What happens when one corporation spends one-thousand-three-hundred-eighty-four-point-nine percent more than another? Quite simple; competition is eliminated. Pro-free-market-economists call it a monopoly.

How much is 1384.9%? If one were to take IBM, number 10 on the Fortune 500 list of the highest-revenue companies, and try to find a company which brings in 1384.9% less -- the companies would include Brunswick (best known for bowling products), McGraw-Hill (textbooks), and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD -- technology), to name a few.

To deny that Major League Baseball has become, at the least, an oligopoly, would be nescient. Teams like the Yankees can use their massive profits, which mainly coincide with their superlative media markets, to "mark up" the prices of free agents to the point where smaller-market teams simply do not have the financial wherewithal to acquire talented players.

The USA finds itself in a similar predicament. As the more-than 77 million baby-boomers between the ages 41 and 59 reach the point of retirement, they drool at their gargantuan pensions and other retirement benefits -- passing that expense on to the next generation. And, according to a paper published by a researcher for the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, said expenses could amount to $65.9 trillion -- forcing the US into bankruptcy.

Unfortunately, neither the US Government nor Major League Baseball seems to be concerned about the impending destruction due to their financial malpractice. While the NBA, NHL and NFL all have implemented salary caps, the MLB has responded with a subordinate "luxury tax" and ineffective revenue-sharing policies. Some owners pocket every-last-cent of the money they receive in these systems, and because there is no tax for impecuniousness, there are few incentives to take risks by spending more money.

As the price of players continues to skyrocket, division races turn into shopping-sprees, and the competitiveness of small-budget teams is unremarkable. With the same-old-teams playing in the same-old-playoffs with the same-old-players, the fan-following diminishes and the state-of-the-game deteriorates.

The government seems to be consonant to these philosophies. Why worry when we can procrastinate, after all? Constantly, this country's leaders dial out and circumvent the imminent economic future, promising tax cuts and dealing out more and more money in Social Security.

Not to mention that, as of recent, the US has become the proverbial ATM machine for Third World countries -- inflict mass genocide, and the US will ship you boat-loads of cash, only further contributing to inflation. Somehow, it has become our responsibility to clean up the messes belonging to other countries, and the longer this occurs, the more bankrupt we become.

Let's not forget that the value of the US Dollar is consequent to the public opinion of it -- the more money we print, the less that money is worth, it's as simple as that. When people start to lose confidence in the American economic system due to the doubling in personal and corporate income taxes to pay for 77 million retirement plans, they move their business elsewhere. Mass-outsourcing of corporate affairs is already evident as the US coaxes its people into believing that their financial-futures are secure.

In fact, in 2004 International Business Machines (IBM) was sued for its "age discriminatory" conversion from a traditional to a cash-balance pension plan and forced to pay more than $300 million to settle these issues. However, the government later passed the Pension Security and Transparency Act in 2005, which seemingly encouraged IBM's conversion, saying that cash balance pensions are not age discriminatory. Somewhat controversially, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report which stated that a cash balance plan would lower retirement benefits for most workers.

But if the government is encouraging lesser retirement benefits, certainly, they must be aware of the threat greater plans pose on the society of the future. So why haven't they publicly addressed these problems, admitting what hardships these pensions will create? Because, they, like the MLB have decided to ignore these problems as much as possible -- the last thing Bush wants is more negative publicity.

Sad when major organizations are driven solely by publicity, isn't it? Now, any attempt to resolve the pending problems might prove to be too late -- as Professor Laurence Kotlikoff contends, the government is already bankrupt. And although some baseball aficionados are still anticipating a salary minimum and maximum in the near future, such a result seems unlikely.

The economic rigmarole may just out-wit these organizations, consequently the outcome can only be negative for the millions of Americans who love and cherish their way-of-life and national pastime.

The last of the pre-All-Star Break and first half of the season has expired.  And for many teams, that means it’s time for the fun to begin – for others, it’s time to pack up the bags and look forward to next season.  Trade rumors heating almost as much as the division races – this is what Major League Baseball is all about.  And in a year when home-field advantage could prove meaningless due to the sheer AL-dominance in inter-league play, the question on everybody’s mind is what this year’s playoff-picture will look like.  So, in the spirit of that picture, let me give you an artist’s rendition.

Let’s start with the losers – close-but-no-cigar – the middle of the food-chain.  First-and-foremost, the New York Yankees.  It’s quite simple.  They are too old.  Injuries and a poor pitching staff make them the easy pick for falling-out-of-contention.  Matsui’s starting his rehabilitation, but how effective will he be?  He wasn’t playing well before the injury (.261 AVG), how can he be expected to play well while nursing a broken wrist?  Gary Sheffield is on-the-shelf, his season a disaster, injured off-and-on – we can count him out of a playoff-race.  The Yankees are still wondering what they paid for in Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright – not to mention a fading Randy Johnson.  And now, they’re All-Star second baseman, Robinson Cano, the only star-quality-youth left on their roster joins the ever-expanding club on the DL.  But this finish was foreseen years ago with the Yankee management and ownership of recent.  This just isn’t the year for the Yankees.

The run was great – quite frankly, I’m surprised it lasted this long – but, alas, the second-half of the season will show the real Detroit Tigers.  Kenny Rogers, this year’s AL All-Star starting pitcher, has never been a second-half performer.  We’re talking about a guy who was 10-4 with a 2.54 ERA pre-All-Star break last year.  After a heavily-publicized incident with a camera operator and the ordeal that followed, Rogers finished the season 4-4 with a 4.72 ERA; and his team, which came out of the All-Star break above .500 (46-40 on July 11th), followed Rogers, finishing the season 4-games under .500 at 79-83.  Now some will be quick to point out that the Rangers weren’t as good of a team as the Tigers are now – but, truth-be-told, the AL West wasn’t as competitive as the AL Central is now.  And post-All-Star breakdowns aren’t a new development for Rogers; in 2004, he was 12-3 with a 4.21 ERA pre-All-Star break, and 6-6 with a 5.46 ERA post.  In 2002, he was 9-5 with a 3.57 ERA pre, and 4-3 with a 4.16 ERA post.  Oh, and that’s not even considering that Rogers is now 41 – he will undoubtedly be feeling the wear-and-tear of the season in the second-half.  Next is the often-injured, always-unreliable Magglio Ordonez – who hasn’t played in more than 83 games in an entire season since 2003, and if 2004 is anything of a sign of what’s-to-come, a season in which he had 54 hits pre-All-Star break and 5 post, things aren’t looking to good for Tiger’s hitters either.  Let’s face it: Pudge just isn’t the Pudge of old, he can now be categorized in the large-class of aging catchers past-his-prime – yet another second-half underachiever, batting .292 in the first-half, .252 in the second-half of 2005 and .369, .284 in the first and second halves of 2004, respectively.  Even the 25-year-old Chris Shelton is fitting in with his teammates as a one-month-wonder and second-half failure (.345 pre, .279 post in ’05).  Better luck next year, Tigers.

The slouch of the West?  That’s a tough one, considering how poorly the teams have been playing, but I’m going to have to go with the Seattle Mariners.  They’ve had a good first-half under their-own standards; however, I expect them to fall back to mediocrity now that they are back playing in the AL.  I point at their lack of starting, middle-relief, and now, closing pitching as the root of their dismay.   Felix Hernandez isn’t what everyone hopes he will be, yet.

