Harper mega-deal another example of a vicious cycle

Whenever a megastar in professional sports signs a multi-million deal, the chain
reaction of comments from media and fans alike remain the same -- comical.

Bryce Harper is the latest to get heavier in the wallet as the Philadelphia Phillies
signed the 26-year old left-handed slugger to a 13-year contract worth $330 million
dollars. The Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants
were also considered potential landing spots for Harper, who spent his previous
seven seasons with the Washington Nationals.

Harper hit 184 home runs in that span with Washington, where he also won an MVP
award. Harper saw time in the limelight at an early age, appearing on the cover of
Sports Illustrated, becoming the first overall pick in the Major League Baseball
draft at age 19 and making the All-Star team at age 19. Harper’s aforementioned
MVP came at age 22.

The Giants reportedly offered 12 years before the Phillies offered him the biggest
contract in North American pro sports history. As a lifelong Giants fan, I wish he
were wearing Orange & Black but it did not pan out that way.

I’m not going to get into how Harper’s signing effects the landscape of Major League
Baseball, and more specifically the National League and the NL East. Harper’s
contract speaks to a more grand issue. Reaction to the amount of money of Harper’s
contract ranges from excitement to outrage.

It is astounding how many casual fans show their lack of scruples when they link a
player’s salary with his resume, stats and where they rank among their peers. Though
most people consider Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels to be the game’s best
player, Harper is in the conversation and has not yet entered his prime.

When a player signs a record-setting contract, some fans have an orgasm with statements
like, “He’s not worth that money!” or “How can he be making that much money when
this player over here has better stats” or things to that effect. Basing a player’s salary on
where he ranks among his peers is flawed logic because careers have peaks and valleys.
You just hope their performance averages out relevant to their salary.

Contracts are about timing, leverage and economics. If you think they are about resumes,

stats or ranking peers, you are naive by definition. Short of teams losing revenue, player

salaries are only going to skyrocket.

I remember when Jim Kelly signed a contract with the Buffalo Bills signed a contract
worth $1 million dollars per year in 1986. I recall people being astounded in those days
because $1 million dollars was so much money in that time.

I would argue that the same fans and media that grovel about athlete’s exorbitant salaries
are at least partially responsible for those heavier pocketbooks. I’m among the enablers
but I can humble myself enough to admit it. Think about it, fans keep flocking the
turnstiles at games and if they are not doing that, they are involved in the following:
a) Contributing to ratings by watching the games or listening on radio, b) Purchasing
the team’s clothing or c) Calling talk radio and/or expressing their views on social media.

As astronomical as Harper’s latest contract appears to be, it won’t be much longer before
that amount is considered a drop in the bucket because until people’s interest level in pro
sports diminishes, teams and owners will keep benefiting financially. Where then does
that money go? Back to the players.

Relevant to the idea of “is the player worth the contract?” That notion is very subjective.
Define being “worth your contract?” In many cases, I would argue that the years that the
player is producing his best numbers often come before the big payday. In which case,
he is outperforming the contract. On the flip side, when the player receives his big
payday, he is older and not many of the years on the contract are in his prime. In which
case, he underperforms the contract.

As it pertains to Harper, barring injuries, he figures to be enormously productive for most
of those years because even if his skills diminish, he can be a designated hitter. Granted,
the National League has not adopted the DH yet but it’s only a matter of time, for better
or worse, before both leagues incorporate it.

As salaries keep escalating, the question begs, “Is anyone really worth their contract?”

Playing for a sports journalism version of a super team

Sometimes you have to wait several years to share impactful experiences.

My time as a sports reporter for long since defunct GetLocalNews.com is one
of them. I could have shared the experience years ago but it was difficult to do
so publicly for the longest time.

First to set the scene, I respect the entire staff in their role in making our product
superior but I can most accurately describe my experience with my sports cohorts
Brian Cornelius and Chris Navalta since I was most actively involved with them.
However, everyone’s individual effort on the entire staff contributed to the news
organization winning a national Online News Organization general excellence award.

I moved back to California in 1998 after getting my journalism degree from the
University of Nebraska in 1997. I began newspaper career with my hometown
newspaper, the Napa Valley Register. I knew Navalta and Cornelius from afar,
both were sports reporters for the Vallejo Times Herald. The latter eventually
became sports editor.

Navalta eventually moved on to GLN.com, which was a startup online news
organization. The company launched BeniciaNews.com in 2000 and later
VallejoNews.com, in early 2001. Cornelius, who tried to recruit me on various
attempts, joined forces with Navalta. Well, Cornelius convinced me to join him
at GLN.com.  

