Mike Nadel: Why the Buehrle love -- and lack of same for Briggs?
White Sox fans wanted Mark Buehrle. Needed Mark Buehrle. Couldn't imagine life without Mark Buehrle.
If the Sox didn't keep their ace lefty for the bargain price of $56 million over four years, furious fans were ready to voice their opinions with closed wallets and empty ballpark seats.
The whole situation kind of reminds you of the way Bears fans feel about linebacker Lance Briggs, no?
Uh ... no.
The general vibe out of Bear Country feels more like this: "Let Lance rot! If he won't take the $7.2 million the Bears have for him, we can put a rookie at his position and still win the Super Bowl. I mean, it's 7-point-2 million bucks! My entire extended family won't make that much in our lifetimes."
Of course, the freshly re-signed Buehrle will make that much next season - by the All-Star break. Yet Sox fans laud him as a wonderful human being for willingly accepting such a pittance.
Why do they feel so attached to a guy who has had only one season with as many as 17 victories, whose 3.77 career ERA is good but hardly eye-popping and whose second-half meltdown last year played a major role in the team's collapse?
And why are Bears fans - many of whom also root for Buehrle's Sox - so down on Briggs, who went to his second straight Pro Bowl last season and who either has led the team in tackles or been a close second to Brian Urlacher in each of the last three years?
Why doesn't it matter that Briggs has played for chump change the last four years ($721,000 last season) while Buehrle already has made $28 million? Or that every time Briggs takes the field - even the practice field - he could be involved in a violent, career-ending play while Buehrle operates from the relative safety of a pitching mound?
Here are some theories about the different reactions:
1. Baseball vs. Football.
Baseball fans can see the players' faces up close and personal at the ballpark. Helmeted and heavily padded, football players are faceless, unapproachable gladiators. Free agency has been part of baseball for decades but is a relatively new concept in football. Baseball is more of an individual pursuit. Football is the ultimate team game, demanding that individuals sacrifice for the common good.
2. Such a Deal!
Everybody loves a bargain, and Buehrle signed for below market value. Briggs wants full retail value. While all of us want to be paid what we're worth, many fans don't see things that way when it comes to athletes' compensation.
3. Race.
I'm not saying folks like Buehrle because he's white and dislike Briggs because he's black. I'm just throwing this out there as one of many possible factors because race remains a huge issue in society.
4. Pitchers vs. Linebackers.
Every baseball fan knows pitching wins pennants. Good left-handed pitching is especially valuable. Many football fans believe that, aside from quarterbacks, players are replaceable. (And many Bears fans believe even the QB is replaceable. But hey, Rex Grossman is another column for another day.)
5. Championship Glow.
Nearly two years later, many Sox fans still bask in the afterglow of '05. While Briggs helped the Bears reach the Super Bowl last season, his team lost the game as the Colts ran roughshod on his defense.
6. Longevity/Status.
Buehrle clearly has been the city's best pitcher since 2001. Briggs, a starter since 2004, obviously plays second fiddle to Urlacher.
7. The Sincerity Test.
Yes, Buehrle publicly wore a Cardinals cap and talked about wanting to play in his native St. Louis. From the start of negotiations, however, he said he wanted to stay in Chicago and promised he'd give the White Sox a "hometown discount."
Even after demanding a no-trade clause, he compromised to get the deal done.
Although Briggs said he wanted to stay with the Bears (and still could re-sign with them if the sides stop sniping), he began talking about leaving after turning down the team's seven-year, $33 million offer last year. When the Bears designated him a "franchise player" - guaranteeing him $7.2 million this season, in line with the NFL's top outside linebackers - he threatened a long holdout.
I usually side with players as accomplished as Buehrle and Briggs in contract disputes, figuring if they don't get the money it just stays in their super-rich owners' pockets. In football, contracts aren't guaranteed, meaning Briggs probably wouldn't have lasted seven years to receive the entire $33 million. That offer seemed about $10 million light, anyway, so I don't blame Briggs for turning it down.
Where Briggs lost me was his rejection of a reasonable compromise. The Bears could have controlled him through the 2008 season but instead promised to let him go after '07 if he agreed to this year's franchise-tag designation (as is permitted under the collective bargaining agreement negotiated by his own union). Not only did Briggs refuse, but he amped up his holdout threats. He also said he wanted to be "the man" for a team - which won't happen on Urlacher's Bears.
Briggs could have received a market-value salary for a fifth-year All-Pro linebacker, played well, helped the Bears return to the Super Bowl and then gotten big bucks from the Bears or sold himself to the highest bidder. Instead, he seems intent on torpedoing his team and chasing every last dollar - even if it means eventually signing with a losing organization.
The guess here is that the grades Briggs and Buehrle have received on The Sincerity Test most influence the fans' perceptions of their situations.
One guy said he wanted to stay with his team and then proved it. The other said he wanted to stay with his team but so far has proved otherwise.
Mike Nadel (mikenadel@sbcglobal.net) is the Chicago sports columnist for GateHouse News Service. Read his blog, The Baldest Truth, at www.thebaldesttruth.com <http://www.thebaldesttruth.com> .