So, if not the Tigers or Yankees – who’s my Wild Card pick?  The Minnesota Twins.  Two words: Francisco Liriano.  He’s finally received the All-Star-spot that he deserved, and now the top of the Twins’ pitching rotation are the two most intimidating pitchers in the MLB.  With some new-found offense, Joe Mauer hitting in the .380’s, and Justin Morneau on pace for 50+ home runs, which will make him the first Twin to hit more than 30 homers since 1984 (coincidentally, their last World Series win) – Minnesota has the total package.  And consider that their owner 3-billion-dollar owner, Carl Pohlad, was born three years after the Titanic sunk, making him 90-going-on 91; if Pohlad wants to see a World Series for his team before his time is up, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him make a few moves before the trade-deadline.

Finally, the division winners: The Boston Red Sox, with three viable MVP candidates in David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, and Jonathan Papelbon.  The Chicago White Sox, with one of the most powerful offenses in the game to compliment the most complete 5-man rotation.  And the Texas Rangers, who, with the addition of Adam Eaton into their rotation when he comes back from injury – and a potentially devastating offense, will find themselves on top of a leaden AL West.

In the NL, the New York Mets have just run-away with the East, and with a lackluster Atlanta Braves pitching staff, the reign of the Braves may soon be over.  In the central, I expect the St. Louis Cardinals to hold onto first.  And everyone’s pick in the NL seems to be the Los Angeles Dodgers, with a rejuvenated Nomar Garciaparra and a healthy Brad Penny (also an All-Star starting pitcher), expect the Dodgers to take-hold of the NL West.  In the Wild Card, the Cincinnati Reds will be in a tight-race, but will ultimately pull-out on top with the acquisition of Eddie Guardado, who, at the very-least, improves their bull-pen.

My NL Snubs?  The San Diego Padres will be left in the dust.  Brian Giles has been less-than-extraordinary this year (.269, 6 HR, 46 RBI) and Jake Peavy (4-8, 4.46 ERA, 116 K’s) simply can’t hold this pitching staff together by himself.  Even in a weak NL West, the Padres won’t be able to hold on.

In the Central, I look to the Houston Astros – who, this time last year, found themselves a massive 11.5 games-back in the NL Central, before making an amazing run and finding themselves in the World Series.  Ladies-and-gentlemen, Roger Clemens (1-2, 2.82 ERA) isn’t enough to jolt this team into the playoffs.  Even if he matched last year’s second-half totals of 6-5, 2.42 ERA, the pitiful 6 wins which he would provide will not be enough to earn the Astros another Wild Card spot.

Looking towards the League Championship Series for the AL and NL, I expect to see the Boston Red Sox pull out a 6-game series-victory over the Chicago White Sox due to a more powerful offense which could include Bobby Abreu in the near future and a dominating top-of-the-rotation in Curt Schilling (10-3, 3.60 ERA), Josh Beckett (11-4, 4.75 ERA), and rookie Jon Lester (4-0, 3.06 ERA).  And in the NL, a 5-game series-victory for the New York Mets over the St. Louis Cardinals for the simple fact that the Cardinals have a major lack of pitching strength, especially after Mark Mulder’s sel####estruction.

The World Series, ironically, is the easiest pick of them all – given the AL dominance, and Boston’s sweep of the Mets in inter-league play, the Boston Red Sox will enjoy another World Series sweep, their second in three years.  Clutch-hitting, power-pitching, and the lack of the New York Yankees will allow the Red Sox to crush what is left of the curse.  Simply put, the Mets will be over-matched.

But, like any other picture, this is simply a compilation of the artist’s deepest emotion, logic and expression – a perfect environment for the artist.  To the viewer, as the proverb goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Read This Article on RealGM.com
forrest@northsider.net

Hometown fans from around the nation and parts of Canada unceasingly blame Bud Selig and the MLB for not limiting the payrolls of the "big-time" organizations, such as the Red Sox and Yankees, which they believe are "ruining baseball".  Taking a glimpse at the payroll of the Yankees, $198,662,180, and then scrolling-down to find the Marlins' at $14,344,500 and instantly think, "How does George Steinbrenner get away with this?"  But the question that they should really be asking isn't how Steinbrenner, the overzealous owner of the New York Yankees, get's away with paying-out that much money, but rather how Jeff Loria, Steinbrenner's foil character and manager of the Florida Marlins, get's away with paying-out less money than the salaries of 12 MLB players alone.

While Royals fans such as Chad Carroll auction of 25-years of loyalty to their, formerly, favorite teams, the Red Sox have sold-out more consecutive games than the number of dollars I paid in income taxes last year.  But how could this be?  How could these Red Sox fans condone the "ruining" of America's favorite pastime?  How could any real baseball fan support these "evil" organizations which seek only to shatter the seasons of all of the "innocent" small-town teams?

The truth, however, is quite the contrary.  In fact, the MLB is discussing the implementation of new rules to require the owners of such small-town organizations to re-invest a higher percentage of their teams' profit back into the franchise.  In other words, while George Steinbrenner and John Henry, the Red Sox owner, put every last penny they make back into their organization's payroll, the MLB has to manipulate the rules just to insure that owners such as Carl Pohlad of the Twins don't chose to pocket that money instead.  Why do you think that Jeff Loria depleted the Marlins of their high-paid players?  If you're thinking what I'm thinking; you're right.  Take this chance while you have it, because there aren't many other times that you can call multi-millionaires cheapskates.

And sure, you can't point to the big-money-markets that are New England and New York; but, as the famous movie line goes, "If you build it, they will come," and the antecedent to 'it' in this case is the franchise.  When the Royals win 100 games, and they still aren't attracting fans, then you can come and yell at the Red Sox and Yankees -- but, I can say with relative certainty that if the Royals do win 100 games, Kansas City will join New York and Boston as a big-money-market.  The problem isn't the dollar-amount that these owners invest, but rather the percentage-of-profits that these owners invest.  The MLB can continue to take money out of the Yankees' TV and media contracts and distribute it to the lower-budget teams -- that's not going to stop George Steinbrenner from taking every dollar made and putting back into the organization.  But the lesser-owners can sit back and squeeze the profits out of their respective organizations, and if a question is ever raised; they can simply point at the Yankees and say, "Look at all that money that he's spending!"

I'm not going to sit and feel sorry for the millionaires and billionaires who own MLB franchises because they want to make a quick-buck -- that's not how to win-over a city.  You can yell at Tom Hicks as much as you want for his negotiations with Scott Boras and previous signing of Alex Rodriguez to a 10-year, $252 million contract -- but at least he's trying to improve the Rangers, instead of pinching-pennies.  Having no salary cap is the best thing that's ever happened to baseball -- it promotes the sport and the media coverage of it, and that's all that counts.

If you want your MLB team to be a successful one, you have to spend money -- that's what you agree to when you purchase one of these massive franchises.  And sure, you're not going to make much money while you're the owner, but last time I checked, the Yankees are the only sports franchise worth over a billion dollars.  When you invest money in a franchise, as in any other type of business, and your investment pays-off ala World Series, you're going to make money -- but, if you'd rather take no risks, why did you invest in the first place?  No guts, no glory -- no risk, no reward -- it's as simple as that.

To Red Sox fans, he was the unmistakable, infallible hero who saved the idiots from what was to be just-another-continuation of what had been the truth for 86 years.  He was the man in center-field who could do no-wrong -- an icon.  To Yankees fans, he was "that guy with the long-hair who ruined our World Series."  The instigator of the most harrowing experience in New York history -- the man who ended the dynasty, public enemy number-one.  Today, he is the man stuck between two loves -- what used to be, and what has become.  Who once was a saint, now is a villian -- who once was a foe, now a comrade.  But be you a Yankee or be you a Red Sock, there is only one truth to be told; only one story that matters, and for Johnny Damon, beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.

