Subj : Hmmm'
To   : JOE SIEGLER
From : DAVE OLDRIDGE
Date : Wed Aug 28 2002 10:29 pm

JS> JS>>  BA> So what do people think of this strike date that was set?

JS> JS>> I don't think it really means much.  They always do that.  While
JS> JS>> it is true that every time in the past they set one they've
JS> JS>> walked, my gut feeling tells me that there won't be a walkout
JS> JS>> this time.

JS>  DO> If there is, it will have a really chilling effect on Major
JS>  DO> League ball.  I had almost as much fun yesterday watching BC and
JS>  DO> Alberta face off as I do watching the Jays...

JS> :)

JS> I think a lot of people make noise about not coming back, and initially, 
they
JS> probably won't, but I see most people cominb back anyway.

JS> Still, as I write this, ther are 4 days till the strike date, and I still 
think
JS> something will happen in terms of getting it resolved.

JS> Even if it doesn't, I don't think it will be that long, and games can be
JS> rescheduled like they were last year after Sep 11th.

The disparity between the have and have-not teams is too great.  
Something has to give.  I'm not averse to a little contraction.  
If a team can't get people out to the park, then it should either 
be scrubbed or moved to a new venue where the fans will come to the 
games.  But it's hard to tell what's what when you KNOW that the 
New York Yankees will likely be the AL pennant winners yet again 
for the umpteenth year in a row, not because of any real 
superiority in the skill of their management but because they have a 
bottomless roster and hard-to-hit pitching staff that costs them enormous 
$$$ which they, and they alone, can afford.  It took the better 
part of Canada's brewing industry and a lot of media $$$ along with 
some luck to get two World Series seasons out of the Blue Jays.
The team just can't turn a profit at that level and has to be 
subsidized by owners with deep pockets.  There is no economic 
incentive for them to do that on a steady basis, though.

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