Good sports, or "Hey, those guys should get paid, too"

March 20, 2008

I am a life long Yankees fan. So what I am about to say is going to cause me to flinch a little.

Today, I am really impressed with the Boston Red Sox.

In a story I heard on Countdown, and reread on Dan Patrick.com, the essentials are thus.
The Red Sox are supposed to go to Japan next week for the season opener against the Oakland A's. The players for both teams will receive extra compensation for the trip to the Tokyo Dome. The coaches and managers, the important support personnel, would not receive the compensation. They had in the last two years, but it was not included in the negotiations or contract for this year.

Boston's players didn't think this was fair. So they voted not to go, unless the others got paid as well. From what I can tell, Oakland's players basically agreed. Not only were the Sox not going to Japan, they weren't going to play last night's spring training game. It was finally decided that everyone would be equally compensated on the Red Sox side. Oakland is still working out the details, from what I gather.

In a sports world where there are constant scandals about cheating, bad behavior, horrible ticket prices, and a variety of naughtiness, I am blown away by one team's act of fairness. Of thinking of someone else's treatment. With all the nastiness in the world, two groups of pro athletes said, "All for one, and one for all", and intended to stick to it. Fair is fair.

So, for today, hurray for the Boston Red Sox!

I'll return to hating you later. good night and good luck...stimp