Re: Lockout creates divisions

[wfcooper@tiac.net (Bill Cooper)]

On Tue, 30 Jun 1998 12:22:40 -0600, Gene sez:


>Gene  (it was the owners who created the Larry Bird clause, wasn't
>it?)

It was and they've been paying for it ever since.  In baseball and
basketball we've seen skyrocketing salaries because the owners have
put a much higher premium on player continuity than the players have
themselves (for the most part).   This has led to a situation of
artificial scarcity, where an owner pays extra $ to retain a player
who may be no better than the guy he could get for less in the free
agent market.

Conversely, in football, the owners have pretty much given up on the
idea of player continuity and been rewarded by lower salary increases
(though they may yet suffer for it in other areas).

Bill C.