Flogging a Dead Horse

So far, in the past two months baseball has out-sportmanshipped the NBA on two HUGE occasions. The LeBron James "Decision" was classless, and the fact that he didn't tell the franchise that brought him up, made him who he was today, and paid him millions upon millions of dollars, of his intentions was just a big middle finger to the fans, players and front office of that organization. Let’s stop saying he didn’t go to Miami for the money, he went there to win. He only took $15M less there, than he would have got had he stayed in Cleveland, and with no state income tax in Florida, that more than makes up for the lost money. So it wasn’t a sacrifice, what money he left on the table is made up for lack of income tax. Also, can we please stop portraying someone who just signed a six year $110M contract as someone who made a “sacrifice?” Maybe he could play for how much I make a year and then talk to me about sacrifice. So, how did baseball out-sportsmanship the NBA? Let’s take a look at the Galarraga perfect game. One out left to go in the bottom of the ninth inning and Galarraga beats the base-runner to first base, he’s out, perfect game, right? Wrong. Jim Joyce, the first base umpire called the runner safe, it was counted as an infield hit, and this kid loses probably his only chance at getting a perfect game. Showing an incalculable amount of class, Jim Joyce watches the replay after the game, admits he was at fault, apologizes publicly, and even goes as far as to petition MLB to change the call. Instead of being a prima-donna, Galarraga accepts Joyce’s apology and the next night delivers the line-up card to him, shakes his hand and the two share a moment. That’s something that never happens in the NBA. Example two, speaking as a Red Sox fan, let me just say, the passing of George Steinbrenner, is not a glorious moment for anyone, sure, the devil might now have company in Hell, but that’s beside the point. I’m kidding. Honestly kidding when I say that. He was a great philanthropist, wonderful leader, an all-around good human being, quite possibly the best owner in sports history, and the world is a little bit emptier with his passing. How did baseball out-class the NBA with his passing? The Boston Red Sox held a moment of silence in his honor. In the honor of a Yankee great! That shows true sportsmanship and class. They put the game above themselves and honored someone who truly did more than he had to do to help the game. I don’t even know if NBA players know how to put the game above themselves, they somehow lose that knowledge in the transition from the college to the professional levels. Could you imagine the Boston Celtics holding a moment of silence for Jerry Buss when he passes? It would never happen.
I know I’ve beaten this subject to death, my specialty is flogging dead horses, but it pains me that the NBA is so much more popular than the MLB. The class and sportsmanship I see in baseball are unrivaled, okay, maybe Golf has a leg up on us. However, I think this speaks volumes about our society. We’re turning in to a bunch of impatient, classless, blood-thirsty cretins, who can’t stand to sit and watch a great chess-match between a hall-of-fame pitcher and a hall-of-fame batter, because it takes too long. Give us no rules, cage match fighting and 400 pound men in pants that are too tight playing a game for eight seconds at a time, cause that’s all the attention span we can muster, it makes me sick.
‘Nuff Said.