And, on October 20th, 2004; Damon carved himself into Red Sox history by becoming the catalyst of what was a ten-to-three routing of the New York Yankees in game seven of the ALCS.  Yankees vowed to abhor Damon for enternity; while Red Sox pledged allegiance to him and bowed in his presence, crying out, "We're not worthy!  We're not worthy," Wayne's-World-style.  But, being the deceitful and diabolical fans that they were; this was bound to change -- and as the great Laurence J. Peter once said, "Fortune knocks but once, misfortune has much more patience."

One could make the arguement that Damon brought this upon himself -- and after being quoted as saying, "There's no way I can go play for the Yankees, but I know they're going to come after me hard. It's definitely not the most important thing to go out there for the top dollar, which the Yankees are going to offer me. It's just not what I need," it just seems to be too easy to hate Johnny Damon.

The clock is ticking, and with every tick, we move only closer to what seems to be the inevitable end of Johnny Damon in Red Sox lore.  But not so fast Red Sox fans -- you still have a chance to redeem yourself, a ticket to redemption, what more could you ask for?

Tonight, there are only two messages that can be conveyed about the Red Sox faithful -- either they're a classy fan-base, or a crowd of disloyalties.  Don't be caught as the one boo-ing Johnny -- be truthful with yourself, and be fair to Mr. Damon, who has brought only good things to the Boston Red Sox.  Save the boo-ing for the time when, God-forbid, Johnny hits the game-winning home-run to bring the Yankees back from a 3-0 deficit in the ALCS; because, until that time comes, Johnny will never have hurt the Red Sox as much as he once helped them.

And while some will argue that to not-boo a member of the "Evil Empire" is to be disloyal in-it-and-of-itself; they attempt only to mark the Red Sox fans as ill-tempered.  And to do so is to become a Yankee fan -- to give in to the urge that is the "boo".

Nevertheless, there will be many who come to the game with the intention of boo-ing Johnny Damon; but, these are not the real Red Sox fans, rather, they are the band-waggoners who will be swayed only by popularity.  To be the one who is not boo-ing is not enough; because, even if you're on the right track, you'll still get run-over if you just sit there.  and as cliché as it may sound -- don't do what is popular, do what is right.

Forget the pin-stripes, remember 2004 -- remember the Johnny Damon of old.  Don't miss the doughnut by looking through the hole.

 

The Yankees have come a long way since starting as a farm team of the Cincinnati Reds. Winning 26 World Series titles and gaining the fan-base of nearly ever New-Yorker today, the Yankees have certainly put their mark on baseball. But after the World Series drought for the last 5 seasons -- and yes, it is a drought for a team that is paying $200,000,000.00 a year -- the Yankees seem to be falling into what has been deemed, the 9/11 curse. And, no, I do not believe in curses -- for the record.

But, it's not very difficult for one to take a quick glimpse into the past 5 years and see what has been going on within the Yankees organization. It doesn't take a rocket-scientist to see that, ever since the Steinbrunner era began, the Yankees have been spending more-and-more money -- with the exceptions of a few seasons, the Yankees' total salaries has been on a steady incline. In fact, this season, the Yankees pay-out more than $78,000,000 more than any other team in the league and at least two-times as much as every major league franchise except the Red Sox, Angels, White Sox and Mets. And while some might point out the fact that the Yankees are simply taking advantage of MLB's lack of a salary cap; their "style", if you will, of signing players has adversely affected the way the free-agent market works in the major leagues today. Agents like Scott Boras would never have been as successful as they are without the Yankees -- don't believe me? Ask Boras. Before the Yankees began signing aging-superstars to long-term, multi-million dollar contracts; Boras would have never dreamt of representing players making more than $12,000,000 per year. Now, this number is anything but uncommon in the majors -- and players like Kevin Millwood can sign monster contracts that pay far more than they are really worth.

Furthermore, the Yankees have acquired many of their superstars via trade -- and over the years, the Yankees have depleated their minor leagues. And Robinson Cano is all that remains of what used to be a fruitful minor league system. No more can the Yankees trade for their oh-so-loved overpaid players that aren't performing on the teams that can no longer afford to keep them. The period where the Yankees could simply pick-off all of these players off of the club of their choice is over.

But how about free-agency? The Yankees can deal out more cash -- it doesn't matter that they don't have minor leaguers, they can make up for it in the free-agency. However, you must remember something -- there are only 25-spots on a major league roster, and the Yankees aren't going to be content with paying a player millions-o####ollars to sit in the minors -- no matter how rich Steinbrunner is. And to go along with this fact, you must also remember that many of the players that the Yankees signed to long-term contracts are diving into the deep years of their guaranteed contracts -- and when you're 35 years old or more in the majors, you're feeling the pain; and after 162 games, their old bodies start to give in. Moreover, Steinbrunner's money only goes so far -- he can only afford to pay so much money in salaries and still expect to make a profit, and obviously, the Yankees have reached that limit. How can I say this? Because this season was the first year in a very long time that the Yankees overall budget has gone down -- and for the first time since 2003, the Yankees are paying-out less than $200,000,000. Now, this might change before the trade deadline comes around with players such as Roger Clemens on-the-line; but Steinbrunner has realized that he is at the vertical-limit of his budget -- and it can only go down-hill from here.

And, alas, it is going down-hill. Like I said before, the Yankees are getting old -- and there is no one in-line to replace them. I am going to present some numbers here -- and if you're standing up, I suggest you sit down; and if you have access to a seatbelt, I would also recommend buckling-up, because these numbers are going to blow you away.

In 2005, the Yankees "revitalized" their rotation with several free-agent acquisitions -- and for those of you who think the free-agent market is always going to be where the Yankees can rebuild, you should get out a pen-and-paper. Let's take a look at that staff, and the players acquired in 2005; the Yankees paid Randy Johnson $941,117.65 per win -- hardly a bargain, but it gets worse. The Yankees paid Jaret Wright $1,132,000.00 per win, Mike Mussina $1,461,538.46 per win, Carl Pavano $2,250,000.00 per win, and Kevin Brown $3,928,571.50 per win. That means they paid $9,713,227.61 for five wins from their starting rotation. Take a look at their offense: New York paid Alex Rodriguez $514,666.66 per home run, $206,677.42 per run, and $200,000 per RBI; Derek Jeter $155,737.70 per run, and $271,429.57 per RBI; Gary Sheffield $105,691.06 per RBI, $382,352.94 per home run, and $125,000 per run; Jason Giambi $419,625 per home run, and $177,648.64 per run. The Yankees could have paid for 31 runs from Gary Sheffield and they still wouldn't have paid as much as they did for one, single win from Kevin Brown.

But how about the portion of the staff that came in to when several of the aforementioned pitchers were hurt? For Chien-Ming Wang, the Yankees paid only $39,500.00 per win; for Aaron Small, the Yankees paid only $35,000.00 per win; for Tanyon Sturtze, they paid only $170,000.00; and for Shawn Chacon, they paid only $335,714.28 per win. That's right, the Yankees could have paid for one-hundred-and-twelve wins from Aaron Small before they would have paid for one from Kevin Brown. You tell me, what seems to be the better deal? Having minor league talent, or forking-out millions of dollars for unproven or overage free-agent talent? How far do you think a major league franchise -- no matter how rich the owner -- can continue to pay the amount of money than the Yankees did to their starting rotation in 2005? Not very long.

