My two favorite sports are baseball and football. Basketball used to be up there, but ever since Seattle lost the Sonics, I've not watched it quite as much. But I have been an avid fan of baseball and football my entire life, and I've got to say, I have not liked what the two commissioners of the two biggest sports leagues I follow have done.
First, let's start with Rob Manfred. First, he got rid of the four pitch intentional walk. Never again will we see a wild pitch intentional walk, or an intentional ball being hit for a base hit. That didn't need to change. There's rumors he wants to change the baseball playoffs even more. He's already added a second wild card team, which was extremely unnecessary. It just reduces the importance of the regular season. Baseball now has a total of 10 playoff teams, and I know Manfred wants to add more. It has enough. And this is coming from a Mariners fan that hasn't experienced the playoffs in 19 years. I don't want the Mariners to make the playoffs at 83-79 as the sixth best team in the A.L. I also don't want a see a team barely above .500 make it to the League Championship Series, or do I daresay it, the World Series.
But the worst thing Manfred has done (or should I say, hasn't done), is not punishing the Astros players for the sign-stealing scandal. The Houston Astros were caught red-handed stealing signs and relaying them to the hitters through audio signals. The coaches and front office and organization were punished, although some feel not punished harshly enough. Frankly, he should have stripped the Astros of their 2017 World Series title, because they obtained it unfairly. He referred to the title as "taking a piece of metal away from them", which goes to show how little he knows about competitive sports. And then there's the players, whom he did not punish. Not one. None of them spoke up when this was going on. They all allowed this to happen, and they took advantage of other teams. I know why Manfred didn't punish them. It's because they are the reasons fans go to games, watch on TV, and buy merchandise. He suspends players like Altuve, Correa, Alex Bregman, and George Springer, and the profits plummet. Now, he's threatening to suspend pitchers for targeting Astros players, so in the end those pitchers who retaliate would get punished, but not the cheaters. Ok.
Then there's NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. The fans already hate him. I don't hate him, but my disdain for him grows with every unnecessary change he makes. The one change that hasn't officially happened yet, but would make me jump on the Goodell Hate Train, is adding another playoff team. There's strong consideration that a 7th playoff team will be added for each league. One, the logistics for that sound way too complicated. Two, it over-saturates the playoffs. The seventh team would have a record of 9-7 or even 8-8 on occasion. A lot of teams at 9-7 or 8-8 have no business competing for a Super Bowl. I don't want to see the 8-8 New York Jets have a chance at the Super Bowl, or the 9-7 Cowboys as a Wild Card have a shot. The teams that win their division, with two exceptions per league, should be the ones competing for a Super Bowl. Three is too many.
I hate that these commissioners are making these changes. It's all because of money and making more of it. I've already stopped being a fan of one sports league because my favorite team of theirs stopped existing. If the postseasons of these leagues become too saturated, I will not support them by watching them. I don't even watch the MLB Wild Card games, unless the AL one is an intriguing matchup. But if too many changes happen to try to make more money, I won't look back as I stop watching these sports leagues altogether.
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