The view from the Cheap Seats this week goes all around the sports globe starting in MLB. With the Red Sox in turmoil, the Patriots cheating again and the Knicks making more strange moves, the east coast is upside down in the sports world, like the aftermath of a nor’easter. A busy week in sports feels even busier when New York and Boston are involved.
The view from the Cheap Seats starts in MLB where the Boston Red Sox, just 18 months removed from a World Series Championship, are pointing fingers from the A.L. East cellar. Pitching coach Juan Nieves is the first head to roll. Nieves was at the helm in 2013 when the Red Sox won it all. It’s hard to believe he deserves blame for Boston’s fall since then.
Where is the accountability from the front office? Nieves didn’t trade Jon Lester and Andrew Miller. Nieves didn’t balk at moves to bring in a James Shields, Cole Hamels or Max Scherzer. And he surely didn’t waste all of their free agent dollars on infield and outfield bats, which the entire organization is loaded with. Nieves was a scapegoat and undeserving of such a sword on which to fall.
Let’s leave the diamond for a change and head to the hardwood of New York City. In a puzzling move, New York Knicks owner James Dolan re-hired Isiah Thomas to his front office. Not only did he bring back the guy that cost him $11m in a settlement to avoid further litigation, as he was being accused of sexual harassment by multiple female employees. He hires Thomas to become president of his WNBA team?! Yes, that still stands for the Women’s National Basketball Association.
So the best strategy, according to James Dolan, to get females and others to attend the WNBA Liberty games, is to have a man who is associated with harassing women become the face of the franchise? This is like putting Pete Rose in charge of a Gamblers Anonymous commission in MLB. Why not have Floyd Mayweather, O.J. Simpson, Sean Penn and Ray Rice on your board to address domestic violence? They can work together with Bill Clinton, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tiger Woods on the importance of being faithful in a marriage. Just when you think Dolan is the worst owner in all of sports, he out does himself.
Last, but not least, we’re ending where we started, back in New England. Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, once again, are busted for breaking the rules of the NFL. Brady was suspended for the first four games of this upcoming season, and the Patriots were docked two draft picks and given a $1m fine. All of the detractors are saying that deflating footballs is not a big deal. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
These athletes, especially Tom Brady, are role models to the fans and kids who watch them. Saying that it wasn’t a big deal for him and the Patriots organization to cheat, just leads to bad habits that are set for today’s youth. Not only did he cheat, he tried to cover it up and continues to lie about it. Giving Brady a pass on this just leads to more problems for the NFL in the future. And this is a sport that desperately needs a character evaluation and overhaul after the past several years. We’ll see you next week from the Cheap Seats.
