We’ve emasculated all of sports. You can’t play baseball the way Pete Rose played baseball anymore. Men no longer play sports with that kind of passion. We’ve turned sports into a money-grab.
I grew up during an era watching hardworking players like the Oilers’ Earl Campbell, Pete Rose, Lawrence Taylor and other real men who played the game they loved for pennies on the dollar compared to today’s overly-compensated player.
I don’t hate on them for that. For many will tell you, “it’s a business.” But that’s where the line separates the generations. Players will holdout of pre-season, weekly practices, and entire seasons to hold the organization hostage until they “secure that bag.”
I’m a homer and recall too clearly the Deshaun Watson situation with the Texans. Honestly, I wasn’t a DW4 fan at first. I saw too often during his first season he would overthrow passes to receivers. By year two, he won me over as he dueled to the end with likes of Tom Brady and Russell Wilson. I became a huge fan. Then DW4 started his bullshit contract “negotiations” by reportedly telling head coach Cullins that the three-time Pro Bowler has no intentions to play for the Texans ever again; he wants out. Of course, players deserve to share the earnings, but everyone knows the cost to attend live games has gone through the roof because of these money-grabs. I’ve seen tickets at NRG Stadium DOUBLE in one season to the next. I began taking my 12 year old daughter two years ago and watched the season opener versus Indy, and the very next home game and chose to bypass the third homegame because it was against the Cleveland Browns and I thought she’d be forced to walk through a path littered with vulgarity fom the Orange Parking Lot all the way through the entrance — which is about a mile away. But guess what? Those SAME two seats in the exact same section, have gone from $75 and $85 to $150 the year they drafted CJ Stroud. But that’s a story for another day.
Yesterday we lost a legend of baseball who was known as Charlie Hustle because of how hard he played baseball. His enthusiasm and love for the game. Did he cheat the game? Yes, as a manager who gambled on his own team. But when Charlie Hustle took the field, you can — ahem — bet your bottom dollar that he was in it to win it. And for the love of playing baseball. The righty way. The way we played in fields growing up without getting a dime. We simply loved the spirit of competition.
By the way: Can we do the right thing and put Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame? R.I.P.
By: Craig L. Amos, Publisher
