New Manny or New Sip?

Three years later and I still chuckle whenever I see Johnny Damon play a game for the Yankees. When he signed with the Bombers I was a sweet, little, sports romantic, a 23 year old kid with a big heart.

Today I'm 26 and ever the wiser.

I no longer view the game as that sweet little kid. These guys are no longer my heroes, a win doesn't make my day and a loss doesn't end it. It's all a little sad, it is, but its also a product of growing up.

And one beauty of this all is that I can take things a little less seriously. I can kick my feet up at the ballpark and just relax. I can miss a game here or there without feeling like I am letting myself down as a "diehard." And I can chuckle at something that may have used to infuriate me.

When Johnny Damon signed with the Yankees three years ago I thought it was the worst thing since the Holocaust.



It was everything wrong with sports. It was wrong for the player to leave the team he helped build a championship for. It was wrong of him to leave for a few more million dollars. And it was wrong for the Yankees to sign a Red Sox player.

Next year, however, when Manny Ramirez signs with the Yankees, the only thing I will do is laugh.

It's going to be comedy at its purest.

Sports version of reality tv.

A guy who has made hundreds of millions dollars from playing baseball, seeking revenge from his former employer over money.

The most irrational person in his sport AND maybe its best, joining his supposed "sworn enemy" because he didn't like the way his $160 million contract was handled.

This is what I have learned most about sports as I have grown older.

The day a player turns pro is the day that "sworn enemies" go away.

In amateur sports there is nothing on the line but pride and emotion. These are the sports that we all knew growing up and playing. We wanted to win for ourselves, our teammates, our family.

In professional sports just like with all jobs, money is bigger than all.



I'm not going to be a high school baseball coach when I am older for one reason. Money. I love sports, working with kids, teaching and competing. But, I know I can make a lot more money working on Wall St and for a couple of reasons I will most likely take this path.

First, the more money you make the more things you can have and the more you can provide. This is obvious.

The second part, is ego. It's knowing that others around me are making so much more than I am when I could and should be. Why should a person who I was smarter than or better than be living on Park Ave. when I am living pay check to pay check?

And this is the part of professional sports that fans refuse to accept. These guys have the biggest egos in the world and for good reason. They have been the best at what they do for their entire lives and when you reach the professional level you are surrounded by hoards of people who tell them how great they are everyday.

We the fan always argue, whats the difference between $40 and $50 million?

Either way, you are set for life and living the life that the rest of the world can only dream about.

But then there is ego and the feeling of relative worth.

I'm about to bang out my second Ivy League degree. I don't tell you this because I am trying to brag. I tell you this because to a lot of people it would seem crazy that I perceive myself as the "dumb" one in my family.

Compared to 99.9% of the world, I am Good Will Hunting. But not at home where my brother is a genius Harvard PHd. Relative to my family, I'm a moron.



And that must be how Manny or Johnny Damon feels or felt when they leave what the rest of us think is right for what the rest of us think is wrong.

If Carlos Beltran is making $18 mil, why isn't Manny making $20 mil?

Unfortunately for pro athletes, they have media and fans scrutinizing their every move. People who don't live in their judging everything about it.

For me, I just have my dad telling me that everything is going to be alright.

Lets hope.

Vaya,
Sip

(Pics courtesy of S9.com, boston.com, moldova.com)