Keep the poor, poor!
Yeah man there are like totally systems, which keep the poor down, it’s the government dude, totally, they are all just trying to keep us down man.
Come on people, what’s with this capitalist mentality that keeps the poor poor that permeates worldwide sport? Why do their appear to be built in barriers to keep the rich in their safe little house on the top of the sporting world, while the poor toil away endlessly, thanklessly, gratefully devouring any spoils that trickle down into their hands. How kind of the sporting powers to let a snippet of their wealth occasionally fall into the hands of those less wealthy.
It is clear that in both the English Premier League, and in the National Football League, systems are put in place to impose a hierarchy intrinsically in the league. With the English Premier League come the spoils from the champion’s league. The top four in England has occurred because if each year, four teams get into the Champions League, then these four teams benefit from the wealth of the champions league. The wealth is then re-injected into the team allowing players of the calibre of Torres and Tevez to be signed as those below the wealth line must try and compete with more their limited resources. Players such as Ashley Young , Benjani and Yakubu may maintain certain teams status as nearly men, but until the wealth can be splashed by these nearly men on players who are unadulterated difference makers then the poor will remain poor. It’s very hard to have that wealth without the champion’s league. Even if the team has the money to spend, they cannot compete with the near guarantee of Champions League Football to a player that the Top four can offer.
The NFL’s system is a little more sinister; the system, which keeps the poor down, is disguised as something, which creates parity. This is of course, the NFL draft. Notoriously, outside of rare cases where the stars align, teams are financially crippled by hjaving to play over the odds for a player who has yet to play a down in the NFL and comes with no guarantee. The most despicable example being is that these high first rounder, who have as much potential of being major busts rather than ten time all-pro’s are payed more than Tom Brady, the most clutch player in the game.
So why do these players continue to draft rather than trade down? Because nobody wants to touch high draft picks with a bargepole unless there is one of the extremely rare unmissable prospects at the top of the draft. These unmissable prospects are rare the more times that supposed phenoms of the college ranks fail to make the NFL grade. So teams are stuck with the pick from that angle, but also because if a team is at the top of the draft it is a result of a poor season. The one reward of a poor season is a high draft pick, somebody who can transform the franchises poor fortunes. The fans need to be rewarded by sticking with the team so they are given this player to put their hopes behind. This player often doesn’t live up to the lofty expectations. Instead these teams often have an under-achiever who only serves a purpose of haemorrhaging money. Then they have the same problem next year, and so on and so on.
The NFL model is slightly less abhorrent as shrewd drafting can save a franchise while it could be argued if a team continues to pick high, they only have their own stupidity to blame. It feels slightly more dirty that the only hope many English teams have is to whore themselves out to a foreign investor, sacrificing all their morals in the hope that they will be skyrocketed into the elite of the EPL.
The two concepts are intrinsically linked in their concept but Randy Lerner also links them. Randy Lerner owns the Cleveland Browns and Aston Villa. Two teams who are on the verge of bucking the trend in the EPL and NFL respectively. The Browns were killed with injuries and stupid drafting for years, but with the likes of Winslow, and Edwards returning to form, Lerner must feel somewhat vindicated for previous drafts, This coupled with a smart double coup of Joe Thomas to sort out the offensive line and Brady Quinn to provide a safety net at QB and some competition to spark the fire in Derek Anderson.
Meanwhile, Aston Villa has shared this smart drafting. Realising, Villa cannot compete through the wealth of the top four Lerner has accepted he has to play the long game in the style of many NFL teams. While Ashley Young, Gabby Abonglahor, Shaun Maloney and Nigel Reo-Coker might not be elite players yet, they could be. This youth and vitality has been steadied by somebody who mirrors the concept of a veteran Qb , in Gareth Barry in central midfield.
The divide is still there, Cleveland have not yet fully catapulted themselves into the upper echelon of NFL teams while Aston Villa’s embarrassment and outclassing at the hands of Manchester United a few weeks past was a display of the persisting divide between the top four and the nearly men. However, the fact they are not there yet shows how long and patient teams have to be to amend the disparity. EPL teams cannot pay over the odds for one player to save them immediately, while NFL teams cannot expect franchises to be transformed by one signing in the draft. Patience, and the long game is key.
