On the Mark: The Big Apple has turned rotten
This is the same Steinbrenner who declared last year that "nothing less than a championship is really acceptable." Now he's taken up the lament of old Brooklyn Dodger fans: wait'll next year.
Perhaps, in the interest of full disclosure, he should've said: wait'll next year when we can really gouge you.
Contrary to what Steinbrenner would have you believe, the Yankees aren't the only team to have suffered injuries to key players (though with their exorbitantly priced roster of stars and former stars they should've been uniquely qualified to endure such losses). In the very same division, the Red Sox have seen David Ortiz, Mike Lowell and Tim Wakefield go on the disabled list with Curt Schilling lost before the season ever began. The Rays, with their mere $43 million payroll, have increased their divisional lead despite injuries to Troy Percival, Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria. So not only is Steinbrenner perilously close to sounding like a crybaby, he's contradicting the accepted notion — particularly accepted by Yankee fans — that price and performance are justifiably related. Worse still, Steinbrenner's remarks obscure another reality. That would be what New York has become.
The ascendance of the hedge fund classes has transformed the city. And nowhere is that transformation — a system of segregation by net worth — more apparent than at the stadiums and arenas. Going to games is for rich guys and corporate guys. Next year, the best seat in the new Yankee Stadium will cost $2,500. I know that's not the average ticket price. But I also know it's the harbinger of something unfortunate and probably irreversible. Though I've always argued for the free market and against salary caps, I can't help but find something slightly obscene about that number. Baseball is still supposed to be the most accessible and egalitarian of spectator sports.
It still is, too — just as long as you've got a hedge fund or a trust fund or a slush fund. Of course, the $2,500 seats sold out almost immediately. How could they not, as the Yankees web site describes them as "an exclusive experience for those with discerning taste who seek the very best that life has to offer"?
Who writes this stuff? I wonder. Donald Trump?
Probably. Everytime I go home to Manhattan, it feels less home-like. I suffer the symptoms of Tourrette's Syndrome. You can find a Whole Foods, but not a Greek diner. It's not my city anymore. The funky people — as insufferable as some of them might have been — have been banished in favor of the fund people. The resultant metropolis is Trump-like, which is to say, more crude and predictable and more like every other city with an Olive Garden and a Banana Republic.
Not all of these fund people are Yankee fans. Some of them are Knicks fans, too. The mythical aficionados of the city game have long since been replaced by sheep with BlackBerries. OK, maybe they deserve to be gouged. Then there are the Mets fans. The Mets are asking (and getting) only $495 for their best seat when Citi Field opens next year. After last year's historic collapse, they are celebrated for a 79 percent increase.
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| You need a seat? You're gonna pay, pal. (Jim McIsaac / Getty Images) |
The football teams, however, are the absolute best. Jets and Giants fans will have to buy personal seat licenses for the privilege of keeping their season tickets. In any other business this is called a shake-down. The Jets haven't been to a Super Bowl in almost 40 years.
Still, their nerve pales in comparison to the Giants. A single PSL for the Giants will run up to twenty grand. The cost of a ticket for next season will also rise exponentially.
I know a guy whose seats will go from $85 to $700 when the new football stadium opens in 2010. He doesn't want to give his name for fear of reprisal, believing that the Maras and the Tisches can be as vindictive as the Sopranos. He's desperately trying to hold on to the tickets, which have been in his wife's family since the fifties when an uncle bought them to celebrate his survival in the Korean War.
But most likely, they'll be sold. The corporation that buys them will enjoy waitress service and free non-alcoholic beverages.
This is what you get for supporting a team through lean the years of Pete Gogolak and Homer Jones and Joe Pisarsik.
Now you may dismiss these complaints as the grumblings of an expatriate New Yorker. You may argue that these aspiring Donald Trumps who support underachieving teams only get what they deserve. And you may be right.
But my city is becoming more like yours. Or yours like mine, I'm not quite sure. But it's only a matter of time before the gougers get you, too.
And what are you going to do about it?
Wait'll next year?
Not at these prices.
On the Mark
Jets owner Woody Johnson says he never pressured his front office to make a deal for Favre.
Meaning, he's even more of a yutz than I thought he was.
You heard about Favre getting a sore arm?
In other words, if it doesn't work out with the Jets, he could always move right into the Yankees' rotation.
Then there's Mayor Bloomberg, giving Favre a metrocard for the subway. Jerry from the Bronx says: "You'll see Jesus before you see No. 4 on the four train."
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| The Chinese government says she's 16. It has to be true. (Clive Brunskill / Getty Images) |
I'm not saying these Chinese gymnasts are young, just that they haven't even heard about the Jonas Brothers yet.
Can't watch the Redeem Team anymore. The suspense is just too much.
USC has six — count them, six — tailbacks. That's more than the Dolphins have had since Mercury Morris.
Has Al Davis offered Usain Bolt a contract yet?
Another strong week for Penn State: no arrests, no suspensions.
Ditto Georgia.
Gotta love those Jets fans: they've already immortalized Favre to Dustin Keller as the team's greatest moment since Namath hit George Sauer in the Orange Bowl.
If Speedo is giving Michael Phelps a million dollar bonus, what should NBC be kicking in?
I'm thinking, maybe Jeff Zucker's first-born.
I'll give Brian Cashman a pass if he offers a contract to my favorite Olympian.
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| If you don't think Crystl Bustos could DH in the Bronx, you haven't seen Jason Giambi bat since the All-Star break. (Elaine Thompson / Associated Press) |
That would be Crystl Bustos. Hey, what's not to love? She's bigger than the entire Chinese gymnastics team and has more tats than 'Melo.
Jeff Kent is pissed at Vin Scully for having the temerity to suggest that the Manny Ramirez trade might have something to do with Kent hitting about .500 the last couple of weeks.
Don't be upset with Kent, though. The guy's grieving. I mean, can there be any more doubt that he and Barry Bonds were true soul mates?
How did we ever get by without beach volleyball?
According to Chinese state media, gymnast He Kexin, who was 13 last year, is now 16.
On the bright side, at least He isn't a he.
Which is more than may be the case for some of the Chinese swimmers.
In an attempt to explain his lackluster first two seasons with the Cardinals, Matt Leinart tells Sports Illustrated, "I never had a chance to be stress-free."
Poor baby.
Surprised to hear that Joe Gibbs Racing got caught cheating in their Nationwide cars. I mean, if you can get away with Mark Brunell at quarterback I thought you can get away with anything.
My kid was complaining I didn't buy her neon green Converse to wear as a flower girl at my brother's wedding.
Could be worse, I told her. You could be a Chinese gymnast.
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