* This Sunday’s Rays’ home opener against the defending division champion Toronto Blue Jays is sold out–31,000 and change. It will be the 11th consecutive year they’ve done so. Don’t let it fool you. What will be more telling is what the Monday crowd is. If it’s barely double figures, it’s likely overall, poor-attendance business as usual. If it’s anything close to Sunday, it’s reason to feel downright optimistic.
* According to Forbes, the Rays franchise has appreciated $25 million in the last year. It’s now valued at $650 million, which is still last among the 30 MLB teams.
* Ron Rivera, head coach of the Super Bowl-runnerup Carolina Panthers, is still in damage-control mode in defending his team’s franchise quarterback Cam Newton. It has everything to do with Newton’s surly cameo performance in his post-game interview after the Denver loss. Rivera is making the case that you can’t expect players–after a “crushing” defeat–to be all that cooperative and friendly. So, maybe it should just be coaches who talk to the media so soon after a game.
Two points.
Rivera is right that this is asking a lot, especially since such Q&A sessions rarely turn up anything of note. Mainly clichéd answers to obvious questions.
Having said that, this is a business. Bottom line and show. It has long since ceased to be a pure sports event. Part of a player’s or a coach’s obligation is to be available to the media. The questions may be lame and repetitious and designed to evoke a sound-bite emotion that will play well on SportsCenter, but it is part of the pro sports gig. The stakes are high, the emotions raw and the compensation obscene. Deal with it.