It is beyond me why the Yankees didn't realize that this outcome was inevitible -- but nevertheless, that time has come. And this era of the Yankees dynasty might just have come to an end.

Top 10 Ways to be a Trendy Sportswriter

Trendy is a term that applies to sportswriters more than any other writer. Sports have never been an exact science and there is never a correct way to go about writing about them.  There's the golden rules; never be hypocritical, never be outrageous, never make grammar errors -- but sportswriting is a dog-eat-dog world. All men like sports in some way, shape or form, and all men have opinions. Therefore, all men like to voice their opinions on sports -- and they always think they are right: always.

But when's the last time you were talking to your friends about sports and you heard something out of your friend that you couldn't just go watch on SportsCenter or read in USA Today? I feel like being Matt Damon for a minute and say, "Were you planning on plagiarizing the entire article for us?"

That's how it is now-a-days. It's so hard to find someone who has, what can really be considered, their own opinion. 99% of the time, it's the opinion of the tabloids or (in the case of sports) ESPN. But that's why sportswriters exist right? To start the trends.

Trendy. The word itself is catchy -- say it five times real fast and you'll be saying it all day. Let's face it, sportswriters have to be agreeable and they have to be right at least some of the time. Of course, a good sportswriter predicts something correctly less than 15% of the time -- and the other 85%, well as long as you're trendy, you can push it off. If you predict George Mason to win it all and it back-fires on you; you look stupid. If you predict Conneticut, along with 50 million others, and it back-fires on you -- you just say, look at the other 49,999,999 who picked them. Bold sportwriting is hard to do, and hard to be accurate in doing -- but it is respectable.

With that said, let's look at the top 10 ways to be a trendy sportswriter:

#10. Write "If They can Stay Healthy" Articles: The best way to write about a player that you're taking a risk on -- if you're a trendy writer. It's so easy. Write the whole article praising a certain player, and leave little remarks in between like, "When he's healthy," or "If he can stay healthy." Then, if it does back-fire, you can always just blame it on injury. You'll be popular in no-time.

#9. Make Player Rankings with Biases towards Popular Players: You see it all the time, don't you? Those pesky player rankings! The one where the no-namer is the hottest player in the league but he's ranked 21st behind 20 players having average seasons but are big-names. Always pick someone that everybody likes. That's what the trendy writers do.

#8. Bash The Fantasy-Sports Busts: Everyone hates their fantasy busts, right?  You draft Deuce McAllister in the first round and he's injured the entire year, that'll make you hate him real fast.  Go with the flow, trendy writers say, hate the guys that everyone hates because they'll agree with you.  And that's all that counts.

#7: Be a Fair-Weather Fan: It's so easy.  Whenever the Red Sox win the World Series, write as if you were the biggest Red Sox supporter ever, no matter what you have said in the past.  Tell everyone how you had the Red Sox all along, go back and find all the times that you praised the Red Sox and show how right you were.  Sway the trend.

#6: Write in a "conversational" writing style: I get so tired of this.  You read the first three paragraphs of a sports article, and it's about what they were feeling at the beginning of the game -- newsflash:  I don't care!  You might think that it's a cool way to start off a sports article, but it's not!  Everyone just skips those quotes, they get mad, and then you tie the quotes in at the end and it just makes you sound so stupid.  Or should I say, trendy.

#5: Exaggerate everything Going on in Sports: If T.O's hot topic; blow everything that he's ever done out-of-proportion.  If he stepped on the star at Texas Stadium, make it seem like the ugliest moment in sports; if he insulted his quarterback, interview him about it and pull his statements out-of-proportion as well.  Then, pull all of these ideas together in one, big, blown-out-of-proportion article.  People love it.

#4: Write a Bonds-Bashing Article: One of my favorites; write about how Bonds has ruined baseball.  Make him seen like baseball's equivalent to Satan.  Everything he does is terrible, steroids are the only thing that caused his home runs -- how he should get an asterisk.  How much you knew that he was on steroids in 2001, even though you hadn't the slightest idea.  It's the trend.

#3: Praise every Rookie that you watch play, and when one does well, boast about how you "always knew": Don't just praise the ones you actually think are going to do well, praise all of them.  You'll make yourself sound like a good guy, and then you can boast until next year when one has a good season, right?  Oh how fun these trends are!

#2: Pick the Yankees to win the World Series: Ignore the fact that they are the oldest team in baseball -- just go with the fact that they pay out more than any other team, and you can pick the Yankees -- if they don't win, you just say that everyone else thought they were going to win.  Just pick'em!

#1: Write Controversial Article on Hot-Topic News: Put yourself in the middle of controversy.  Everyone likes it, controversy I mean -- so naturally, everyone will read your article.  Popularity in no time!  You just can't go wrong with this one.  Bonds, T.O., it's all the same -- don't go with your real feelings, just write controversial articles.

A great course of two days it's been for baseball.  I'm already wanting to mark out some names on the standings just based on their performances today and yesterday -- but let's slow down and take a look at some players-to-watch, teams-to-follow, and some thoughts-to...well...think-about.

Let's start with the players to watch.

Real-Deal's

Chris Shelton, DET -- I watched this guy at the plate today, 3-4 with 2 HR's (he should have been 4-for-4 but was robbed of a hit); let's not forget that these two homers accounted for 2/3 of Detroit's runs and ultimately led to victory.  Shelton hit his way into 107 games last year and hit .299; and don't forget that he really didn't heat up until later in the year, stay tuned to this guy's statistics and pick him up in your fantasy leagues if he's still available.

Scott Rolen, STL -- He had a good opener going 3-5 with a grand slam; he is back from injury and is ready for a solid 2006 season.

Time-to-Steal's

Alfonso Soriano, WAS -- With all of the negativity floating around about Soriano, he started off the year 2-for-3 and had a solid defensive play.  If you're going to try to trade for him, do it now, while the negative feedback remains -- once he starts getting into shape with Washington and stealing bases (which Texas prevented him from doing) no one will want to trade the guy.

Ramon Hernandez, BAL -- Here's a talented everyday catcher that will continue to play for the Orioles with Javy at DH.  He was 3-for-3 today with a couple of RBI's; try to make a move for him while he's cheap.

Julio Lugo, TB -- For me, this guy has proven himself as a solid hitter.  There's still a chance that he might be traded to a better team as well.  He was 2-for-2 today and could be looking towards a big year.

Coco Crisp, BOS -- This was the guy with the red-hot bat during the spring, and although he was only 1-for-5 today; he may be set-on-course for a monster season leading-off that Boston lineup.

Mike Lowell, BOS -- As a matter of fact, this guy may still be available in your league.  He's not the greatest option allbeit, but he can play both 2nd and 3rd in fantasy and did hit a home run today.  He had a solid spring and has been flying under the radar as of late.  He may be a sleeper pick.

Time-to-Deal's

Paul Konerko, CWS -- Konerko is a big-time player.  He will produce numbers, but at 1B -- a very competitive fantasy position, people can over-value him.  See if you can whip-up a deal with Konerko as a center-piece and maybe you'll end up upgrading.

Kevin Millwood, TEX -- With the fresh memories of last season in mind, try to rid yourself of this guy.  He is a really good pitcher, but he is aging and he is pitching at Ameriquest Field in Arlington.

On-Their-Heel's

Dimitri Young, DET -- This guy has always been over-rated, he doesn't hit for a high average, and doesn't have as much power as people give him credit for; he's bound to move down in the Detroit line-up this year with rising youth -- try to see if you can deal him.

