Pros finding ways to make more money

Happy holidays to one and all. Time for that “didn’t I just do this” look back at 2001 and ahead to 2002. Doing that from the sports perspective makes one feel like the Scrooge of the New Year’s party.

The Red Sox sale is just a thundering reminder that the sob stories of MLB owners are just that. Sure, there are severe inequities among teams, but every one of the millionaire owners ends up making a fortune in baseball. The absolute “thou shall not speak of” for owners is franchise value. The return on investment is staggering.

Owners are about to make more. There may be no contraction in baseball. Minnesota now has a buyer in Alabama businessman Donald Watkins. He is an African American and says that owning the Twins is his “number one priority.” Just think how MLB can wrap themselves in the flag and milk this one for their patriotism in not wiping the Twins off the face of the baseball world.

The Montreal Expos? Not enough people in Montreal care to keep the team afloat. The U.S. baseball fans care even less. That team will be sold and moved and owners will share another fortune from the franchise fee that will look to the Red Sox price tag as a benchmark.

The all-time leading home run hitter in a single season, Barry Bonds, had no bidders for his free agent services except his current team, the San Francisco Giants. That is not happenstance. Bonds is a prime example of the spoiled brats of sports. For the good he does on and off the field, he buries that in a poisonous attitude in the clubhouse and generally the same around fans.

Just think about that. Seventy-three home runs in a season and the next year no team wants him. Would that have been the case with (Sammy) Sosa or (Mark) McGwire?

Sports Illustrated recently quoted a member of the Portland Trail Blazers of the NBA as saying, “We don’t really care about the fans anyway.” This in light of developing friction between the team and the city over players who are building rap sheets, and we’re not talking music here.

That quote pretty well sums up how many fans think a lot of players in a lot of pro leagues feel about them. To have it said in print is chilling. Like the NFL, the NBA at times looks more like a probationary site for the criminally charged than a pro sports league where role models are supposed to be on display.

With the Yankees moving to their own television system, to include the New Jersey Nets and the New Jersey Devils, the move toward fewer “free” pro games on over-the-air channels continues. It is the desire of virtually every sports team to own its own system. That is one of the reasons the Red Sox valuation was so steep. NESN was part of the package.

Subscribers, whether with basic or premium packages, pay to see teams. Multiply the number of people who want to see their team on television by 50 cents, $1, $5, or $50 and you have the next pot of gold for owners.

If pro sports owners can now own the TV systems their teams are on, all those dollars are theirs. That has long been the dream of sports teams, but a dream they dared not talk about for fear of the repercussions from fans used to “free” games.

Today, fans are surprised at nothing. Having to pay a fee to watch their team is just the way it is. Perfect for the owners.

Sorry to be a curmudgeon at the end of the year. Reality, however, must be paid its due. Nevertheless, we can treasure those moments in 2002 where players and fans occasionally forget all this and get caught up in superior athletic competition that thrills the souls longing for excellence.

Happy New Year.

Old Town native Gary Thorne is an ESPN and NBC sportscaster.