MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / February 19, 2000

Scorecards, get your scorecards here! You can’t tell the players without a scorecard! That age old shout by vendors is becoming more and more true. With all thenews coming out of the sports world in recent weeks, fans might want to pick up an atlas as well.

Loyalty to a team has gone the way of 300-inning pitchers and 250-pound offensive linemen. U-Haul and Ryder have become an official symbol ofprofessional sports.

Just look at the moves in the last two weeks alone. Ken Griffey Jr., thesymbol of baseball in Seattle over the last decade, has been traded to his hometown team, Cincinnati. Toni Kukoc, the last main cog in the ChicagoBulls’ dynasty of the 1990s, was shipped to Philadelphia in a three-team deal.

And then there is the NFL where fans will really need to pick up a preseason publication to find out where their favorite players are at. Longtime DenverBronco Shannon Sharpe has signed with Baltimore. James Stewart, who hadbeen with Jacksonville since their inception, will try to replace Barry Sanders in Detroit. Even Dan Marino, the mainstay of the Miami Dolphins for almosttwo decades, appears to be on his way to wearing a different uniform in 2000.

Oh, it’s nothing new. After all, Babe Ruth ended his career as a Boston Brave.Willie Mays and Hank Aaron finished their careers where they started, New York and Milwaukee, respectively, but with different franchises. Joe Namathended up in Los Angeles and Johnny Unitas in San Diego at the end of their careers. Joe Montana went from San Francisco to Kansas City late in his.Wayne Gretzky went from Edmonton to Los Angeles and then bounced to New York and St. Louis. And yes, there are exceptions. Michael Jordan twice retired as a Chicago Bull.John Elway spent his entire professional career in the Rockies. Tony Gwynn isa career-long San Diego Padre and Cal Ripken Jr. will probably retire aBaltimore Oriole. Wayne Martin will probably leave the NFL after spending hisentire career with the Saints.

But if Bruce Smith and Thurman Thomas can leave Buffalo, anything is possible. The main catalyst for all this change, especially in football, is freeagency and its offspring, the salary cap. Teams simply cannot afford to havea group of long-time superstars stick together for a long period of time anymore. That’s the main reason that either Jerry Rice or Steve Young willnot be in San Francisco next season and Deion Sanders will be some place other than Dallas.

Griffey had to leave because Seattle faced losing him and Alex Rodriguez after this season. Kukoc, as well as Scotty Pippen, is gone from Chicagobecause the Bulls want to free up money to make a run at the superstar free agents of this season as well as stockpile first round draft picks in order to quickly rebuild the team. Of course, in order to rebuild, they firsthad to destroy, leaving Bulls fans to watch one of the worst teams in recent memory.

These player movements have good and bad points. They can create parity,like this season in the NFL, giving any team hope for success. But they canalso dilute the product. And in fewer and fewer instances can a fan follow aplayer from his first game to his retirement announcement with a team. Justask fans of the Bulls, Mariners and Pittsburgh Steelers what they think of it all.

Of course, the vendors love it. They will be doing a brisk sell of programs thisyear.

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