Being part of something new felt like such an appealing motivator because we
were not inheriting past problems from a prior regime. There was talk of expanding
to neighboring cities. For two years, I firmly believe that Cornelius, Navalta and I
were a sports journalism version of a super team, the term you frequently hear in
reference to NBA teams. We were a three man band covering six high schools,
providing everything from event coverage, features, player bios, photos and
boxscores. I would also be remiss not to mention the regular contributions of
freelancers Marcas Grant and Patrick Creaven. While Cornelius, Navalta and I
were the stars, they were the complimentary players that helped us achieve
greatness in terms of coverage volume that was second to none. When I refer to
coverage volume, it was not just the major sports like football and basketball.
We’re talking badminton and tennis as well as every sport offered.

From March 2001-May 2003, we were an unbeatable combination. Then May 2003
happened, when the company experienced a staff-wide layoff. We sensed that event
would occur at a staff meeting in March. They turned the website into citizen
journalism rather than the labor intensive variety that had been so successful.

We knew the layoff was coming but for me, the timing could not have been
worse. Granted, we got a severance package but I was engaged to my then fiance
and we were closing escrow on our home. I managed to rustle enough freelance
work for seven months to stay afloat before landing back at NVR, which had
purchased the St. Helena Star and Weekly Calistogan. I took over the Upvalley beat
and stayed there for nearly 11 years before changing careers.

For the longest time, I was bitter about our staff-wide layoff, and to a certain extent
still bothers me today. Time, however, has taught me not to dwell on the end, instead
to see the time I had together with Cornelius and Navalta as a great ride. Those guys
were Vallejo natives that had the respect of locals. Since I was the outsider from
Napa, for Cornelius to reach out to me was meaningful. Napa and Vallejo are only
25 minutes apart but in some ways they are colonies apart in terms of lifestyle and
demographics. To this day, I could not be more thankful for how Cornelius and
Navalta along with the communities of Vallejo and Benicia accepted me.

In one respect, I look at our format and say we were ahead of our time. The narrative
of news consumption today is that the print version of newspapers have become
de-emphasized because with rare exception, people receive their news via internet.
If there was breaking news, it would be online immediately as opposed to having it
printed in the next day’s newspaper or putting it online at midnight.

In that era, newspapers had deadlines where the press would have to run at midnight
or whatever time was set. As an online newspaper, we had no hard deadline but it was
generally understood that we were going to get our stories posted as soon as possible.
Nowadays, newspaper deadlines are closer to 9 p.m., which means that late night
football game will not be in the print edition until two days later but stories are going
online immediately.

So much of the narrative today is “24 hour news cycle.” At GLN.com, we were the 24
hour news cycle before the term was en vogue.

When it comes to working relationships in my career, Randy Johnson and Garrett
Whitt are undoubtedly No. 1 because I spent nearly 11 years with them during my
years in St. Helena and Calistoga, where we achieved greatness of our own. However,
my time with Cornelius and Navalta, though cut short for reasons beyond our control,
was like playing on a dream team.

Vallejo loses an accomplished coach and quality human being in Brown

Sometimes news breaks and it makes you reflect on a portion of your career,
even if it was a small one.

The Vallejo Times-Herald reported in its online version on Wednesday that
long-time Vallejo High basketball is stepping away from coaching. I hesitate to
use the term retire because Brown himself did not utter the word.

Brown, who is 53-years old, has compiled 259 career wins as the Apaches
turned Redhawks coach since taking over for the revered Vic Wallace before
the 2001-2002 season. Brown led Vallejo to 10 consecutive CIF Sac Joaquin
Section playoff wins from 2002-2011, including four trips to Arco Arena, which
is the former home of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings. If you were playing at
that venue, that meant you were one step away from the Section title game.

The Times Herald also reported that Brown made the announcement midway
through the 2018-2019 campaign but the news did not go public until
Wednesday. Brown’s final game was the Redhawks (Oh my, I guess I have to
make that reference but I get through it) North Coast Section playoff loss to
Redwood (Larkspur), 64-53. Brown, however, will remain in his career in
education with his current role being an academic support provider at
Highland Elementary School.

I spent 18 years in the sports journalism industry, most in my hometown of
Napa Valley, CA, but I had the chance to cover Vallejo and Benicia, which
are about 20-30 minutes South of Napa, for two years. I worked for
GetLocalNews.com, which was a startup internet news service. If I do say
so, we kicked ass and took names, until the company went belly up and
underwent a staff-wide layoff but that’s another story for another day.
Shoutout to my sports reporting brethren Brian Cornelius and Chris Navalta.
I felt blessed to work with them as the Napa guy among two Vallejoans.

