Been a life long fan of the tribe through the bad times (many) and good
times (few). My main bitch is the owners of this team will NEVER spend the
$$ it takes to stay consistently competitive. Last year was a fluke. The
planets aligned in the tribe's favor. I don't expect that to happen again
for many years to come. Unless something miraculous happens with the
operation of this team, I can see myself switching allegiance to a team with
a fighting chance (Yankers not included!)

I still don't see why Dolan should deficit spend to get a chance at a
winner. If it were my money I certainly wouldn't.
I still maintain that the owners should have locked out during the last
labor dispute and put a hard cap in place, that's the only way small market
teams will have a chance over the long term.

"T&D@NC" <tcuper@nc.rr.com> wrote in message
news:8D2dk.61248$pe5.13529@fe115.usenetserver.com...
> Been a life long fan of the tribe through the bad times (many) and good
> times (few). My main bitch is the owners of this team will NEVER spend the
> $$ it takes to stay consistently competitive. Last year was a fluke. The
> planets aligned in the tribe's favor. I don't expect that to happen again
> for many years to come. Unless something miraculous happens with the
> operation of this team, I can see myself switching allegiance to a team
> with a fighting chance (Yankers not included!)
>

"Eric Gurney" <egurney@yahoo.nospam.com> wrote in message
news:xeqdnZuRV4AlVunVnZ2dnUVZ_hOdnZ2d@posted.broadwing2...
>I still don't see why Dolan should deficit spend to get a chance at a
>winner. If it were my money I certainly wouldn't.
> I still maintain that the owners should have locked out during the last
> labor dispute and put a hard cap in place, that's the only way small
> market teams will have a chance over the long term.
>
Using that kind of thinking, my hobby - golf - would have to produce
more in gambling and tournament winnings than I spend on balls,
beer, fees, clubs, et c., and I can't write any of it off.

The Tribe should be a hobby for the multi millionaire owners.

Their investment is making tons of money simply by
the appreciation of all MLB clubs.
They refuse to invest in a commodity
whose final value is predetermined at sale time.
That's the problem with this guy as owner of the Tribe.

I see the logic in not re-signing CC.
Possible injury, ineffective in the playoffs, E.G.
Kinda like not buying an expensive new driver.

I don't see the logic in not trying to build a
contender each and every year. Kinda like owning
a nice set of clubs, and being too cheap to play.

As far as breaking the Player's Union, good luck.
It's been tried before, and it didn't work.
Nor will it work now. The owners will cave in.
The law would probably back the union (collusion...).

As far as small market teams not having a chance:

#1, I do not see the Tribe as a small market team.
They own the TV station STO, stadium naming rights,
and Cleveland/Akron/Canton is not that small a population.
There is potential for huge incomes.

#2, The small market Cardinals contend year in and year out.
Same with the Braves and Twins.

Management needs to be accountable, and being accountable
is not whining about being a "Small" market team, and having
your big offseason moves be Jamey Carroll and Kobayushi.

None of the blathering from management has mentioned their failures.
Gutierrez, Peralta, Marte, 2nd Base, Garko, Betancourt,
Perez, Delucci, Borowski, Sowers, et al.
That's a lot of non-production, and being small market has nothing to do
with it.
They see themselves as having performed swimmingly, as they continue
to rearrange deck chairs on the Titanic, and whine about being small market.

On Wed, 9 Jul 2008 12:07:16 -0400, "Steve-O" <steveoneill@alltel.net>
wrote:

>
>"Eric Gurney" <egurney@yahoo.nospam.com> wrote in message
>news:xeqdnZuRV4AlVunVnZ2dnUVZ_hOdnZ2d@posted.broadwing2...
>>I still don't see why Dolan should deficit spend to get a chance at a
>>winner. If it were my money I certainly wouldn't.
>> I still maintain that the owners should have locked out during the last
>> labor dispute and put a hard cap in place, that's the only way small
>> market teams will have a chance over the long term.
>>
>Using that kind of thinking, my hobby - golf - would have to produce
>more in gambling and tournament winnings than I spend on balls,
>beer, fees, clubs, et c., and I can't write any of it off.
>
>The Tribe should be a hobby for the multi millionaire owners.
>
>Their investment is making tons of money simply by
>the appreciation of all MLB clubs.
>They refuse to invest in a commodity
>whose final value is predetermined at sale time.
>That's the problem with this guy as owner of the Tribe.
>
>I see the logic in not re-signing CC.
>Possible injury, ineffective in the playoffs, E.G.
>Kinda like not buying an expensive new driver.
>
>I don't see the logic in not trying to build a
>contender each and every year. Kinda like owning
>a nice set of clubs, and being too cheap to play.
>
>As far as breaking the Player's Union, good luck.
>It's been tried before, and it didn't work.
>Nor will it work now. The owners will cave in.
>The law would probably back the union (collusion...).
>
>As far as small market teams not having a chance:
>
>#1, I do not see the Tribe as a small market team.
>They own the TV station STO, stadium naming rights,
>and Cleveland/Akron/Canton is not that small a population.
>There is potential for huge incomes.

you may love NE ohio, but let's face it, not that long ago they were
still a "rust belt" region with a decimated ecomony. in terms of size
and per capita/disposable income, cleveland is deemed something like
the 18th largest market.

my dad loves watching baseball, but since he's on a limted income, the
only game he's seen since the tribe went to cable was a game when i
was in town and i took him to see a game at jacobs field.

>#2, The small market Cardinals contend year in and year out.
>Same with the Braves and Twins.

IIRC the twins stank last year. and through the 90's they averaged 4th
for the decade - longer then the period of their relative success now.

st. louis nearest rival is 2 states away in cincinatti, maybe chicago
is closer, but to the south the closest team is in texas or atlanta.

in comparison, within same radius of cleveland, you have:
cincy
detoit
chicago

and within an extra 60 miles, NYC & philadelphia.

and the other half of that radius includes lake erie and CANADA - fish
and canadians have little interest in baseball.

it's just not the same.

>Management needs to be accountable, and being accountable
>is not whining about being a "Small" market team, and having
>your big offseason moves be Jamey Carroll and Kobayushi.

it's the petulant fans who come across as whiny - and i'm guessing
most of them are maxed out on their credit cards and as such have no
right to critique how anyone else manages their business and/or
finances.

>None of the blathering from management has mentioned their failures.
>Gutierrez, Peralta, Marte, 2nd Base, Garko, Betancourt,
>Perez, Delucci, Borowski, Sowers, et al.
>That's a lot of non-production, and being small market has nothing to do
>with it.

compared to milieti/bonda/o'neill years, the dolans come across like
daddy warbucks. the fans who've developed unrealistic expectations
from the jacobs era need to stop acting like having a winning team is
a right insead of a privilege.

>They see themselves as having performed swimmingly, as they continue
>to rearrange deck chairs on the Titanic, and whine about being small market.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>


--------
"any words spelled incorrectly are probably typing errors"

"Steve-O" <steveoneill@alltel.net> wrote in message:
>
> Wrong - It's an owner who cares only about counting his cash (or having
> it counted for him), a GM who think he's smarter than God, and a manager
> and coaching staff which has been tuned out by their team.
>
Amen to that!