MLB's Kanye West

I recently read at article at ESPN.com, which talked about Milton Bradley and his role as the "bad guy" of MLB. Spoken by Bradley himself, he claims that he is the one player the fans can point out as the "bad guy." Probably as a result of his "bad guy" persona, Bradley has played for eight different teams throughout his eleven-season professional baseball career. Some might wonder as to why Bradley would not only publicize the fact that he is a so-called bad boy, but he almost seems proud of this fact. At first glance, some would assume that teams wouldn't want to hire a player with a persona that has negative qualities attached to it, especially since he rarely lasts more than a year with any given team. However, there could be some advantages to acquiring a player like Bradley. For instance, he clearly has a lot of star power attached to his name. Even though he has been made popular for his boisterous ways, he still has become popular. This somewhat follows the concept of "Any publicity is good publicity." Additionally, if he is, in fact, the one player that most fans characterize as "THE bad guy," this gives Bradley and whatever team he plays on a competitive advantage in terms of luring in crowds. If Bradley is the one player in all of baseball who has the greatest "bad boy" persona, this is a quality that no other teams can possess. Therefore, if fans really do want to go see the bad guy of baseball in hopes of a rowdy game or possibly an ejection, they will go to the games where Milton Bradley is playing. While the idea does seem slightly far fetched, you have to give it to Milton Bradley for marketing his image so cleverly.

To read the original article at ESPN.com, please follow this link:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5025391&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines

Laird Shares His Observations

In an article from the Detroit Tigers website, Tigers catcher Gerald Laird talked about the transformation he has noticed over the past few years in the way major league baseball is played. The way he sees it, the game has shifted from being a "slug fest" to focusing more on small ball and the speed required to play it. This shift was quite obviously a result of recent drug testing in the MLB. It's more difficult for players to use performance-enhancing drugs; therefore, they're forced to resort to small ball tactics. Ultimately, what Laird discussed was a transformation in the entire brand of major league baseball. In fact, some might call it a re-transformation. The first shift in the baseball brand occurred when drugs became popular and players started playing with more power. Then, baseball was seen as a sport where slugging was the name of the game, and to be good, you had to have power. The newest shift, however, focuses on speed, bunting, and base stealing. Now, baseball will be seen more as a sport that requires agility, speed, and probably more skill than when players simply relied on drugs to get the job done.

To read the original article from DetroitTigers.com, please follow this link:
http://www.mlive.com/tigers/index.ssf/2010/03/tigers_gerald_laird_teams_emph.html

Iverson's Issues

According to an article posted at ESPN.com, Allen Iverson is facing some difficult time as a result of gambling and alcohol abuse. The article went into detail about the causes and extent of Iverson's abuse problems, mainly addressing his daughter's undisclosed illness and his recent divorce from his wife, Tawana. While this is a clearly unfortunate situation for Iverson to have to deal with personally, it also has a big effect on his career. The fact that Iverson is having so much difficulty controlling his alcohol and gambling habits has a negative effect on his image. Some say "any publicity is good publicity," but this is not true if that publicity results in no team wanting to sign him because of various negative associations with his name. The first of which being that Iverson will no longer be seen as a role model for the children who once idolized him. Originally, teams would've wanted a player like Iverson because he fulfilled the team's need for a star player who kids could look up to. Now, teams really wouldn't want Iverson to fulfill that star-player role because his image is not one that is admired. Also, teams probably will not be very eager to sign a player who is unreliable and could possibly leave in the middle of the season, as he has proven to do before. Looking forward, Iverson really needs to get his act together to preserve his image and, ultimately, his career. If Iverson plans on furthering himself in the NBA, he needs to clean up his act and his image.

To read the original article at ESPN.com, please follow this link: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4975922&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines