Updated Thursday/December 14, 2000; 8:11 a.m. PST

Vince definitely is!

Remember the $6 Million Man? Steve Austin had "skills" and a "SERIOUS VERTICAL" that even Vince Carter can touch, but was never worth more than $6 Million. Major Austin was "The Man" for what we remember to be six (don't quote us) glorious seasons. Now, the $250 Million Man is "The Man."

The ABSOLUTE-WITHOUT-QUESTION-NO-DOUBT-ABOUT-IT-ONLY-WAY can owner can pay a guy a QUARTER OF A BILLION DOLLARS (besides just having the cash) is because he knows he can! The reason he knows he can is because he'll keep charging more for everything!! The reason the owners can keep charging more is because we keep paying it!!! The reason we keep paying it is because we are sports Fan(s)atics!!!! We love sports!!!!! And it's because we love sports that we must unite, take a stand and balance the power. WeTheFans have gotta "get our heads into the game" before the owners and players ruin sports forever!

The bigger the money gets, the more chronic the symptoms of "I-GOTTA-BE-THE-MAN-ITIS" become. Shaq got a BIG DEAL; Kevin Garnett wanted a BIGGER DEAL. Stephon Marbury wanted an AS BIG A DEAL, then demanded to be traded when he couldn't get it. Los Angeles Dodger Kevin Brown was the $100 Million Man in baseball, but didn't get voted into the All-Star Game the year he signed the deal. Steve Austin would have. How can you be The Man and not make the All-Star Game? Shouldn't more money be in the form of incentives to achieve things like the All-Star Game? Why is so much of the money guaranteed; having nothing to do with performance?

Is A-Rod?

Did Alex Rodriguez have to be a BIGGER Man than Ken Griffey, Jr.? Will his buddy Derek Jeter have to be a "BIGGER Man" when he's a free agent next year? Will he demand (or is it "command?") $30 million-a-year just because A-Rod is making $25 million? So far this off-season, 49 players have been signed to over ONE BILLION worth of contracts! $1,000,000,000 between 49 guys!!! Like Bud Fox's dad said in the movie "Wall Street," "THE WHOLE WORLD IS OFF ITS ROCKER!!!" The sports world is REALLY off its rocker, because the Fans pay the money, but have ABSOLUTELY NO SAY in the negotiations!

Then, to add "insult to inflation," because of the misguided term, "market value," everyone thinks they are a $100 Million Man. What about "talent-value?" "Talent-value vs. market value" caused a BIG OL' stink here in Seattle with the Sonics (Kemp vs. McIlvaine) a few seasons ago! What about "performance-value?" Can you say "free throws," "bullpen pitching"? What about getting to the play-offs? How about winning with play-off pressure? Why aren't contracts LOADED with performance bonuses?

Come on, we know that with a "very few exceptions," most of the highest-paid players in sports today, in many ways, don't measure up to the Superstars

Reggie WAS!

of yesteryear. [In our book, if "Mr. October" Reggie Jackson didn't have a $250 million contract, no one EVER needs one!] So why are today's players getting paid like they are infinitely superior to the true legends of the game? Because of "market value"? Well, it's time for the market to come down a little, wouldn't you agree? In a true free-market economy, demand balanced with supply dictates "market value." Heck, the guys throwing fish at Seattle's Pike Place Market will tell you that! The owners and players are simply the "supply;" the Fans are the "demand." The FANS REVOLUTION will adjust "market value."

We all know "why" the money is out of control. Because WeTheFans let it get that way by just idly sitting by and forking over the cash. We've been such "sports junkies" that all we've cared about was getting our fix. Let's not stop being sports junkies. Let's get our fix. Let's keep sitting on our butts. But, let's start spending way less money doing it, as we save sports by pushing the FANS REVOLUTION up the court (down the field, out of the park, and up the ice) and balancing the power!

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