A trade rumor: The Sonics and Mariners could swap coaches and talent
Hey, M's Manager Mike Hargrove was an all-state high-school basketball player.
The jettisoning of Seattle SuperSonics coach Bob Hill and general manager Rick Sund this week set up a tantalizing possibility thought by some of the region's remaining rabid pro-sports fans to be unprecedented: a cross-sports management switch.
"Everybody knows it's just a matter of time before Mariners G.M. Bill Bavasi and field boss Mike Hargrove walk the plank," said a local observer with ties to both the 31-51 Sonics and the loss-burdened baseball team. "My guys feel M's ownership is just sort of waiting to see how the White House handles the Gonzo/Wolfie thing before picking the best P.R. opportunity to bounce Billy and Grover."
When that happens, he suggested, don't count out the possibility that all four local managers could re-emerge across town from one another.
"Call it a lose-lose," he admitted, "but how would that be any different from what the fan base has right now?"
He broke it down manager by manager:
"With Sund, you've got a guy who could bring to the M's some of the players who haven't panned out yet with the basketball team – Robert Swift, for example. The M's already had some success back in the day from a kid name Swift," though he conceded that Bill Swift had his best years later with the Giants.
The source envisioned the 7-foot Robert Swift being "kind of a Ryan Anderson type: somebody the fans could anticipate being the perennial 'next Randy Johnson,' even though team officials would kind of suspect that Robert would never actually play in the bigs. Gives locals something to talk about, though."
For his part, the source said, Bavasi could bring Jeff Weaver with him to the Sonics.
"Weaver can take it to the hole," the observer said about the 6-foot, 5-inch, 0-3 pitcher. "Imagine Jeff getting his points per game up around his 13.91 earned-run average. One problem: Weaver only gets about $8 million a year with the M's, which is chump change in the NBA."
As for Hill and Hargrove: "Who could say Bobby wouldn't light a fire under the M's? Grover? He was an all-state basketball player as a kid in Texas. Maybe the greater advantage is that he lives off-season within east driving distance of Oklahoma City."
Despite a win against Oakland on Wednesday, April 25, the 7-9 M's are anticipating three this weekend at home against Kansas City, a series that could decide who has the worst record in the American League.
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Comments:
Posted Thu, Apr 26, 11:57 a.m. inappropriate
Another option?: I'm not a big Mariners fan these days, nor of the Sonics either. So my suggestion might not be taken seriously. Then again, ...
Too bad the Mariners and Sonics can't swap owners. That might solve a few problems, but would likely create others. Fuzzy logic, I know, but just an idea.
Pardon me, I'm still recovering from sine die. I should be ok next week, assuming the Alaskan Way Viaduct doesn't collapse before then. A soccer match or two on the tube should help. Maybe.
As you were ...
Posted Thu, Apr 26, 3:21 p.m. inappropriate
World Series Parade Critics: Jeez, before the 6-game losing streak they were in first place and had the third best win-loss percentage in the AL. Felix had pitched a one hitter. We'd won the opener and beaten the A's. So we lose six and suddenly the season's over. If my mother had been a Mariner fan of this ilk, she'd have fed me to the wolves after three weeks.
Will the current two-game winning streak and Washburn's 3-hitter help change the fans' lugubriousness? Probably not. If your life's a train wreck, then everything starts to look like a train wreck. During the World Series Parade these fans will still be complaining. Their tombstones will say "I left in the third inning when they were behind by a run. Who could've known that they'd comeback?"
The Mariners will come back. And even Weaver will start playing well. Watch.
Posted Thu, Apr 26, 7:38 p.m. inappropriate
So one corporation beats another one: So one corporation beats another one in a game that is staged for one reason only-to put as many fannies in the seats as possible to expose them to advertising and squeeze every dime possible out of them. And, for some reason, fans care about which corporation wins the game. They refer to the pro-sports team as us, and spend a considerable amount of time talking about athletes who drain huge amounts of money out of the community and leave "us" without a thought for the next corporation that offers them more money.
Fans, If you think these teams (for-profit corporations) give a damn about you beyond the money in your pocket you are the idiots they play you to be.
Posted Fri, Apr 27, 1:21 a.m. inappropriate
Even Cynics Should Smile: Everyone has multiple motives in life. The same thing for pro sports team owners. Sure, owners want to make a lot of money. Sure they want to win. Sure they like the combination. On the other hand, sometimes an owner, say Paul Allen, has made so much money that making more money on a team is not a really high priority, but winning is. And sometimes owners value being fans themselves. And sometimes a team is the way that an owner chooses to "give back" to his community and treats a team as a public trust (pretty rare around here lately).
This doesn't mean that owners and players and agents aren't greedy.
And it doesn't mean that stadiums aren't stupid investments by governments.
And it doesn't mean citizens aren't duped by owners and politicians into supporting stadiums for all sorts of emotional fan-like reasons.
But that's just the game of life. Enjoy it even if you understand how its played.
Posted Fri, Apr 27, 5:38 p.m. inappropriate
RE: ven Cynics Should Smile: Allen gives back to the community while taking how many hundreds of millions was it in corporate welfare while keeping all the profits. Paul Allen is a parasite on this community! As are the Mariners owners and every pro-athlete playing for a Seattle team. Don't do me any more favors Mr. Allen, the community can't afford it!