take with a grain of salt

Typically, my ramblings on the sports world aren't found here. If you are really interested in my point of view then tap into the phone conversations between my brother and I. They are a real treat. Secretly we dreamed on doing sports radio together, but thus far our dream is yet to become a reality. We can't find anyone that interested in listening to our musings about everything sports. I think they'll come around eventually.

The real point I wanted to make today revolved around the Phillies signing of Cliff Lee. As a lifelong (only 24 years compared to my dad) Phillies fan, I spent a good part of today rationalizing the signing and giggling like a boy at the thought of a Halladay, Lee, Oswalt, and Hamels rotation. From a baseball perspective, it's borderline inconceivable. Philadelphia is not supposed to experience this kind of euphoria from their teams, especially the Phillies.

As I listened to sports radio at work, I kept hearing about Lee leaving money "on the table" in order to return to the Phillies. To be fair, he is making $120 million over the next 5 or 6 years. There is no threat to his overall well being by taking "less" money. However, I still give the guy credit.

Not many athletes will sacrifice money for anything, even winning. Yesterday's athletes might have, but not today's. They are too pampered, glorified, and, even, worshiped to say no when someone "shows them the money!" (see Jason Werth for an example) Lee chose to head to a place where he could use his very skilled talents to help a team win. He didn't want a stage where everyone could see him. While this will inevitably happen, the guy simply wants to play with a group of players dedicated to winning. I see nothing wrong with that. In the today's world of sports, I actually find it somewhat respectable. It is a breath of fresh air, if you will, in this stale, self-glorifying microcosm of society.