It's Curt Flood's Fault

The name says it all!
El-Moldo
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It's Curt Flood's Fault

Post by El-Moldo »

....When I was young, major league baseball players stayed with the same team year after year, unless they were traded, retired or died. In the late '60's, the St. Louis Cardinals traded Curt Flood to the Philadelphia Phillies. Curt refused the trade and sued major league baseball, challenging his right to "free agency". Although he eventually lost the suit, sitting out a year and not playing, it was the beginning of player free agency.
….As the years have gone by, my love for the game, as well as for pro-football, has diminished. It used to be that fans were more loyal to their teams, knowing that their team would be ready to play when the next season started. It gave them something to look forward to. And I'm not saying that free agency was wrong, but things are just not the same.
….Now, we're seeing the same thing in college football and basketball. With the transfer portal, college sports are going the way of the professionals. Players are now able to hop from team to team, many without repercussions. Fans can no longer count on good players to stick around and build their teams. Just when things look bright, someone leaves for greener pastures. My interest in college sports is now beginning to wane. Hard to look forward to the next season when teams can change overnight. Anyone else got those same feelings, or is it my age?
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Re: It's Curt Flood's Fault

Post by 12HankQB »

Just look at the NBA for how many years where the same players switched teams and then those teams won. How the Heat had so many stars is beyond me? Not that I care about the NBA, but it absurd sometimes. Like the Phillies pitching staff having, Halladay, Lee, Hamels, and Oswalt plus the supporting cast.
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Re: It's Curt Flood's Fault

Post by abpk2903 »

Professionally, I wish there was more compensation to teams when they lose a free agent. I get there are things like compensatory picks, restricted free agency, and (in the NFL) a franchise tag. A team in many situations scouts well, drafts a player at the right spot in the draft, develops them, then only gets to see them head to a competitor right before they start to hit the prime of their career. Free agency also favors many franchises over others due to factors out of the team's own control. Things like tax rate of the city and state, climate, and how "flashy" the city is. Cities like Texas based teams, southern cities, and "glam cities" like LA/NY benefit the most from FA. Cities like Canadian cities (exchange rate issues) and rust-belt cities face a distinct disadvange.

These compensatory picks can kind of be a joke too. I believe the Steelers received a pick at the end of the 3rd round, pick 102, for losing Bell and James to free agency. So for one of the most prolific running backs of this generation resulted in a pick that is in a position at the draft that a lot of teams use for roster depth/special team players. They also had to be careful not to go out and spend on free agents of their own or they would have even lost this pick.

I think a good way to "level the playing field" is for both the Free Agent and the team signing the FA to have to compensate the team that is losing a FA. Just so they put some skin the game, as well. Using L Bell as an example, he and Jets should have to compensate the Steelers both financially and competitively for their loss of investment.
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Re: It's Curt Flood's Fault

Post by Manfred »

Thanks for the posts, guys. NUTHIN on here in a WEEK! Hope yinz are staying safe and practicing safe government socialism controls.
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Re: It's Curt Flood's Fault

Post by Manfred »

Oh- and I remember the Pirates beating a team with the starting rotation of Mike Cuellar, Jim Palmer, Dave McNally, and Pat Dobson.
It ain't over until it's over.
El-Moldo
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Re: It's Curt Flood's Fault

Post by El-Moldo »

….Definition of a purist: a person who insists on adherence to traditional rules. I understand why Curt Flood thought he was a slave to the Cardinals back in the day. But for the sake of the game itself, none of the games mentioned above will ever be the same. The 3-point shot in basketball certainly changed the face of the game. BUT, every team was still on a level playing field. They all played under the same game conditions. Now you have the "rich get richer" type of scenario. For instance, on my computer home page today, there were stories of college basketball transfers to Minnesota, Syracuse, Duke, Louisville, and one FROM Ohio St. And in football, 3-year QB starter Anthony Brown at Boston College transferred to Oregon. Notice no one is heading to Vanderbilt or Colorado State. It's disheartening how teams are changing overnight. Sports are not as fun as they used to be.
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Re: It's Curt Flood's Fault

Post by Colonel Mustard »

The one-and-done rule killed college basketball for me. There are very few stars year-to-year. I couldn't name 2 guys that played for Duke or Carolina this year. It has helped the mid-level teams have success, since they are more likely to keep players for more than a year or two, but not enough to keep my interest.

Agree with the point above about free-agent compensation. It rewards teams that tank for a few years, then have all this money to spend. And penalizes teams that draft well and develop talent.
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Re: It's Curt Flood's Fault

Post by wpbc »

My first major experience with free agency was way back when Gary Anderson came to talk to our school at the time he was entering free agency. During a Q & A a student asked him about leaving the Steelers. I still remember him saying that if you felt underpaid compared to other people doing the same work than people shouldn’t worry if you went somewhere else. I didn’t quite get it back then because I was only worried about my team losing their kicker. I don’t think many people would complain about anyone else changing companies in almost any other job field.

As for college I do think the game quality has changed. Especially in basketball. However I do feel that the players get exploited to an extent by the NCAA. I can’t fault a kid to want a transfer whatever their reason when their coaches can leave at any moment for greener pastures no matter how many years they have on their contract.
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Re: It's Curt Flood's Fault

Post by El-Moldo »

Again, we all understand why professional players move to other teams. Good for them. But I'm talking about the GAME itself. When a transfer starts for his new college basketball team, for example, what does that tell you? It says that the team had no one better, and that team has improved it's chances for a better season, un-evening the playing field. This is especially evident in college basketball when just ONE new guy can make a huge difference to a team. When that kid from Pitt left for NC several years ago with 2 years of eligibility left, NC benefitted greatly. How many of you guys get riled up when local kids change high schools for greener pastures. It hurts one team and helps the other. The GAME, whichever one it is, is changing in the wrong direction.
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Re: It's Curt Flood's Fault

Post by Crimson's Ghost »

I don’t have a problem with the transfers really. It’s basically just another form of recruiting at this point, the can of worms has been opened and we can’t really go back now. As long as coaches can jump from job to job without penalty it’s kind of hard to go back and penalize the athletes for wanting to better their situation as well.

Schools like Ohio State can certainly grab good players from smaller teams in the ‘rich get richer’ mindset, but also players transfer from Ohio State to smaller schools to kind of help keep that balance.

It’s obviously unfortunate when a good mid-major program loses a star player but they also have the opportunity to get a player from a high major that might benefit from a change of scenery.

Things always sort of level off in some way.
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