I read the other night that those who are about to take over control of the Major League Baseball Players Association are being urged by player agents to pursue legal action claiming that there was collusion among owners during the free agency period this past winter.
They imply that the owners, apparently using a wink and a nod, decided they’d keep costs down by collectively not spending big money during the winter.
What?
In the economy that is 2009 the agents want to cry poor for a sport where the minimum salary is about a half million a year?
They must be looking to provide some comic relief.
Perhaps they think they can make the same play that the union made in the mid-‘80s when it won a collusion case or earlier this decade when the 2006 collective bargaining renegotiation included a settlement for back payment to the players for a couple of lean free agent years.
But I wonder if they see the thousands of fans dressed as empty seats not only in Pittsburgh and Washington but in the new Yankee Stadium and other places where the teams are pretty good.
The owners certainly have their faults. But this latest attempt at greed by the agents borders on the stupidity that almost led to a strike earlier this decade that would have set MLB back 30 years.
Somebody may want to tell them to take off their $500.00 sun glasses and put down their Blackberries and get a clue as to how things are for everyone else out here.
Here’s an observations from some early pre-season high school football preview stories I’ve done:
-In Byrnes RB Marcus Lattimore, Daniel safety Deandre Hopkins, and Dorman junior wide receiver Charon Peake I see three players who fit the template of the nearly two dozen I’ve covered in 25 seasons in South Carolina that went on to the NFL. Each has that “it” factor that combines the physical skills plus a certain style. Of the many teams I’ve seen practice so far in the past few weeks there are several other candidates who could make an impact in college and perhaps get to the level beyond that.
-As a reference point, the top five players (non-active) that I’ve covered in the Palmetto state are:
1. Stephen Davis, Spartanburg, early ‘90s
2. Dexter Davis, Sumter, mid-‘80s
3. Anthony Simmons, Spartanburg, mid-‘90s
4. Roscoe Crosby, Union, late ‘90s
5. Shaun Ellis, Westside, mid-‘90s
My criteria is based on pure football ability plus the fact that each of the players took over most of the games in which they played.
Gaffney’s Kentrell Jones, who led the team to the 1997 Big 16 state title, is still the best high school quarterback I’ve covered and is sixth on my list. From an athletic standpoint, Northwestern (Rock Hill) High’s Derek Ross, who played against Jones in that title game, was very impressive behind center.
Greenwood’s Armanti Edwards was very good for the Eagles but has really raised his level of play collegiately and he was overshadowed during his prep career by Willy Korn at Byrnes. Edwards was also one of seven consecutive players to play quarterback at Greenwood who eventually landed a Division I scholarship so he may have gotten caught in the crowd, so to speak. I thought a more effective quarterback for Greenwood was Sam Williams, who led them to the state title in 2000 and then played at Middle Tennessee collegiately. Jay Spearman, who’s currently a defensive back at South Carolina, led the Eagles to their most recent state title in 2006.
Simmons is the only player in my top five who made an impact on only one side of the ball but I always remember one area coach telling me that at halftime of a game against Spartanburg he told his team just to tackle Simmons in the second half and they’d take the holding penalty because they simply couldn’t block him.
Chris Hope of Rock Hill, who’s had a long NFL career, is probably the next best defensive player I covered who didn’t make my top five.
After this season I’ll certainly review that list as each of the three mentioned above could work their way into, or pretty close to, that top five.
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