[White Out 403]

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/spo...365506561.html

Bubble bubble, toil and trouble
Rocketing franchise values, athlete salaries mix with crumbling TV numbers to stir up potentially toxic North American pro sports brew

he numbers are as absurd as the shaky premise underlying them:

• David Price, a pitcher with a 2-7 lifetime playoff record and a bloated 5.12 earned-run average in the MLB post-season, signs a $217-million (all currency US unless otherwise noted), seven-year contract with the Boston Red Sox.


• The St. Louis Rams announce they’re spending $2.66 billion on a new stadium in a Los Angeles suburb so they can move the NFL franchise back to a city where they failed once before.

• Anze Kopitar, a fine two-way player but a man who might not even be the best player on his NHL team, signs an eight-year, $80-million contract with the Los Angeles Kings.

The only way any of these recent deals make sense is if you believe the professional sports party of the past few decades will never come to an end: franchise valuations will continue to soar, player salaries will continue to skyrocket and fans will continue to pay ever-higher prices to make it all work.

Bit of a doom and gloom piece from my hometown. Thoughts?