In any event, I had many interactions with Brown from 2001-2003. For two
years, Vallejo High boys basketball was an appointment event, in large part
thanks to DeMarcus Nelson, who was a true once in a generation talent:

https://vincedadamo.blogspot.com/2016/06/time-machine-demarcus-nelson.html

As it pertains to Brown, the Apaches drew monster crowds both home and
away. He knew everyone wanted to see the incredibly skilled Nelson. His
biggest challenge was keeping the team grounded. Good thing Nelson played
high school basketball in the pre-social media era. I would be remiss not to
mention a few other quality players on those teams like Madison Butts,
D’Angelo Mack, Amos Carter and Warner West.

In my interactions with him, Brown handled the team’s success and the
spotlight/scrutiny that came with it very adroitly. The interaction I still remember
to this day was December 2002, Vallejo was playing in a tournament at Madison
Square Garden. Yes, that Madison Square Garden. As in New York. I called
Brown to get game results but had a few other questions to the effect of a)
Playing away from home? And b) What message do you preach to the kids?
His answer, “I remember what Foster Hicks once told me, ‘You have to prepare
for war in times of peace.’” Brown in a 1983 graduate of Hogan High, which is
Vallejo’s former rival. Hicks was his coach.

I forget Brown’s verbiage after the first line but that quote spoke volumes. He
felt the importance of preparing his team for the intense spotlight it would face.
Brown was a very refreshing person. I have dealt with a few coaches who
despise dealing with the media. I cannot speak for Brown enjoying it but he
knew how to play the game. He always spoke how he was excited to see you
but it was never forced. His excitement was real.

Brown’s adaptability also spoke volumes in that he was a multi-sport athlete
at Hogan, playing football and basketball. The former, however, was his better
sport but a knee injury at Fresno State forced his hand toward basketball.

Among the reasons Brown sited for stepping away from coaching is the fact
that he has four daughters, one is a freshman in high school and another in
eighth grade. Any life in sports requires time away from family and your kids’
events. I’ve gotten a taste of that life. It’s not easy.

I hope we have not seen the last of Brown on the sideline because he has
long been an asset.

However, coach Brown, you have more than earned the right to enjoy life
without a clipboard and whistle. Cheers, coach!

Head coach and assistant coaches are a package deal for team success

In marriage, it is often said that behind every great man is a great woman.

As someone who as of this writing has been married for 15 years, I can
vouch for that notion to be true. I am only a legend in my own mind but
without further adieu, shoutout Jacqueline Scioneaux D’Adamo.

There is a sports angle to this, behind every accomplished head coach are
a band of assistant coaches that are paramount to a team’s success. I could
take it a step further and say supportive administrations are vital but I have
seen teams and coaches succeed despite dysfunctional relationships with
the powers-that-be. However, at some point such strife has limits on what
the team can achieve.

Within the confines of the team, however, the head coach and assistant
coaches have efforts that compliment each other. At least it is vital that such
is the case. In my years as a sports fan and reporter, I have seen coaching
staffs work like a perfectly orchestrated ensemble. I have also seen coaching
staffs that had dissention. In some cases the team had success but in the
long term, there were diminishing returns. It’s hard to ask players to perform
as a team when coaches who are preaching such a message do not.
The efforts of coaches are not limited to on the field either.

Some head coaches are more hands on than others but at some point, they
must delegate. The opposite approach are head coaches that take the
delegation to an extreme. The one that takes the former approach is viewed
as ego-driven by some. The one that takes the latter approach is viewed by
some as “well, he’s not a real coach. The assistants REALLY do the coaching.”
I find that take strange because they are the same ones that say you need
good assistants to succeed. All I’m saying is, if you beat the drum of “you need
good assistants,” then don’t diminish the head coach’s achievements if they
are wise enough to do so and let said assistants do their thing.

In sports like football, you are going to see a larger volume of assistants (10
or more in some cases) because the roster size is much bigger than other
sports. In sports not named football, you might have 2-4 assistants as a broad
generalization.

The key when forming a staff is that regardless of sport, each head coach is
going to have an area where they are well-versed more so than others. For
instance, if a baseball coach is well-versed in hitting, the key is to bring in an
assistant that deeply understands pitching and let him do his thing. I could
give endless examples but you get the point.

At every level of sport, whether it is Bill Belichick, Nick Saban or any random
highly successful coach in Napa Valley, CA, the head coach does not have the
win-loss record without his band of assistants. If you ask those head coaches,
most would likely utter the same sentiment. Belichick has guided the New
England Patriots to six Super Bowl championships but does not achieve that
success with assistants like Charlie Weis, Romeo Crennel, Josh McDaniels,
Matt Patricia and Dante Scarnecchia. While Belichick comes across as a
curmudgeon to the media, he would likely say the same thing.