Mike Sweeney, KC -- On a terrible Kansas City team, this guy won't be able to drive in the number of runs that fantasy owners count on -- perhaps you'll be able to deal him for better RBI talent.

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I have to say that I'm pumped for tonight's Yankees-Athletics game.  I just hope that with all of the downplay I've laid on the Yankees this off-season that it might just become true this season.

Tomorrow's Predictions:

Indians 1, White Sox 3
Minnesota 1, Toronto 2
Boston 8, Texas 5
Yankees 4, Athletics 5
Angels 7, Seattle 2
Pittsburg 3, Milwaukee 2
Florida 1, Houston 2
San Francisco 2, San Diego 3
Atlanta 0, Dodgers 3

-NorthSider

Baseball's around the corner -- we're less than a week away from opening day; and, as some will start to figure out, baseball is my specialty and my favorite sport.  And now that we're arriving upon the great day that is opening day -- it's time for NorthSider's AL season preview and predictions.

American League

AL East

1. Boston Red Sox -- 102-60: That's right, out of all of the adversity, out of all of the discredit to the Red Sox's offseason; the Red Sox are motivated this year.  The curse is no longer, so now starts the run for their 2nd World Series title in three years.  The Red Sox have, in my mind, the best team that they've had in a decade this year.  Their defense looks solid, boasting an infield with five gold-glove caliber players.  The offense is sturdy and solid from top-to-bottom; Manny and Ortiz are still in the middle, and with additions such as Crisp, Loretta, and Lowell, the lineup is one that will be looked up upon by many teams.  But, the strongest element of this team is the amazingly deep and strong pitching rotation and bullpen.  A rotation that includes Beckett, Schilling, Wells, Wakefield, and a possible combination of Clement and Papelbon, the outstanding prospect from last year.  The bullpen is revamped, and with a healthy Foulke, with have an unstopable trio like the Yankees of past years in Timlin, Tavarez and Foulke.
Grades: Defense, A; Offense, A+; Pitching, A-; Overall, A.
Notable Individual Performances:  Manny Ramirez, .325, 45 HR, 140+ RBI; David Ortiz, .300, 47 HR, 120+ RBI; Mike Lowell, .275, 20+ HR; Josh Beckett, 3.00 ERA, 200+ K's, 20+ Wins; Jonathan Papelbon, 12+ Wins, 3.50- ERA; and Mark Loretta, .313, 20+ HR.

2. Toronto Blue Jays -- 91-71:  The Blue Jays are going to face the challenges that the Yankees frequently have to face, and that is, getting along and having chemistry.  The team looks great on paper, only slightly less talented than the Red Sox, but chemisty is what will keep the Blue Jays from winning their division.  The Blue Jays will probably start off slower than expected -- holding a .500-ish record into May -- but, as the team breaks into the season and starts to work together, anchored by starters Roy Halladay and AJ Burnett, the Blue Jays will take off towards the end of the season.  But while the Blue Jays have a solid offense and pitching rotation, their problems may occur in their shaky defense -- this will be something to keep an eye on.
Grades: Defense, B-; Pitching, A-; Offense, B; Overall, B+
Notable Individual Performances: Roy Halladay, 20+ Wins, 2.50 ERA, 170+ K's; AJ Burnett, 15+ wins, 3.50 ERA, 150+ K's; Shea Hillenbrand, .280, 20+ HR's; and Vernon Wells, .270, 27+ HR's, 90+ RBI.

3. New York Yankees -- 88-74:  Alas, the inevitable outcome of the Boss's investment into older veteran players with a lack of young talent.  Their defense this year will be shaky, at best, awful at worst.  The offense is still commendable, but with stars like Sheffield and Giambi involved in the steroid scandal as well as aging players like the aformentioned and Jorge Posada -- not to mention much of their pitching staff, the Yankees simply wont be able to slug it out this year.
Grades: Defense, C; Offense, A; Pitching, B; Overall, B
Notable Individual Performances: Johnny Damon, .303, 10 HR, 60+ RBI; Alex Rodriguez, .321, 40 HR, 120+ RBI; Gary Sheffield, .286, 30+ HR, 100+ RBI; Robinson Cano, .310, 18+ HR; and Carl Pavano, 17+ Wins, 3.50 ERA.

4. Tampa Bay Devil Rays -- 78-84:  The D-Rays are getting there.  They are the MLB's up-and-coming team.  This year is yet another developmental process for the team, especially in a tough division such as the AL East is this year; but, come two more years, you might just see the D-Rays in the playoffs.
Grades: Defense, B+; Offense, B+; Pitching, C-; Overall, B-
Notable Individual Performances: Aubrey Huff, .270, 25+ HR; Carl Crawford, .320, 55+ SB's; and Julio Lugo, .300, .370 OBP.

5. Baltimore Orioles -- 62-100:  I don't know what to say about the Orioles besides, Miguel Tejada is right -- they just aren't doing enough with a talented core of players to make the playoffs.
Grades: Defense, C+; Offense, A-; Pitching, D+; Overall, C+
Notable Individual Performances: Miguel Tejada, .320, 30+ HR, 110+ RBI; Melvin Mora, .290, 30+ HR; Brian Roberts, .290, 15 HR; and Kris Benson, 9 Wins, 4.80 ERA.

AL Central

1. Chicago White Sox -- 98-64: I don't think I have to say much about the White Sox -- they are coming off a World Series as confident as ever, they will only improve over last year's team.
Grades: Defense, A; Offense, B+; Pitching, A+; Overall, A-
Notable Individual Performances: Paul Konerko, .280, 45+ HR, 110+ RBI; Jon Garland, 17 Wins, 3.00 ERA; Mark Buehrle, 17 Wins, 3.00 ERA; and Brian Anderson, .280, 15+ HR.

2. Minnesota Twins -- 90-72:  With the improvement of the Blue Jays and Rangers this year, the Twins probably won't make a playoff run; but will make the fight for the Wild Card pretty interesting.  They have an improved infield with Luis Castillo and their pitching is, as always, just flat-out great.
Grades: Defense, B; Offense, B-; Pitching, A+; Overall, B
Notable Individual Performances: Johan Santana, 20+ Wins, 2.40 ERA, 250+ K's; and Joe Mauer, .300, 20+ HR.

3. Cleveland Indians -- 79-83:  Let's get the obvious out of the way, CC Sabathia is going to dominate this year.  The not-so-obvious?  The Cleveland offense is not going to be as good as it was last year.  Cleveland adds a good member of the bullpen in Mota and a crutial part of the offense in Marte -- but, we'll have to wait untill next year to see the full ramifications of Boston's trading of Marte.
Grades: Defense, C+; Offense, B+; Pitching, B-; Overall, B-
Notable Individual Performances: CC Sabathia, 3.50 ERA, 16+ Wins.

4. Detroit Tigers -- 62-100:  I'm not quite sure what the addition of Kenny Rogers will do for the Tigers.  Let's face it, Pudge is getting older and Magglio's best days are behind him.  The only reasons to watch the Tigers are if Bonderman starts living up to his potential or if Chris Shelton has a breakout year.
Grades: Defense, C+; Offense, B; Pitching, C; Overall, C+
Notable Individual Performances: Chris Shelton, .300, 20+ HR's; and Kenny Rogers, 12+ Wins, 3.30 ERA.

5. Kansas City Royals -- 56-106:  I want to see the Royals succeed, but it is still a few years off, at least.  But the slight improvements that the Royals made this year may just be a sign of things to come.  Maybe we'll see something out of Zach Grienke?
Grades: Defense, C; Offense, B-; Pitching, D; Overall, C
Notable Individual Performances: Mike Sweeney, .300, 22+ HR.

