1) No guaranteed long term contracts although agents have circumvented this to an extent with upfront signing bonuses. However, it’s still much better than MLB & the NBA. The NBA has become a joke turned on its head where trading for expiring contracts of grossly overpaid non-productive players has become more desirable than getting actual talent in return. Or a team has to give away a talented player just to get rid of his contract. But that’s what has to be done to get rid of past financial mistakes made by NBA front offices.
In my opinion, the guaranteed long term contracts of MLB & the NBA are UN–American. That’s right, Un-American!
Oh, sure, none of us would turn down the chance to be overpaid for mediocrity or downright incompetence but the USA didn’t become the great country that it is by grossly overpaying people for incompetence for near perpetuity. Yes, I do believe in the Protestant work ethic and I also believe in Catholic charity as evidenced by my volunteer work at a Catholic hospital..
2) HEAD COACHES MATTER! In baseball it’s commonly believed that managers matter very little, an opinion that I can’t totally get behind…
2a) I love that schemes matter more than just talent. We often see that a given player fails playing in one scheme only to succeed on another team in another scheme.
2b) I love that often undrafted players benefit from superior coaching at the NFL level & are "coached up" often to become Pro Bowl players.
3) ORGANIZATIONS MATTER! A lot of importance is given to winning the Super Bowl and rightly so but a lot of credit should also be given to organizations that have been very good consistently over a long period of time despite the roadblocks of free agency and the common draft. And that is due to good organizations.
Thankfully, the Billy Beane philosophy, "You’re either rebuilding for something special, or you’re on the verge of something special. To be in between is foolish" has not caught on in the NFL yet.
4) GOOD ORGANIZATIONS BEGIN WITH GOOD OWNERSHIP! Here, Ravens fans are blessed with a man who is the best and smartest owner of any pro sports franchise in the entire Middle Atlantic Region and that includes the franchise where the owner is considered a genius for drafting Alex Ovechkin. As if THAT was a tough decision! And I doubt that Steve Bisciotti is going to be losing the Ravens and then suing Atlantic City casinos for plying him with drinks.
I love that Bisciotti comes from a working-class family. I love that he went to a working class non-elite college AND went on to found an enormously successful "new economy" business. I, myself, often tell people that I went to an elite Eastern university of 36,000 students.
I love that Bisciotti is tempered in his judgments.
I love that he showed courage and wisdom making a U-turn on his decision to keep Brian Billick. That decision should be neither underestimated nor under-appreciated. It is not easy for rich and powerful men to change their minds on public decisions.
