Capitol Hill Blue Forums Misc. Topics Sports Time To Hate The Dodgers?

Magic Johnson and his crew are now channeling the spirit of the late convicted felon owner of the New York Yankees - George Steinbrenner.

As a Red Sox fan I have mixed emotions about the Dodgers sudden desire to spend....spend...spend since they did relieve the Sox of some rather ill advised and fiscally restrictive contracts but with this sudden surge by the Dodgers does have a trickle down impact on salary structure and eventually competitive balance.

So the famed NYY's have been relegated to second place in the all time season high payroll rankings as the Dodgers total for 2013 season is now 225M and counting.

I heard this news on the way to work yesterday. $36m for a 95 m.p.h. South Korean southpaw. My first thought was: Now the Dodger are trying to buy Championships - instead of earning them.

Exactly. It costs a family of four a minimum of $100 to enjoy a day at the game. The concession prices are outrageous.

I like Greger's recipe for dodgers a lot more. They're cheaper, too.

corn dodgers

As a Dodgers fan, I am happy if the they can put together a team that will have a shot at winning. And no matter how much they pay, the team will still have to earn their way to a World Series Championship by winning. You have to have talent to win, and talent doesn't come cheap these days. Not in any pro sport. So now we will have to wait until Spring to see if the bang is worth the buck! It's time for Dodger baseball!

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I have an excellent idea -- just ignore these ridiculous childrens' games and do something useful.

Professional sports is entertainment and when you reach the pinnacle the financial rewards are substantial as they are in entertainment for movies to a stage performer. A successful athlete has a unique skill and is paid accordingly. One may disagree with their value to society but the fact is sports are followed and is a huge business and that is quite visible in The World Cup, Super Bowl and Olympics. Who would have ever thought even a few years ago that elite in such sports as a marathoner or a skate boarder would be millionaires with incredible endorsement contracts and their own personal staff.

How the money has changed. I remember in the early 1950s Gordie Howe was the NHL MVP yet had a part time job in the off season. Now the minimum salary in hockey is over $500,000 per year.

Of course the cost is passed on. You are I pay for it by costly seats, inflated product prices and subsidized stadiums.

It is what it is, rick. And several of these athletes do great things for kids. And weren't YOU supporting the SF Giants throughout their pennant race and then their win of the World Series? And admonishing me because I would n't support them as a Californian? How hypocritical of you to then try and chastise me now. Except that you are just doing it to be "contrarian extraordinaire"...

But it's the subsidized stadiums that piss me off.
If they're already bringing in such enormous sums through inflated ticket prices and lucrative broadcast contracts then the rest of the people who live in a city should not be required to PAY for the COST of a stadium that many of them will never be able to afford to set foot in.

It's no different than oil co subsidies. Aren't we already paying enough as it is?
Actually it's worse since the majority of people use oil whereas the majority of people don't buy season tickets.

Pro athletes make more money than God, they get treated like gods and thus they believe they ARE gods.

Good point Jeff. The irony of course is that the average working family can't afford to take their kids to the ballgame because of the salaries of the players and the stadiums.

Someone mentioned the SF Giants. The Giants have salary caps and will let a player go if they don't fit into the budget even if said player is a "winning Giant" and participated in the 2010 or 2012 Championship.

Dodgers on the other hand, have not won a championship since 1988 and, as the OP has pointed out, management is trying to buy a Championship before their investment in the Dodgers goes financially south and there'll be no ROI.