful…if you disagree with that in light of certain “misbehavings” by key players recently, then go ahead and bring it on….I just took the ammunition out of your biggest gun….6 super bowl titles in what is arguably the most competitive/violent league in the world.

The Pittsburgh Penguins won a pair of Stanley cups on the back of good GM work and a super star named Mario Lemieux. Then hockey became pro baseball for awhile. They allowed salaries to increase, they managed to leave the fan out of the game and pretty soon about 5 franchises were in the running for the cup every season because hockey became $$$ BALL. (franchises: Colorado, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Toronto, Detroit.)

These 5 organizations were at the time the most powerful and lucrative in the game. # of them remain so though you would never know Toronto makes more $$ than any other, but that was before the cap was installed that SAVED hockey. These teams did not see the need to draft and raise talent….instead they drafted talent and traded it away for proven veterans that they could then sign to long term deals. They bought ALL stars. That’s the reason Detroit is about 8,000 years old from the top of its roster to the bottom between 1996-2002. They adapted and started drafting better after that to much better results.

The cap allowed the pens to be competitive and the rest is history….good drafting, luck and a a few young stars coupled with superb ownership and GM work lead to a 3rd cup from an organization that was nearly run out of town….

So back to baseball….it’s a corrupt and selfish league that only cares about its owners and players. The fans get left out even though we are the ones who provide the bulk of the $$$ to this gutless cash machine.

The Yankees (AKA the evil empire) and Boston Red Sox are deplorable examples of good ownership…they simply know how to take advantage of a bad system. If you had enough $$ and “PROUD of their ahlf illitearte accent” fans then any ape with half a brain cell would understand why giving CC Sabathia, AJ burnett, Mark Texiera, Curtis Granderson….A-roid, etc, etc more money than God is a good idea…because supposedly it would give you the best chance to win a title.

(1 title win in the past decade despite 2.2 billion in player spending…..which quite frankly doesn’t impress me that much…especially since there is about 12 legit teams that are even considered “contenders” to start the season.)

Yankees fans are like fans from all other sports…they’re not sports fans. They simply like to feel good that they root for a team that WINS!!! Yayyyyy they won! Look, see, I was right…I knew they would win! I’m so smart where sports are concerned…..27 titles…wow yippppeeee……its peanuts people.

Listen miss Cleo, those classic yankee teams had some pride and that many titles is impressive no matter what sport but when you consider that MLB is really just a game of poker than no wonder it was easy to win 27 out of 107 years. That’s a title percentage of about 25%....so your team enters the season with a 25% chance of winning it all against 12 other current competitive teams….wow….you root for good odds not good baseball! You are only exempt from this if you were born in NYC and the Yankees are a family tradition of sorts. All others are bandwagon fans….that is the truth. You like feeling good that you are associated with a winner in some capacity….an underlying truth is that most people that do like the Yankees are probably not successful at the sports they loved growing up. Losing sucks doesn’t it??

So, the pirates….oh boy.
They are the epitome of losing.

This is a touchy subject. I love Pittsburgh. It’s a proud sports town with some of the best fans in the world, but here’s the cold hard facts grandpa:

17 consecutive losing seasons (worst in ALL PROFESSIONAL SPORTS WORLDWIDE)

Lowest payroll spent last season (cut all lucrative contracts for minor leaguers in return)

In 2009-10 season only 4 players had contracts valued @ 2 million or higher.

More $$$ is spent marketing and advertising the pirates than is spent on player salary

A brand new ball park that has sold out 4 games in its history…( 3 of them were games against the Yankees)

No penant or division title in 19 years

Paul Maholm is our highest paid player @ 3.5 million dollars. (that’s a little more than what kris letang just got from the penguins)….and maholm sucks (38-44 career with a 4.33 era…its not top 4 starter material for any other respectable organization in MLB)

Any fan that could stomach these facts and still go to the ATM for the 10 dollars it takes to get into that beautiful building need punched. The ownership just pockets your money and hands you a night out to see TERRIBLE baseball in a beautiful building. Or maybe the terrible concert and fireworks afterward.

Please come to our nice house….we have fireworks and bobbleheads and commemorative plates, and collectable coins and free t-shirts, and free hats and free food if you pay $35…….what a joke this organization is. I HATE IT.

The ownership has no intention of ever putting a winning product on that field despite the fans innate infatuation with their beloved “buccos”….I only go if someone gives me a ticket for free. If someone gives me a free ticket this season I’m gonna put it in an envelope and mail it to the Nuttings with these words on it:

“You are a rapist….please jump off the Roberto Clemente bridge headfirst.” Signed….a fan who is smarter than you and your GM…the same GM you hired so you can fire him a year from now and blame 18 losing season on him not yourself…..

Opening day buzz is retarded also…this team continues to operate and make $ because of thousands of blindly loyal fans and OLD MEN who still think the 1970’s are around and that “we are family.”

Quite frankly I don’t want the Nutting’s mentioned in the same sentence as me, my family, or even the bank statement I receive at the end of the month….I bank with citizens…you know who’s ballpark they named even though they are a western PA business??? The Phillies…smart cats.

This season will not approach anything close to .500 ball….i will be surprised if they make it to .400 ball.

They have no talent….they have no brains what-so-ever…they have no intention of winning anytime soon….and apparently they get away with it because loyally stupid-ass fans go in droves to get their pirates memorabilia. Let them sink people…..let the Nutting’s have their winter wonderland….

They guilt their lemming fans to be part of the teams that brought 5 titles to this town. Do they plan on adding to it anytime soon? NOPE…and further more I will not buy a #22 Andrew McCutchen jersey for the same reason I won’t buy a Clemente #21….no its not cuz I’m racist….it’s because I don’t believe in using past success to promote current mediocrity….wait mediocrity is too nice….how bout current inevitability. THEY WILL LOSE again and again and again if you keep “believing” by putting low stakes poker chips in their pockets by attending their games.

As a fan of Pittsburgh sports…I will bash them at every turn because their owners do not belong here. I love the titles they won in 1909, 1925 and then again in 1960 (against the Yankees)…I love the titles they won in the 1971 and 79…it’s a proud rich franchise that’s owned by shallow pockets and shrewd business people who prey on the low sports IQ’s of people native to this area.

Ever wonder why they call it “the WORLD SERIES of Poker”???????

BASEBALL IS A JOKE & the pirates are the punch line.