Opening of the Books....Unfortunately, No Conspiracy to be found.

Its long been thought by many a yinzer that Bob Nutting is some nerdy combination of C. Montgomery Burns and Scrooge McDuck lining his pockets/bank vault with money that should be spent on his team's payroll. As good of a story as below would be, it appears it really isn't the case.

Instead of swimming in his money, Nutting and the Pirates seem to have some real revenue questions and not a lot of room for error in their never-ending quest to be a contender. But didn't we know that already? 

Here are some links to different perspectives/analysis.  

First the background of the story:

The original Post-Gazette article: For the most part, just a rehashing of what the Pirates presented to the media yesterday. 

The AP story that prompted the Pirates "getting out in front of the story:" Nothing really said here that wasn't said by the Pirates in Dejan's article. Just twisted differently.

The actual line by line financial statements for the Pirates and other teams that were leaked: A lot of interesting info here including the dramatic differences in gate and broadcasting revenues between teams. 

What does this all mean?

Bucs Dugout says the whole situation doesn't nicely fit the Bob Nutting is evil media narrative. A very good discussion in the comments here as well.

Pirates Prospects breaks the situation down a couple of different ways here and here. They have the same concern I do. How can the team consistently raise the payroll with these numbers? I would have much rather seen this leak of info show that Nutting was taking 50 million a year in profits like the conspiracy theorists have long thought. Instead it appears any "meaningful" increase in payroll is going to have to be offset by an increase in revenue or decrease in spending somewhere else (as it appears the team is not interested in losing money).

Pittsburgh Lumber Company takes issue with some of the "nonsense" in the AP article.

Where Have You Gone Andy Van Slyke comments on his changing perception of the Pirates' finances since Nutting/Coonelly/Huntington took over.

Rocco Demaro weighs in with a practical estimate on what the profits would have brought the Pirates if they spent every dime on the MLB payroll. Hint...it wouldn't have made much of a difference the last couple of years. Spending on the amateur draft and using the profit to pay down debt is a much better use of funds while rebuilding.

The Biz of Baseball compares and contracts financial info from all of the teams leaked on Deadspin. 

And Finally:

People have complained for years that the Pirates wouldn't open their books. They did (although not exactly voluntarily). The statements show that they made profits but not the significant profits critics had been claiming. 

So, critics need a new spin. I assume that spin will be the need to sell to Lemieux/Burkle cause they are "proven winners."

Of course, those same people conveniently forget the endless money troubles the Penguins had (before and with Mario as the owner) before they literally won the lottery with Sidney Crosby, had a hard salary cap implemented across the league, and leveraged potentially leaving the city (a lot more seriously than the Pirates or Steelers did in the late 90s) to get their new arena. Their just isn't enough in this market to spend anywhere near what other teams in places like NY do if there isn't a system of checks/balances in place. Baseball doesn't have that. Hockey now does. That (and the luck of the ping pong balls) is why the Pens have been successful. Not because Mario is a financial genius.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Penguins and everything that they have accomplished. The Consol Energy Center was actually the most practical and necessary of the three new facilities due to its extensive non-Penguin use.  However, lets not pretend Mario has always had the golden touch.  Before Crosby or Malkin arrived, 11,000 people went to the games to cheer on prospects like Rico Fata, the Pens had the lowest payroll in the league, and the ticket sales department I was working in didn't have enough budget to get us envelopes or pens. Besides the shortages of office supplies, doesn't that sound pretty familiar to the current Pirates situation? Actually, the Pirates young guys now are probably better than the Pens prospects in the early 2000s. 

The main difference? There is no Sidney Crosby coming via lottery to the Pirates immediately to get them out of the hole. But there is talent coming. It just takes time now that they are finally doing a proper rebuild.

Monday Links

No huge story to write about today. So a handful of links.......

-Bob Smizik has decided that past performance IS indicative of future results when it comes to the MLB draft. He prefers a college player to the high upside (but higher risk) high schoolers. Of course, he will probably write an article in the next day or so complaining about the Pirates lack of high upside prospects...But that is to be expected from Bob.

-Everything you ever wanted to know about the Pirates' 2010 Draft strategy.

-Baseball America's final Mock draft has the Pirates picking Jameson Taillon. That would be my choice although they really can't go wrong with Machado either, who the PG says they are leaning towards...