AL West

1. Oakland Athletics -- 92-70:  I'm not quite confident enough about the Athletics to grant them anything more than 92 wins.  They seem to want to improve, but they don't seem determined to do it; they need to make a bigger move if they want to have a real shot at the World Series next year.
Grades: Defense, A-; Offense, B+; Pitching, B+; Overall, A-
Notable Individual Performances: Rich Harden, 2.30 ERA, 15+ Wins; Barry Zito, 3.50 ERA, 14+ Wins; and Houston Street, 0.96 ERA, 8 Wins, 32+ Saves, 9.90 K/9.

2. Texas Rangers -- 91-71:  Texas has made some interesting moves this year, which could constitute a brief playoff run.  Their pitching rotation looks solid, as does the very end of the their bullpen with Cordero.  But, with the lack of a bullpen besides CoCo -- the Rangers wont be able to pull off the division.
Grades: Defense, B+; Offense, A; Pitching, B-; Overall, B+
Notable Individual Performances: Brad Wilkerson, .275, 20+ HR; Mark Teixiera, .300, 38+ HR; Michael Young, .320, 20+ HR; and Kevin Millwood, 2.80 ERA, 16+ Wins.

3. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim -- 81-81:  I just haven't heard the name Angels said enough in the off-season apparently.  I just really don't think that they can win the West this year.  You just can't keep on relying on Vlad's bat and not give him any support around him.
Grades: Defense, B+; Offense, B-; Pitching, B-; Overall, B
Notable Individual Performances: Vladimir Guerrero, .320, 35+ HR, 110+ RBI.

4. Seattle Mariners -- 64-98: The Mariners have good young talent, but they don't have the supporting cast to go around Felix Hernandez or Adrian Beltre with the exception of Ichiro.  They've made some good moves, but Mariners fans -- you'll have to wait another year.
Grades: Defense, C; Offense, B; Pitching, C+; Overall, C+

Awards:

MVP - Manny Ramirez, Boston

Cy Young - Johan Santana, Minnesota

Gold Gloves - C: Jason Varitek, 1B: Mark Teixiera, 2B: Mark Loretta, SS: Orlando Cabrera, 3B: Alex Rodriguez, OF: Vladimir Guerrero, OF: Ichiro Suzuki, OF: Vernon Wells.

Rookie of the Year - Andy Marte

Silver Slugger - David Ortiz

Comeback Player of the Year - Mark Loretta

AL Playoffs

Wild Card - Boston vs. Rangers; Oakland vs. White Sox

ALCS - Boston vs. White Sox

World Series Representative - Boston Red Sox

Allen Huber Selig, better known as Bud Selig, the current MLB commissioner, was born on July 30, 1934 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Selig was not what you would call an average child at the time, nor was he the most popular.  He had, what some would call, an obsession in the area of American History, and not a whole lot of athletic ability.  Selig did play baseball as a youth; but quit shortly after starting because he no longer enjoyed the game because he was unable to hit a curveball -- little did he know of his future career; because apparently, he still doesn't enjoy the game -- he destroys it.

Selig graduated from the University of Wisconson-Madinson in 1956 with a bachelor's in American History and Political Science.  Shortly after graduating, Selig served two years in the armed forces and returned to Milwaukee.  As soon as he arrived, Bud began to work in the automotive business with his father -- he began to watch baseball with great regularity.  Before long, Selig became a die-hard Braves fan when the team moved from Boston to Milwaukee in 1953.  In 1964, Selig became the team's largest public stockholder -- ironically, the same year that Barry Bonds was born.  However, to Selig's dismay, in 1965, the Braves made their most recent move -- to Atlanta.  Selig vowed that there would once again be baseball in Milwaukee.

Bud, soon thereafter, began to follow up on his vow by founding "Teams, Inc." which, in 1968, had several Chicago White Sox games arranged to be played in Milwaukee.  Selig would attempt to purchase the White Sox and move them to Milwaukee, but the AL vetoed his purchase because of their belief that the team should be able to compete with the crosstown Cubs.  Selig was furious.  In 1970, he would purchase the bankrupt Seattle Pilots franchise, moved them to his hometown, and renamed them the Brewers -- bankrupcy would become a trend with his franchise, however.

Selig did well for the Brewers franchise -- appearing in the 1982 World Series and winning seven Organization of the Year awards.  But Selig's success in Milwaukee would cost him later in his baseball career -- as it would cost all of baseball.

Selig assumed the commissioner's role by transfering all of his ownership to his daughter, Wendy Selig; this, he believed, removed any conflict of interest -- especially because Wendy was his daughter.  Many questions have been raised regarding Selig's continued involvement in the ownership role.  Defenders of Selig point to the fact that the organization was poorly managed after Selig's daughter began running the franchise as proof that Selig had no involvement -- however, this only proves, to me, even further that he was still involved with the team; I mean, it's not like he's done a very good job with baseball either.

But Selig would not keep baseball out of controversy for very long as acting commissioner.  In 1994, Major League baseball suffered a labor strike -- but Selig didn't just put an end to baseball, he put an end to the Montreal Expos's franchise; something that would come up several more times throughout his history as a commissioner.

For several years, Selig would continue to own the Brewers, receive bridge loans from the owner of the Twins, and control the salary of the Expos -- he still didn't think that he had any conflict of interest.  He contributed $13.2 million dollars to the Brewers organization over the next couple of years; as well as alowing the Brewers franchise to transfer to the NL -- so that he didn't have to pay for a DH -- Selig would also be a strong supporter and help lobby for a new Brewer's ballpark.

His obvious biases towards the Milwaukee franchise don't stop there.  In 1995, the Brewers posted a debt level of 97% of the franchise's value -- however, in 2001, the Brewers boasted record profits, boosting them out of debt.  A few weeks later, Selig announced that he would begin enforcing a strict "60/40" rule -- 60/40 aluding to asset/debt -- his Brewers would have been 100/97.  In Bud's books, it was just a coincidence -- as were all of his other moves that got him accused of having a bias.

Then, in 2001, after the dramatic conclusion to the World Series -- actually, within 48 hours of -- Selig announced contraction hearings on the Minnesota Twins and the Montreal Expos.  This was the last straw -- Selig was charged with racketeering and conspiring with Jeff Loria, the Expos owner, to deliberately defraud the Expos' minority owners.  Should he have been found guilty, Selig could have cost the league up to $300 million in damages.  Bud was eager to settle the case because the judge had ruled that Expos were not to be moved or contracted until after the case was over -- after going to arbitration and finally settling the case, Selig refused to disclose the amount that he settled it for.

The most highly publicised down of Bud's career came when Selig declared the 2002 All-Star game a tie in the 11th inning.  The following year, Selig decided -- after the public's frequent criticism of Bud's action -- that he was going to make the All-Star game count; just what were you thinking when you called the game, Bud?

But none of these moves could compare to Bud's stance on steroids -- if you consider it a stance, that is.  During the massive homerun totals that were registered between 1998-2001, including the McGwire-Sosa stand-off and Barry Bonds' 73 homerun season following his weight increase of twenty pounds in one offseason -- Bud sat bag in his LazyBoy and watched the baseball ratings skyrocket.  Between 2003 and 2005, Selig received much criticism for his failure to act on the obvious steroids issue in baseball.  So he decided -- much like he did in 2002 after the All Star game -- to flip-flop on the issue so that he would become more popular.  In 2005, he went to Congress saying that he had no idea about the steroids issue until the 1998 season -- even if this was true, why didn't he act in 1998?  But somewhere between the skyrocketing ratings, the McGwire-Sosa race, and Bonds's 73 homerun season; Selig forgot about the meeting that the MLB and the owners had in 1993 about the steroids issue.  But no, it wasn't his fault, Selig asserted; it was the MLBPA that was the real problem, they're the ones to blame, not I.

