Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Eleven shots separated Phil and Tiger Sunday at Pebble Beach as Lefty secured his 40th Tour win. Jason Sobel had hole-by-hole reports.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
Getty Images
|
This time of year puts the focus more than ever on guys like Scott Boras, the oft-reviled agent known for getting top dollar for his clients with his hard-nosed negotiating tactics.
Boras has a reputation as difficult to deal with, a master of spin who is supposedly just as greedy as the players. I think a lot of this reputation comes from the owners, who like to blame the agents and players for higher payrolls. But the owners wouldn’t pay the money if they couldn’t afford it.
In reality, men like Boras are good for the game of baseball, and certainly good for the players. To appreciate Scott Boras, you have to appreciate how much things have changed in the game of baseball over the last 30 years.
Baseball has come a long way since the advent of free agency in the 1970s. Before free agency, owners could give the players whatever they wanted. One year the Twins gave me a 20-percent pay cut. Not based on performance, but just because they could. It was a take-it-or-leave-it situation, as it was for many players back then.
But things changed later in the 70s. Curt Flood stood strong. And Marvin Miller stood strong. Both men did so much for the baseball union and the baseball players, especially Miller. He changed how people looked at baseball, opening the eyes of the players to what was going on and showing them how strong they could be as a union. He more or less turned the tables on the owners, which led to the system we have today. I’m a huge Marvin Miller fan, and I believe he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.
But the process of free agency was not smooth, and was a learning process for players. Agents were not licensed. You could have anyone represent you, and they weren’t always the most knowledgeable or trustworthy people.
Early on a lot of players were taken by agents. I was among many players represented by LaRue Harcourt in the late 70s and early 80s. Harcourt taught business courses at a junior college and got into negotiating contracts for baseball players. He also got into financial planning, but it turned out he wasn’t very well qualified. He put many of us in risky investments that later fell apart and cost us a lot of money.
Nowadays agents are more closely scrutinized. There are restrictions today that agents have to work under. They must be licensed and be approved by the players’ union. Things have come a long way.
Now the players can rely on men like Scott Boras, who has helped them tremendously. Like Miller, Boras and the other agents help even the playing field for players. As a player, you really must have a lot of trust in your agent because he is the one who will speak for you, and no one is better at doing that than Boras. He knows what players are worth on the marketplace, and he knows which teams need his players.
I don’t know about the personal side of Boras and why he brings such negative publicity sometimes. Maybe he rubs owners and general managers the wrong way. But I do know he’s looking out for the benefit of the players. He is known to be a hardnosed negotiator, and I would think as a player that is what you want.
The only negative with Boras is that he represents so many players. If I were a client, I would worry about conflicts of interest with him representing players similar to me. Like this offseason, Boras has two prominent left fielders to look after in Matt Holliday and Johnny Damon. As a player in that situation, you have to wonder if your agent labors for you, or does he labor for the other guy?
That comes with the territory of having a guy like Boras represent you. Risks aside, he is highly educated in the field and has a great track record for getting his clients top dollar. He cares about players, and even employs some ex-players like former Indians infielder Mike Fischlin and former Mariners closer Bill Caudill.
Thanks to men like Boras, and those like Flood and Miller before him, players are reimbursed very well in this era. But I don’t quite understand the feelings that they are overpaid. Football and basketball players are also paid well, as are actors and musicians. The entertainment industry is at an all-time high as to how people are compensated, and if you’re one of the best players on a 25-man roster, then you should be compensated.
It would be nice to have had a chance to make what players make today. It was players in the 70s and 80s who enabled today’s athletes to make the money they’re making. But I’m not jealous in any way shape or form. I’m just proud of how far they’ve come.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
DeMarco: Plug in a well-heeled ownership group and negotiate one of those mega-bucks TV deals that are going around, and the Dodgers could become the west coast version of the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox.
HardballTalk headlines |
 | Interactive |
 |
 | Slideshow |
 | Unbreakable records in baseball A look at the most unbreakable records in baseball including Nolan Ryan's seven no-hitters. |
| Slideshow |
 | The top tools of baseball You hear a lot about the tools of baseball, but who are the best hitters, fielders and pitchers? We break it down. more photos |
 | Slideshow |
 |
The Week in Sports Pictures The Giants on top of the football world, getting ready for the London Olympics and more. more photos |
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
After leading by 18 points in the first half, the Los Angeles Lakers were staring at a four-point deficit with less than two minutes to play.
