Big spenders and egomaniacs

Even as a life-long hater of the New York Yankees, I have always had some level of respect for George Steinbrenner, who passed away Tuesday at the age of 80.

He may have been pompous and arrogant, but as an owner, he always strived for victory, no matter the cost.

In the 2005 season, the Yankees' total payroll alone was $208,306,817, which was more than division rivals Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles, along with the Minnesota Twins payrolls combined. It is also more than the Kansas City Royals spent on payroll from 2001-05.

Yes, it is easy to stay at or near the top when money seems to be no option, but when teams regularly spend less than $40 million on payroll and want to complain about being unable to compete, I think it is those teams' own fault for not attempting to be competitive.

Then, let's take into account Major League Baseball's luxury tax, which is imposed when a team's payroll is above a certain threshold.

The Yankees are one of only four teams to ever pay the tax since 2003, and the only team to pay it every year.

From 2003-2009, the Yanks paid a total of $174,183,419 in luxury tax, including almost $34 million in 2005, which was more than the Rays total payroll that year.

Yes, Steinbrenner overpaid a lot of players, but he did it by essentially following Oakland Raiders Owner Al Davis' mantra of "Just win, baby."

We either love or hate the Yankees, and may tire of seeing them on TV day after day, year after year, but you can't deny Steinbrenner's will to do whatever it took to bring home another championship ring.

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Now let's move on to a lighter topic: Where will LeBron James play when his contract with the Miami Heat ends?

Why ask this when he just signed the contract? Well, the mass media had speculated where he was going to go after he signed his last contract, so lets get the ball rolling again.

Mind you, this is all tongue in cheek because I don't really care. For some reason the media has latched onto James like a hungry parasite, watching and overanalyzing his every move.

Personally, I'm tired of the LeBron and Brett Favre watches because, while they are both great players, they do not carry their respective leagues.

When I think about it, part of me believes the media helped push LeBron away from Cleveland by questioning whether or not the city was able to handle the "Superstar" image James supposedly has carried with him since high school.

Plus, to allow him to dictate ESPN to have a one-hour special for him to announce his decision on where he was going to go in free agency, which dozens of other players were doing at the same time, was completely ridiculous and out of line.

No one player is deserving of this special treatment or spotlight, regardless if they have won a championship or not.

Remember, this is all revolving around a game. A simple game that greedy owners and players have used to take advantage of the lemming public, who is still willing to pay outrageous prices for tickets and memorabilia.

With HD television and cable sports packages in full force, now is the right time for fans to sit down in their chairs or on couches, flip on the "tube" and catch the games from home.

Wouldn't it be much better for our wallets, and the economy, to spend $50-$200 to be able to see any game we want at anytime at home, rather than spend $500 or more to see a single game live.

Our money is best spent elsewhere, and maybe, just maybe, if we break free from the grasp of the sports market, owners will get the message and lower prices so the average fan can come see a game live, rather than have to spend a month's salary and sacrifice multiple needs of their families.