Sports Comments: Florida Marlins and the Salary Cap

-I've been too busy to think up and write any quasi-effective and presentable posts these past few days. That's why I'm focusing on sports in this one. It's a fun, easy exercise considering I'm a natural sports (like history) junkie. There. I said it. Happy, Jen? Not that you're reading this.

Today's subject are the Florida Marlins. Let aside that the club is actually in the hunt for a wild card for a sec. Here's a team with a $15 million pay roll and they are suddenly in the mix. Teams like the Marlins, A's and not so long ago the Expos are proof that merit, talent and a sound organization with competent people can put together competitive teams.

This is the silver lining isn't it? In a time where everyone deserves a trophy it's nice to see some of us roll up the sleeves. Even little Jimmy who finished behind every girl in track gets a ribbon for 'participating.' All in the name of enhancing self-esteem. Let's get this straight. We improve inner confidence by lowering standards? I digress.

It shows that you don't need a communist cap system. No matter how you dice it, caps (ceilings in politics) gives a bone to the incompetent. All caps do is dilute true greatness from top to bottom. Personally, I used to love watching teams try and figure out ways to beat an existing dynasty. Instead, these days we try interventionist regulations to curb the teams who succeed.

The most recent example was the attempt by F1 to 'slow' down Ferrari. All sorts of rules were invented to please the other teams who were getting the lunches handed to them. Yeah, the competition is back but it seems somewhat superficial. It's not like Renault, Williams and McLaren needed the help. They have the budgets to compete with Ferrari. All it did was increase competition among the big teams. The small ones remain innocuous and irrelevant.

Anyway, this wasn't the point of this post. I broke a cardinal rule in writing! Get to the point fast! Sue me.

The point was the heinous attendance figures that continue to grip the state of Florida. Not just in baseball but in hockey as well. The Panthers, Devil Rays and Marlins just ain't packin' 'em in. In the case of the Marlins in particular it strikes me as surprising considering the large Cuban population in Miami. There's a rumour circulating like a bag caught in a wind tunnel stipulating that the Marlins ownership are buying 10 000 $1 tickets to ensure that the attendance average remains around the 14 or 15 000 mark. All in an effort to get the local government to kick in a few mill to build a new stadium. Somehow you would figure that big brotha would find out sooner or later.

This got me thinking about Jeffrey Loria, his son Mini-Napoleon and the long-gone Montreal Expos. Specifically, was Loria better off ridding himself of those clowns in the consortium and making a serious attempt at succeeding in Montreal? Historically, Montreal attendance figures have always been in the median of MLB and often outperformed other clubs. So, again I ask. As a businessman, wouldn't it have made more sense to rekindle (or revive depending if you see the glass half full or empty) baseball in Montreal rather than have to deal with a complicated state like Florida?

These are the sort of questions that demand I take melatonin at night.