Selig jumped on the anti-steroid bandwaggon with the American public and began to enforce a "stricter" policy, which boasted a massive 10-game suspension for the first offense -- unheard-of.  However, on July 1st, 2005 -- a short while after Selig's implementation of his strict steroids policy -- he suspended Kenny Rogers of the Texas Rangers for 20 games after Rogers pushed a couple of cameras off of their respective operator's shoulders.  Certainly, this was a lot more severe than taking steroids -- in fact, according to the suspension, it was two-times as severe.

New issues have recently arisen in the MLB steroids scandal in the form of a book -- Game of Shadows.  Written by two San Francisco Chronicle reporters, the book goes into deep details about Barry Bonds, among others, taking steroids.  After it's annoucement, several excerpts were released -- including one to Sports Illustrated, which was published in a March 2006 issue.  Word began to spread about its intense details; and, wanting to prove that he was truly the anti-steroids commissioner that he was, Selig thought that this would be a perfect opportunity to do so.

He -- apparently, without thinking first -- released a public statement that he was going to begin looking into Bonds's past and that he thought that a pre-season suspension was likely -- later, two high-ranking MLB officials would come out to say that a suspension was niether imminent nor likely.  Selig would also come out to say that he never had intended on suspending Bonds before the season started; in fact, he said, he wasn't even sure what would turn up or if a suspension was even possible, despite his previous statement.

That's Bud Selig for you -- a guy who has flip-flopped on issues more times than George Bush and John Kerry...combined.  And now, he wants to go back, before steroids were banned in the MLB mind you, and see if he can cook-up a reason to suspend Bonds.  Where were you during the 1998-2001 seasons, Bud?  Where were you during the meeting you had with the MLB back in 1993?  Now you want to go back in time and try to wipe away your mistakes -- and blame anything remaining on the MLBPA?  Think again, Bud.  Face your mistakes, and admit them -- for once.  Don't come up to the American public, up to Congress, and start acting like you didn't notice the 20-pounds that Bonds "coincidentally" put on before his 73 homer season.  Just don't do it.  I mean, what were you afraid of?  What, is ther someone on the Brewers that's taking steroids that you don't want exposed?  Tell us, please -- where were you?  On your LazyBoy?  Let us know.

Allen H. "Bud" Selig, the worst thing that's ever happened to baseball.  I hope that when your contract expires on New Year's Eve, 2007 -- that you can give me something real to celebrate by retiring.  Bud Selig deserves to have a Barry Bonds home run ball hit him on the head -- maybe that'll knock the sense back into him.

C'mon Bud!  Give us a break!

The Top 10 Most-Overpaid Athletes

It's the thing that everybody wants; it's the reason that all the athletes you watch and love/hate play; and, according to one credible source, is what "can't buy you love" -- and the players on this list will agree.  For those of you who listen to the Bealtes, you already know what I'm talking about -- Money.  Dinero.  Cash.  Dollars.  Bucks.  Bling-Bling.  Whatever floats your boat.  These are simply the players who weren't listening to the Beatles when they signed their multi-million dollar contracts, because it's rediculous.

#1. Peyton Manning - Quarterback, Indianapolis Colts ($14.17 million/year) 
That's right.  I'll say it.  Peyton Manning.  Let's start off with the obvious.  A seven year contract for an NFL player today -- that's pushing it.  To even say that he's going to be able to stay healthy for seven years is asking for criticism -- to say that he's going to be a $14,170,000-caliber player is flat-out rediculous.  I'm going to have to agree with Mike Vanderjagt on this one; as long as Peyton Manning and Tony Dungy are on that team -- mark my words -- they arent going to win any superbowls.  It's been evident since his Tennessee days; the guy can't win a big game.  And, once again, this year, it was, yet again, proven.  Manning had every chance possible to win that game; he had tons of opportunites, he had a lot more time in the pocket than Big Ben did, and he had the opportunity to get into field-goal-range in the final second of the game; but, he failed.  I know what you're thinking -- what about the touchdown record?  If you ask me, you could surround Joey Harrington with as much offensive talent as the Colts have, and he would throw a ton of touchdown passes.  Let's not forget something -- Manning was third in total passing yards.  The only thing that led to that record was Manning being put in during scoring opportunites and the players around him -- Wayne, Harrison, James, Stokley, the list goes on -- make him look good.  But the Colts have a successful regular season team with Manning, so they can fork out the cash to him because they are cashing in on the regular season crowds and people like Manning -- why not lock him up?  I agree with the Colts in this sense, but as far as the salary-to-performance ratio goes, Manning comes out on the short side; and until he can win a superbowl and prove himself, he will remain the #1 most overpaid athlete.

#2. Michael Schumacher - Professional Formula One Driver ($80 million/year) 
Man oh man, 80 million bucks to drive a car in circles -- it has dream job written all over it.  I almost laugh whenever I think about it, is this guy really that talented?  First off, Formula One drivers have little competition if you think about it.  How many of you guys played little league baseball when you were younger?  Maybe you were into high school basketball or football?  Alright, now how many of you guys raced Formula Ones when you were young?  Now, unless I am a lot more popular than I had thought, I'm thinking everyone can't say that they raced Formula Ones when they were young -- much less after turning 21.  Schumacher is considered by some to be a dominating driver; when in reality, he is just really good at making other drivers lose -- besides that, his only talents are being able to hold down the gas pedal for a few hours, occasionally the clutch, and steer his car at high speeds in a circle.  Beyond that, Schumacher is highly controversial.  Anyone remember the '94 Australian Grand Prix?  When Schumacher misjudged a turn and slammed into Damon Hill and cost Hill the championship?  Or the '97 European Grand Prix?  Candian, Jacques Villeneuve, attempted to overtake Schumacher and Schumacher deliberately colided with him, stripping him second place in the world championship while letting him keep his points from the season.  Of course you can't forget the '02 Austrian Grand Prix where team Ferrari ordered Schumacher's teammate, Rubens Barrichello, who was leading the race, to back off and let Schumacher win the race.  Schumacher was so embarassed that he had to let his teammate step up on the podium with him; his teammate, who later moved to Jaguar for reasons related to this circumstance.  It makes no sense to pay a guy 80 million bucks so that you can order other teammates to lose and let him win; and it certainly is not right to pay a guy this much so that he can run other racers off the track -- Michael Schumacher is not just an overpaid athlete, but a questionable one as well, landing him at number two on this list.

