Not trying to make this political, but here is something interesting I came across...
Life imitates sport - Rude Awakening reader, Andrew J. Oh, M.D.,
reflects on baseball's Great Crash...
"I wasn't going to write but my wife insisted. During the
Yankees-Sox series, I had an interesting observation about
sport imitating life and was intrigued by today's Rude
Awakening."
"Prior to the Babe Ruth trade, the Red Sox were a dominant
power and the Yankees just another team with grand visions.
After the trade, the Yanks went on to win 26 World Series -
an inconceivably high number considering the number of
teams and years involved. I believe the Yanks are a
metaphor for America and the U.S. dollar.
"The U.S. really emerged as the dominant world power
(overtaking Great Britain) after World War I. The British
entered into WWI as the strongest military presence and
left the war weaker than the U.S.
"WWI ended in 1918. Same year Boston last won a Series.
"Following 1918, the Yanks went onto an unprecedented level
of domination based on hard work, talent, consistency, good
fortune, and the mistakes of its competitors. Sounds a lot
like the U.S. during this time.
"The Yankees last championship occurred in 2000 - the year
the U.S. peaked based on stock market performance. In 2001,
the Yanks still looked like world-beaters until a
relatively unknown opponent shocked them by not only
winning, but beating the previously invincible Mariano
Rivera in the bottom of the ninth. In the fall of 2001,
America's sense of invulnerability was also dashed.
"The recent "bull run" of the Yankees relied on gritty
hard-nosed guys like Jeter, Paul O'Neill, Scott Brosius,
Andy Pettite, Tino Martinez, etc. With each passing year,
the Yanks lost guys like this and replaced them with high-
priced free agents like A-Rod and Sheffield. They spend and
spend to try to maintain a level of dominance they have
come to expect is their destiny. They don't seem to
understand that it was hard work and selfless team play
that made them great. They also mortgage their future by
selling away young talent (Alfonso Soriano, and numerous
exceptional minor leaguers) to acquire today's superstars-
very gratifying and exciting in the short run. So much so
that when Randy Johnson essentially agreed only to go to NY
this year, the Yankees had no one left of value in their
farm system to trade. The massive spending and surrendering
of one's future for immediate gratification and the
maintenance of a highflying lifestyle that is not earned
but rather comes from a sense of entitlement- sound
familiar?
"Stubborn, often-reviled, leaders named George lead both
the nation and Yankees. Both are seen by outsiders as
bullies who maintain their dominance by spending more than
anyone else ever has. Both have created so much resentment
from the rest of their counterparts that others cheer when
they fail.
"Both have spent the last four years desperately trying to
get back to the top by spending more money than has ever
been spent but neither is able to quite get back to the old
highs.
"Now, in the fall of 2004, the Yankees have not only not
achieved their goals, but have committed probably the
single greatest collapse in team sports history- a collapse
that has never been seen before. It has left the previously
ever optimistic, bombastic Yankee fan with a sense of pain
and vulnerability that he has never known in his life. In
fact, the feeling that his team's greatness is a birthright
- born in 1919 - has arguably forever been shattered. Yes
they were shaken by the fall from grace after 2000, but
they never were truly humbled until 2004. I'm curious to
see if our stock market and dollar continue to follow this
path."
http://www.dailyreckoning.com/home.cfm?loc=/body_headline.cfm&qs=id=4210