I could come up with endless examples but I won’t in the interest of space.
There is every reason why assistant coaches should get praised. So why then
do head coaches get the lion’s share of the credit? The notion of “it starts at
the top” is the stock answer but I’ll give a couple different analogies. The
assistant coaches are the engine of the racecar and pit crew rolled into one.
The head coach is the driver and you still need someone to get the car to the
finish-line on race day.

To use a military analogy, the head coach is like a colonel, the assistants are
lieutenants, captains, sergeants and privates all rolled into one. The colonel
needs them and they need the colonel to guide the troops.

Though the work of the assistants are vital, the head coach gets the credit
because he is at the front of the line. You can think that it’s good, bad or
indifferent but it’s reality.

It is important to remember that having quality at head coach and assistant
coach, one is no more important than the other. It is a package deal.

Appreciating the competitiveness of high school wrestlers

Sometimes you are reminded of certain things when you need an excuse
to escape the house for a few hours.

For me, that moment came on Saturday, Feb. 9, when I told my wife that I
would venture to Napa High to catch the Vine Valley Athletic League
wrestling tournament for a couple of hours. I was not going to stay for the
duration because I spent many Saturdays in my previous career of sports
reporter watching a full day and reporting on wrestling. I enjoyed a fun
couple of hours watching the aforementioned event and chopping it up
with my friends, Dan Boyett and Joe Croxdale among others.

When I use the term “reminded,” I don’t mean it as I was not aware before,
instead it reinforces the truism of the idea. In my 18 years as a sports
reporter covering mostly high school athletics, I was constantly reminded
how wrestling took a backseat to basketball when it comes to winter sports.
In a way, it made me sensitive to giving highly successful wrestlers their
due over mediocre basketball teams or players.

My years on the Upvalley beat, specifically St. Helena, were a perfect
illustration of “I can’t win no matter what I do.” Under then head coach
Herschel Sandler’s guidance, the Saints won nine league titles in ten
seasons from 1998-2007 and a CIF North Coast Section Class A title
and had four wrestlers reach the State Meet. In that same span, St.
Helena High basketball was sub. 500. I took the approach that in
community journalism it is best to celebrate success and minimize failure.
From the wrestling zealots, I got a bunch of “attaboys.” The basketball
zealots looked at me and suggested, “I get it, we want our 64-40 loss to
Middletown buried.” If the basketball team won and I put it above the fold
with wrestling as the main package, I’d get complaints of how basketball
was still being highlighted.

I’ll probably get pushback from football coaches but I have long contended
that wrestling is the most physically demanding among high school
sports I have seen offered. The physical nature on the mat is most
apparent but when you factor in that wrestlers are either starving
themselves to reach a lower weight class or eating like mad to reach a
higher weight class. That nutrition intake -- or lackthereof -- must be hell
on your body.

The best part of wrestling is that it is a sport that does not penalize a kid
for his or her side. As for the latter, girls wrestling teams and tournaments
have become exceedingly more mainstream over the past 20 years or so,
and that is a good thing. Granted, there are cases where a female defeats
her male counterpart but keep in mind the purpose of Title IX being
created in 1972 was to allow females to compete on a more level playing
field.

I also noticed a disconnect between wrestling and basketball fans. The
frequent narrative was, “why does a basketball team that places third in a
non league tournament get more press than a wrestler or wrestling team
for winning a tournament?” Fair question but I think I have an answer of
some sort. It’s easy to blame the media but on some level the consumer
assumes a role. All of the years, I gave St. Helena wrestling dominance
top billing in the sports section over below average basketball, I also had
a few people say, “Vince, I get that you want to celebrate success but I
can’t get into reading your wrestling stories.” I didn’t take offense but yes,
at the high school level, you take the approach of celebrate success and
report failures with sensitivity.

Another theory you have to understand is that even if you have never
picked up a basketball in your life, you can comprehend the following: a)
Pick and roll, b) Michael Jordan drives to the basket, gets double-teamed,
passes to a wide open Steve Kerr, who hits the 3-pointer or c) Magic
Johnson lobs the ball into the post to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. If Kareem
gets double-teamed, he’ll pass to Byron Scott for a 3-pointer. If Kareem
is one-on-one, he’ll make a move and shoot his patented sky-hook.
Whereas, most people can’t comprehend terms like: a) Single-leg
takedown, b) Reversal, c) Near fall or d) Short time.

Consider this an explanation more than a justification.