R.I.P. George Steinbrenner
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By Barking Carnival (Featured Columnist) on July 16, 2010
So I know the title is a bit of a stretch, but we’re a Spurs blog…a basketball blog at best…so how the hell else can I talk about George Steinbrenner?
But in all seriousness, Mr. Steinbrenner has done so much for his sport that has spilled over into other professional and semi-professional sports (college I’m looking at you!) that I feel it’s appropriate to honor his passing with a few kind words.
First things first: I hate the Yankees. As previously stated, I’m an avid Astros fan when they’re winning and a summer league basketball fan when they aren’t. The Yankees are the epitome of what’s wrong with sports, right?
They have an astronomical payroll with little regard for a once flourishing farm system, they overpay aging super stars and "almost" super stars trying to fill holes in their line-up, and more often then not, they beat the hell out of the rest of the league because of it. It’s because of the Yankees and Steinbrenner that baseball should have a salary cap, right?
Ahh…here comes the Spurs championship tie in. Now, while the NBA has what’s been defined as a “soft salary cap” it has one none the less. As do almost all other professional sports.
Some position it as a way for teams to have equal footing. Others look at is as a way for Owners to keep the oh so small margins they pull in. Don’t you think that the other professional leagues looked at what was happening in the MLB…with Steinbrenner’s Yankees…and said, “uhh, we don’t want to have to spend that much for this hobby. I think we need a salary cap.”
Now you can argue for or against a salary cap until the cows come home. But I’m arguing that without a salary cap in place for the NBA, an already unbalanced league…with very few owners and management that actually care about winning…we would have seen a lot more of these “LeWadosh” teams forming, and small market teams like our beloved Spurs would have been just another Generals game for the Globetrotters.
It’s already pretty bad. When was the last time you looked at the last 20 years of NBA champions? Let me save you the time. It looks like this: Pistons, Bulls, Rockets, Lakers, Spurs, Lakers, Spurs…mix in a little Heat and Celtics and call it a day. Not a lot of small market teams in there. Really, just one.
All in all, I’m saying the the salary cap, which Steinbrenner indirectly influenced for the NBA, is one…ONE…of the reasons that our Spurs had an opportunity to with a Championship. Whoops, I meant four championships.
So I raise my Shiner Bock to you George Steinbrenner. Pioneer on so many levels. The merchandising mecca you have formed, paving the way for regional TV sports networks (YES), and most importantly, caring about a game so much that you would stop at nothing to win. And your entire life, that’s what you did.
Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/421321-how-george-steinbrenner-helped-the-san-antonio-spurs-win-nba-titles?utm_source=newsletter
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