THAT'S WHY IT HAPPENED

["Dorine" <norine@sover.net>]

I agree with Bentz.  Do you remember the newspaper articles quoting McHale
as saying “We have no choice but to pay him, or someone else will”?  I do,
or something very much like that.
They were (are) an expansion team and had the good fortune to have a very,
very good young player who was making unreasonable demands.  That's why, I
think, they need a new structure.
It seems to me a player should have to work his way up the money ladder,
just as in any business.  Perhaps bonuses, or incentives, could be part of
it.  As it has been, if the team pays these exhorbitant salaries to one or
two players, it doesn't leave much for the others, does it, or it prohibits
them from getting other pieces they need.  They take a terrible chance, now,
by saying no, because some other team with more cap space and deeper pockets
can pay that amount.  I think there's blame enough to go around between the
owners and the players.  Neither is innocent in this scenario.  They would
both benefit from giving a little.  Bentz is right about the fans, too.  We
demand excellence and we think they should pay for it, regardless of what
that means to future player acquisitions.  Nobody says it's easy, but there
has to be a way for them to come to terms with this problem and I hope they
find it soon.
Dorine