SPRINGFIELD - Elizabeth Stieg never sought to become a basketball coach. Playing the sport for most of her life, it has always been one of her passions, but she never figured that she would make the transition from the court to the sidelines.
"People always told me that I should pursue coaching, but I never really gave it any thought," Stieg said.
A little prodding from one of her own coaches helped shape her future, though, and today the Agawam native is in her second year as an assistant women's basketball coach at Western New England College under fourth-year head coach Nicole Chaszar and assistant coach Doug Pearson, who was head coach of the men's program from 1998-2004.
Click here to read the rest of the article, which appeared in the Metro West Plus and Neighborhood Plus Papers.
For full coverage check out East versus West on Abdul-Qaadir breaking Rebecco Lobo's all-time state scoring record in basketball.
Click here to read a post on the legendary Mary Nwachukwu of Dighton-Rehoboth in Eastern Mass. on East versus West.
This is the last part of my speech written back in 2004. If you haven't been following it, I suggest you browse on my blog to find parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
For a quicker way go here for parts 1-4.
So far the most commented on Yardbarker is part 5: Do ballplayers really need millions?
D. Free Agent Market will slowly drop down
1. WORSE POSSIBLE IDEA TO HIT MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
a. in 1973 Curt Flood came up with the idea of free agency
b. players like Ted Williams, Joe Dimaggio, Satchel Paige, and Jackie Robinson weren’t given that option. Unless they were so unhappy with the ball club, they could be traded, but basically stayed with their team throughout their entire careers.
i. Very rare nowadays will a player stay with one team his entire major league career. Maybe Derek Jeter will brake the barrier.
2. Baseball has turned into a business, not a sport
a. it’s now a market, only about making as much money as you possible can.
i. George Steinbrenner has done a good job with that.
b. look at ticket prices just to go to a game, food, souvenirs, etc. a family of four can’t afford to go and enjoy a game without it costing them at least $200 if not more.
III. Conclusion
A. This is exactly why Major League Baseball needs a Salary Cap
1. It’s not fair for the other teams
a.
2. Too much money
a. A-Rod, Manny Ramirez, Barry Bonds
3. No more work stoppages
a. 1994, threat in 2002
4. Free agency costs will die down
a. no more $22 million contracts
B. Hopefully now you see where I’m coming from. I thought I made some good points, whether you agree or disagree that’s completely up to you. But hopefully I proved a point. Whether the MLB will ever do a cap, well, in reality it might neevr happen. I hope you all have a great day. Thanks.
Tomorrow's preview: Five years later...from 2004 to 2009, why a salary cap may never be possible in the MLB.
MLB salary cap speech continued...
6. Do they really need all this money?
a. Not only do they get paid by their team, but also with endorsements for TV ads, autographs, or basically anything that associates them.
7. Argument, do they kind of deserve this money?
a. yes, in some ways
i. it’s not individualized, you need every piece; hitting, pitching and defense. Not one player makes you win a championship.
ii. unlike basketball, where Paul Pierce, of the Boston Celtics, can score 50 points to win the game. In some cases, even that won’t make your team win.
8. But they whine and complain
a. believe it or not, players still continue to whine and complain about their contracts! Boo hoo hoo, I’m only making $20 million instead of $22 million.
C. Work Stoppage/Strike
1. Baseball’s greatest known work stoppage was in 1994, when the Montreal Expos could have won the World Series.
a. players like Pedro Martinez, Cliff Floyd, Larry Walker, and Moises Alou, to name a few were on that team.
2. This caused many fans to say, bye-bye, because it was ridiculous to cancel the rest of the ‘94 season and the World Series.
3. Players threatening another strike in 2002.
a. I remember that day, glued in front of my TV in the living room, praying and hoping that 1994 would not be repeated.
b. if it happened who knows how many fans would just say, forget this, this is ridiculous.
4. Salary Cap will prevent this in the future
a. because of a cap, every team will have to follow the same rules, unless the players want to strike and never play baseball again. Hopefully future problems of work stoppage will not occur.
Tomorrow's preview: Free Agent market
B. Ball players make way too much money
1. In our lifetime most of us will not come to close to making as much as Alex Rodriguez does in a season.
2. Even our professor, which I’m sure she makes good money teaching us, won’t even make as much money as A-Rod in her lifetime.
3. Just think about it, for every hit A-Rod gets he earns $127,906
a. home run; $611,111
b. RBI; $207,547
4. Pedro Martinez
a. pitch he throws; $5,012
b. strikeouts; $77,092
c. wins; $1,093,750
Note: This is estimated data performed by simple ways of math
5. It’s disgusting. But think about it. Is it really A-Rod’s fault for making so much?
a. The Texas Rangers offered him the $22 million per season.
He’d be a fool not to take it compared to what he was making with his former club, the Seattle Mariners, which was 7 million per season.
Tomorrow's preview: Do ballplayers really need all of this money?
3. Baseball has turned into a business rather than just a sport.
a. farm system is a joke now
i. Teams just buy players instead of growing them, instead of having the rookies gain experience, they either trade them away and they stay in AAA and until a superstar retires, they finally get a shot at the big league level.
b. in order to have a successful ball club, owners are forced to invest, which can take years to do, Tampa Bay is almost getting there in a few more seasons by acquiring veteran players like Tino Martinez for a very young team.
i. George Steinbrenner worth millions towards the
Tomorrow's preview: Ballplayers make way too much money.
Note: This speech was written in 2004 so certain facts and numbers may not be accurate.
See below post to read the introduction just in case you missed it.
II. Body
A. Not fair to the other clubs.
1. All 30 teams aren’t wealthy.
a. can’t buy anyone they want like other teams.
i.
ii. Boston Red Sox ($127,298,500).
iii. Anaheim Angels ($100,534,667).
2. The same teams keep making the playoffs.
a. don’t expect the Tampa Bay Devil Rays ($29,556,667) or
b. since 2001 practically the same teams are in the post-season
i.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
ii. NL
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
c. out of top 12 teams in payroll, 8 of them qualified for the 2004 playoffs with an exception of the Minnesota Twins.
Tomorrow's preview: Baseball has turned into a business rather than just a sport.
Topic: Why Major League Baseball needs a Salary Cap.
Specific Goal: To persuade my audience that Major League Baseball needs a Salary Cap.
Thesis: Major League Baseball needs a Salary Cap because; it’s not fair to the other clubs, the players make way too much money, future problems of a work stoppage will not occur, and free agency is getting out of control.
I. Introduction
(I skipped 'A' because it was just me blabbing to the class)
B. Why I’m here today to talk to you young people about is why Major League Baseball needs a Salary Cap. These are some of my arguments for it.
1. It’s not fair to the other clubs.
2. The players make way too much money.
3. Future problems of a work stoppage will not occur.
4. Free Agency is getting out of control.
C. I know I’m kind of sounding like a hypocrite saying Major League Baseball needs a Salary Cap with me being a Red Sox fan, but lets face it, Major League Baseball is becoming boring with always the same teams making the playoffs year after year.
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Tomorrow's preview: II. Body A. Not fair to the other clubs.