#3. Alex Rodriguez - Third Base, New York Yankees ($25.7 million/year)
I don't think I cross any lines when I call A-rod baseball's most overpaid athlete.  I like to think to myself what was going through Tom Hicks's mind when he accepted that outrageous Scott Boras contract?  Is A-rod an upper-echelon player?  Yes, you could even argue that he is the best third-baseman in baseball.  Is he worth $25,705,118?  No way.  And here, again, enlies the problem with long contracts in sports -- 10 years in this case -- you can't trust athletes to stay healthy that long, especially in baseball with 162-game seasons.  I mean, it is easy to mark the fact that baseball are sports' highest payed players -- which is probably the most logical considering they play 162 games, which is very high risk and pushes many athletes beyond their comfort zone -- but you're talking about a guy making more per year than CEO's of blue-chip companies make.  A-rod can't even be said in the same sentence as Steve Jobs (Apple Computers) or Sam Walton (Wal-Mart) or David Edmonson (RadioShack -- only kidding).  And if you take his name out of the context of third-basemen, his stats match up with players making a heck-of-a-lot less than $25 million.  But what can I say?  Hicks is obviously really sucked in by Boras's approach -- just as Jerry Jones is by Drew Rosenhaus's apparently.  This much is apparent in his overpaying of free-agent pitcher, Kevin Millwood.  But let's not get off-topic.  Bottom line is, anyone who can make a good arguement of why A-rod deserves $25.7 million a year is someone that I gotta meet.

#4. Barry Bonds - Outfield, San Francisco Giants ($22 million/year)
Do I even have to make an arguement?  Probably not, but I will for the sake of -- well -- this article.  Let me say that if someone here wants to pay me $22 mil a year to pump up on steroids; please, let me know.  Now, of course, I'm only kidding, and I do realize that not all of Bonds's talent was created by steroids -- in fact, I believe that he is a very talented player, capable of numbers close to what he was able to accomplish with steroids.  But the effect that steroids has on the recovering and overall ability of staying healthy is undeniable.  And the fact that the San Francisco Giants were dumb enough not to see through Bonds's twenty-pound weight increase or his sudden ascent to the league's best home-run-slugger is totally and completely their fault.  Now both Bonds and the Giants are going to luck out in this case because Major League Baseball cannot justly suspend or ban Bonds without looking into every single MLB player of the time; but this doesn't change the fact that he makes a lot more than he should.  Let's see, Juiced Barry minus the juice equates to about $4-8 million a year at this stage in his career -- especially with his knees.  It is unclear whether or not Barry has stopped taking steroids, but we will probably find out this season; and, if indeed, he has stopped, we will probably see the result of it -- and the Giants will feel like idiots for signing this guy to a 90-million-dollar deal.

#5. Derek Jeter - Shortstop, New York Yankees ($19.6 million/year)
And the Yankees and George Steinbrenner are at it again.  Mr. November; it sounds like a big honor, but seriously, November isn't a Major League Baseball month -- as if he had any competition.  What we're saying is that because he got to play in November and got a couple of hits in some clutch-ish situations, he suddenly gets named after a month that baseball isn't even played in -- I would consider it a joke, not an honor.  Jeter is the highest paid shortstop in the game today, yet he ranked #1 in only one major-hitting category in 2005; 4th in average, 3rd in total bases, 13th in stolen bases, 6th in RBI's, 5th in home-runs, and 8th in slugging-percentage, which is probably the most important problem with Jeter -- he lacks the power to back-up his huge pay-day.  He isn't even the best shortstop when it comes to "his specialty" in the hits department.  If you want to pick the best shortstop to lead-off, you pick Michael Young, if you want power and extra-bases, you pick Miguel Tejada, if you want defense, you pick Orlando Cabrera, and if I had my choice of shortstop to accompany me in the clutch situations, I go for Tejada.  Jeter is both over-hyped and over-rated -- if you just take a quick glimpse at the statistics, you will see no justification of his huge salary.  Jeter is simply on a team thats willing to fork out the cash and a team that has enough talent (because of that cash) to make it to the playoffs every year.  It's not like the Yankees make the playoffs every year because of Jeter, you could stick Bobby Crosby in there at short and they'd still make the playoffs every year, it's not an individual accomplishment and shouldn't add anything to his salary -- he should be able to prove he's worth $20 million a year at the plate and on the field, and he falls way short.

#6. Terrell Owens - Wide Receiver - Dallas Cowboys ($8.3 million/year)
Terrell Owens is a great receiver, period.  He is extremely talented and can improve any team on paper.  He sounds like he is worth the $8.3 million a year he makes, which also makes him the highest paid wide-receiver in the game today.  And I do think that he is a good fit for Dallas, he can do major good for this team, and he probably will -- for at least a year, perhaps more.  But take into mind the gamble, and you simply can't risk the highest wide-receiver salary on Owens, no matter how good he might be.  I do think that his status as the highest paid wide-receiver could actually improve his behavior for a while; and who knows what will happen when someone gets a bigger contract -- all I know is that only Jerry Jones would gamble this much money when the odds are so far against him.  I have to admit, I thought that Owens's scandal in Philadelphia would lower his stock and his salary, as I think many others did -- but it ended up making it go up?  It just doesn't make sense -- good luck with this one Jerry, I sincerely hope that it doesn't backfire on you.

#7. Tiger Woods - PGA Tour Professional ($80.3 million/year)
Before you start screaming at your scream, let me say that I believe that Tiger is the best golfer in the game today -- and one could argue he is the best ever.  But sit down and think about how much 80 million dollars is and you'll start to understand.  Golf is a very tough sport to play, both mentally and physically, but there is no justification of such a huge salary -- anywhere.  Tiger had an incredible start, and really showed the world what he was capable of very early in his career; since then, his game is not what you would call remarkable.  Tiger is finally starting to win events on a consistant basis again, but he's just not as sensational as he was a couple of years ago -- and certainly not sensational enough to justify his monster load of cash.  I will say that Tiger, out of the people on this list, is probably the most well-known and well-respected players; and there is no question that he is the best public speaker, so you have to hand it to him, he does a really good job for Nike -- just not an $80-million-worthy job.

#8. Shaquille O'Neal - Center, Miami Heat ($20 million/year)
The big man is finally starting to decline and show signes of a fatigued body with increased injury and decreased scoring.  And somehow this justifies his earning of a 5-year, $100 million extension?  Today (Mar 21) Shaq was held out o####ame because he was injured "on a dunk attempt" according to the Associated Press.  Shaq just isn't the player he used to be, and he is certainly more seceptable to injuries than ever before.  His points-per-game totals are in the midst of a steady decline and let's not forget his age of 34 which is getting up there for NBA players.  The real principle for the Heat paying him so much is because he draws crowds -- which he has been doing since his LSU days.  He is easily the most well-known NBA player and is unmistakable when he's playing -- again, that's when he's playing, not when he's sitting on the bench, injured.  But the Heat must have realized that Shaq's body wasn't going to hold up to a 5-year, 100 million dollar contract -- right???

#9. Stephon Marbury - Point Guard, New York Knicks ($14.625 million/year)
Probably one of the most selfish guys in the NBA today if you ask me.  I mean it should be evident in the fact that the guy names all three of his kids after him (even one girl) -- Stephanie, Stephon Jr. and Xavier (his middle name).  The guy is a disaster for Larry Brown and the Knicks -- a center for media attention of the conflict between the two.  The Knicks should just do the smart thing and get rid of the guy like the Pacers did of Artest -- he's just not worth the hastle or the pay.  Obviously the guy hasn't helped the Knicks very much, and he's not getting along with one of the greatest managers in NBA history -- and that is enough to land Stephon Marbury on this list.

#10. Andre Agassi - Tennis Professional ($28.2 million/year)
Andre the Giant.  His service to tenis has already been done -- his best years are behind him -- or at least, stat-wise they are.  Money-wise, Agassi is doing better than ever-before, making a massive $40 million stock award from Nike last year for "years of valueable service."  Apparently, his best years of Nike endorsement are still in front of him; or at least Nike thinks so.  But let's face it, he's nothing like he was three years ago -- and certainly doesn't deserve anything near $28 million, which is far more than Andy Roddick or an