Josh Davis, Keary Colbert and Craig Marshall got released yesterday. It says so right there in the agate type in the Tribune sports section.
Professional athletes get traded or released on a regular basis -- it pretty much happens to all of them eventually. Few athletes both get to stay on their own teams and quit on their own terms. And I suppose a larger portion than you would think of that last group retire so they don't get released; jump before you get pushed. Kind of like Burgess Meredith in Rocky: "Hey Rock, you ever think about retiring? Think about it."
This might be the only thing I have in common with a professional athlete, having been both traded and released in my professional career. Released as in laid off, which is about the ultimate in things that are no fun. You are being told either 'We don't need you anymore' or 'We can't afford you anymore'. Neither one of these is a real good feeling though I suppose the second is better than the first. About six-odd weeks back I got traded. Sold is a better word really, but the effect is the same. My former employer sent a block of business to my current employer getting a rather large barrel of cash in return, and I was a part of that. I'm still a bit of a time wrapping my head around this. I have a new employer -- same job at least -- and I didn't have any say in the matter, I wasn't consulted. One day I just started working for someone else.
This is the part that goes unmentioned with a sports trade. One day you have a role you like with a team you have gotten comfortable with, the next day you work elsewhere for someone who probably doesn't do things the way you are used to, and you didn't get any say in the matter. And somewhere else physically. All sorts of personal logistics that need to be attended to such as moving, getting acclimatized to a new city, other things, none of which ever get talked about. Just about whether this is good for the team or not.
It makes you understand why players want no-trade clauses into their contracts. It gives you some power to work where you want, where you know how they do things. And you can always waive it, if you want to, if you don't like how your current employer does things and they want you to work somewhere more to your liking.
And it makes me read the agate type a little differently.
See there? At the risk of sounding self-congratulatory, I'll acknowledge that the reason I'm always so drawn to your writing is because your voice sounds so much like mine. Not always or consistently, but there are these moments, these flows that look so darned familiar that I'm afraid - really concerned - that I'll usurp them and you'll see them appear mysteriously in my own writing.
ReplyDeleteI beg your indulgence if this happens.
My knowledge about sports goes into the negatives. I got nothin'. But the content is often secondary in your writing. You weave your words in a delightful way. Feels like I'm wearing an old cardigan that has a faint dad-scent to it.