-Bryon Leftwich has a leg up to be the starter during Ben's suspension instead of Dennis Dixon. That is extremely disappointing. I like Byron but with the offensive line in front of him, his immobility, and his Hideo Nomo like windup and delivery, this is not going to end well.

-Apparently now the Pac 10 is going to try to beat the Big 10 to it by raiding the Big 12. Is anyone else extremely bored with all the college expansion talk? Who really cares where teams end up in football if you aren't going to have a playoff to determine a winner?

-While cutting grass last night, I listened to a good bit of Colin Dunlap's radio show on 93.7 The Fan. It was very enjoyable as he had different topics (example in reference to John Wooden...Is it harder to coach
"talent" that has high expectations and egos?) and wasn't afraid to take the non-standard side of an argument. And unlike someone like Mark Madden, he allowed people to talk when they disagreed with him and it led to some good discussion. The only downside was his interview of Chuck Finder. He is just as wordy and incoherent on the radio as he is in print. Hopefully, Dunlap gets a better slot than 6pm to 10pm on Sunday night as time goes on.

-Mario had a hole in one yesterday at Oakmont. Good to hear something finally went his way.

-And finally, a "typical" Boston sports fan's view of the NBA finals (language is sketchy). If only this site had a yinzer character.

What makes Crosby so great?

Sidney Crosby is my favorite athlete. I think he's the best player in hockey and a wonderful human being.

Sometimes, though, I find myself wondering how great he is. His best highlights don't quite drop your jaw like Mario Lemieux's or even Alexander Ovechkin's (warning: this clip made me throw up in my mouth.) Nobody did what Mario could do. Nobody can do what Ovechkin can do, as much as I hate to admit it.

Here's the thing: I don't think I've seen Crosby make a play that nobody else can make.

His goal in game 6 is a good example of the quickness, hands, vision, and knack for being in the right place that we all point to as proof of his greatness. But Tyler Kennedy could have scored that goal.

Other players can pass like he can. Other players can score as prolifically as he can. Other players are fundamentally sound and play relentless defense. Other players are better in faceoffs. Others are great captains and raise their game when it matters.

What makes him the best player in hockey, I suppose, is that nobody puts it all in the same package like Crosby does. I have a man-crush on him because of it and I don't care who knows it. But I still have the same nagging question... is being really good at almost everything the same as being truly great?

Party like its 1999...Pens vs. Habs Game 2

First things first...there goes my sweep prediction--obviously.

I wouldn't have said the series would be a sweep if I would have known we were going back in time to the not so exciting world of the late 90's NHL. The time when clutching and grabbing was a way of life and Mario Lemieux called the NHL a "garage league" (Doesn't make sense--I know--but it seems like an insult, right?). This style of play was supposed to be eliminated after the lockout in an effort to make the game "exciting" and "reward skill players" again, but it's totally up to the referees to keep the clutching & grabbing in check by calling penalties. The referees today must have missed that memo.


I am typically not one to blame the referees. So, lets give Montreal some credit. One thing they do well is stick to their system and hold a lead like their lives depend on it. They know the only chance they have in the series is to somehow get ahead and then neutral zone trap and "Murphy Dump" their way to a victory. It leads to a ton of shots on goal for the Pens, but not very many good ones. The great chances the Pens were getting on Friday night were nowhere to be found today cause of their unwillingness to crash the net (still not sure why) and their decision to play like the Capitals in games 6 and 7 against Montreal. Halak will be the first to tell you he worked harder Friday facing 23 shots than he did today against 39.


The Penguins need to get back to the style of play that won them game 1. Or at least have the NHL remember it's 2010--not 1999.


Couple quick bullet points...


-Matt Cooke has been just awesome in the playoffs. Its like he is going to be a free agent and is playing for a big money contract (Oh wait...).


-Today wasn't one of Malkin's best games. Of course, it would help if his wingers ever -as the gentleman sitting next to us last week at the Arena so eloquently put it- "did something that doesn't suck."


-How bad are NBC's broadcasts? I love Sidney Crosby and all, but there are other guys on the team worth mentioning every once in a while.


I am not that worried about the Pens losing the series. Of course, I was the one who didn't believe the Habs would actually beat the Capitals till it happened......