Area 51
02-21-2012, 02:10 AM
Earlier today somebody implied that a GM would have no emotional ties to players. As if fans are the only ones who let personal feelings influence their opinions and evaluations of players. I'd say most GMs get just as attached to certain players and allow it to cloud their judgements.
Teams will almost never keep a UDFA over a top draft pick or high priced FA because GMs and personnel directors never want to acknowledge they've screwed up with a bad pick or a lousy signing. Major emotional ties there, but not because it's a favourite player. Because they want to protect their jobs. As much as they like to spout off about how it's all about winning, most are more concerned with their own agenda than for the team.
Barker pulled Owens off the scrap heap in Montreal and hit on a winning lottery ticket. Major coup for Barker to get one over on Popp and Trestmen. The more hype Owens gets the smarter Barker looks - - "3,000 yards baby, 3,000 yards!" Doesn't matter if he's a liability as a receiver, just keep throwing to him and he'll catch one eventually. Pretty sure Barker doesn't have an autographed picture of Owens on his wall - - the attachment is self serving because when it comes time for performance reviews Barker can point out his great accomplishment of discovering Owens. Problem is, when it's time to sign him, Barker has to either overpay or risk losing the feather in his cap. Then the black hole, and the emotional attachment, gets even deeper. Cut him now and the "discovery" doesn't seem so fantastic, plus Barker looks like a fool for overpaying. Double whammy.
It's never about putting the best players on the field. There's always some type of pressure to do what's not best for the team - - pressure to keep the bust draft picks and lousy contracts around...pressure to hand a starting job to a pet project...pressure to look the other way from the drug use...pressure from an agent who's owed a favour and needs one of his deadbeats to make the team.
Anybody who's been in the corporate world knows what it's like when there's pressure at work and people are afraid for their jobs - - it's nothing but bag licking and backstabbing. Feeling pressure usually leads to stupid decisions. No different in football. GMs get caught up in short term panic and covering mistakes to maintain short term employment. What they should be doing is leaving the emotions out and acknowledging the screw up then getting it fixed.
Teams will almost never keep a UDFA over a top draft pick or high priced FA because GMs and personnel directors never want to acknowledge they've screwed up with a bad pick or a lousy signing. Major emotional ties there, but not because it's a favourite player. Because they want to protect their jobs. As much as they like to spout off about how it's all about winning, most are more concerned with their own agenda than for the team.
Barker pulled Owens off the scrap heap in Montreal and hit on a winning lottery ticket. Major coup for Barker to get one over on Popp and Trestmen. The more hype Owens gets the smarter Barker looks - - "3,000 yards baby, 3,000 yards!" Doesn't matter if he's a liability as a receiver, just keep throwing to him and he'll catch one eventually. Pretty sure Barker doesn't have an autographed picture of Owens on his wall - - the attachment is self serving because when it comes time for performance reviews Barker can point out his great accomplishment of discovering Owens. Problem is, when it's time to sign him, Barker has to either overpay or risk losing the feather in his cap. Then the black hole, and the emotional attachment, gets even deeper. Cut him now and the "discovery" doesn't seem so fantastic, plus Barker looks like a fool for overpaying. Double whammy.
It's never about putting the best players on the field. There's always some type of pressure to do what's not best for the team - - pressure to keep the bust draft picks and lousy contracts around...pressure to hand a starting job to a pet project...pressure to look the other way from the drug use...pressure from an agent who's owed a favour and needs one of his deadbeats to make the team.
Anybody who's been in the corporate world knows what it's like when there's pressure at work and people are afraid for their jobs - - it's nothing but bag licking and backstabbing. Feeling pressure usually leads to stupid decisions. No different in football. GMs get caught up in short term panic and covering mistakes to maintain short term employment. What they should be doing is leaving the emotions out and acknowledging the screw up then getting it fixed.