Nado Natterings
A weekly column by David Axelson

15 July 2009 Issue #27

Much like a bad habit, Your Natterer has returned to grace these pages with a column again this week. After cranking out between 2,000 and 3,500 words for roughly 50 consecutive weeks, taking a break seemed like a really good idea. In all likelihood, you agreed with that assessment. Many of those more than 100,000 words deserved a better fate before they were used and cast aside.
The Rush Toward Instant Analysis in Sports
Roughly 25 years ago, I developed the theory that the Public Broadcasting System’s ‘Sesame Street,’ television show, though an excellent teaching tool for our then three-year old Natter Daughter, was seriously shortening the attention span of an entire generation of America’s youth. Just about the time a really good Bert and Ernie skit was delivering a laugh, we were off to the letter ‘A’ or the number ‘12’ or Big Bird was tromping across the screen.
As a political science and history major in college, I developed a sense of historical perspective. I can’t tell you the exact date that the Battle of Antietam was fought, but I can get it within a year or two and know its significance.
‘History’ is defined by the current teenage population as a tweet received during lunch yesterday. ‘Ancient history’ is last week’s airing of ‘Gossip Girl’.
During my brief sojourn to the Natter couch last week, I watched several hours of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, at the conclusion of which Swiss great Roger Federer won his 15th Grand Slam singles title. This effort made him the all-time leader in that category in the annals of his sport. Shortly after the conclusion of the match, NBC tennis analyst and a former great tennis player in his own right, John McEnroe asked a distinguished lineup of Bjorn Borg, Rod Laver and Pete Sampras, the leading question, “Doesn’t this victory make Roger the best player of all time?”
Conventional wisdom and my personal feeling is that Laver is the best player of all time and Borg and Sampras both appeared to be decidedly uncomfortable during the interview, especially while standing immediately adjacent to the great and classy Laver.
McEnroe is the same analyst who after the 2008 Wimbledon men’s’ singles final,  immediately announced that the five-set match won by Rafael Nadal over Federer “was the best tennis match of all time.” It may or may not have been, but the rush to judgment isn’t warranted or necessary. History isn’t going anywhere. That’s why it’s history.
Writing in the July 6, 2009 edition of the “Wall Street Journal,” sports columnist Jason Gay said the following of McEnroe’s embarrassing interviewing technique. “A news-making question, to be sure, but why must we always rush to contextualize every sports moment within five seconds of it happening.” Amen.
The same theory has applied for several years to basketball, where the media has deemed Michael Jordan to be the best player ever. As Celtic great Bill Russell once told me about a theoretical discussion of the greatest centers of all time, “I don’t know if I was the best, but I’m in the discussion.”
Jordan is clearly in the discussion, but for my money the most dominant player I ever saw was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.  A six-time NBA MVP, winner of six NBA titles, and a 19-time All-Star, Abdul-Jabbar was without weakness on the court. His lone career mistake was playing until the age of 42, which he did because his personal fortune was stolen and squandered by an unscrupulous sports agent. Most sports fans remember the older Abdul-Jabbar who played too long, but as an in-person witness to his basketball greatness on numerous occasions, the 7-4 post player could not be stopped when it counted.
Trying to compare the careers of athletes from different generations is one of the many great elements of being a sports fan. The point is that there is no definitive answer to these questions, and the fun is found in the discussion. Jordan and Abdul-Jabbar were great, but so too were Elgin Baylor, Julius Erving, Oscar Robertson, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and the list goes on. I had the privilege of seeing all of the players in that last sentence play in person and could make a case for them and many more as the ‘Greatest.’ There is no need to rush to judgment. We’ll all be here awhile.
…And Then There’s the Padres
During the spring, this column got caught up in the developments surrounding Coronado High School spring sports teams, of which there are 11, and frankly of more interest to me than the San Diego Padres. At one point in mid-May I was prepared to dash off some pithy remarks about the Friars, but they went off on a 10-game winning streak, only to fall to earth with a resounding thud shortly thereafter.
Crossing back and forth from apathy and fatigue (sick and tired) regarding the team, I was jolted back to reality by the Q &A column in the “San Diego Union-Tribune’s” Saturday, July 11, 2009 edition , which featured Padres President and COO Tom Garfinkel. The headline of the piece was ‘We Need to Give Fans More Value.’
Ya think?
In a previous professional life, yours truly held VP marketing and sales positions with two NBA franchises, so allow me to point out a couple of interesting portions of the column, in addition to  the ‘more value’ gaffe noted above. Here’s the first quote of note from Garfinkel. “We’re putting together a plan for 2010 that includes a number of different elements. Some of them will be forums and opportunities to listen to the fans.”
Allow me to translate this bit of ‘marketing-ese.’ First, this is hardly a new concept. Second, if they held the forums now, the fans would verbally assault them. My bet is there is a steady stream of feedback coming into the Padres offices on a daily basis and most of it is not positive.
Here’s the next point. Garfinkel admitted that the Padres season ticket renewal rate from 2008 to 2009 was 55 percent. Despite the fact that the economy is in horrific shape, having barely more than half of your season tickets renewed is a direct repudiation of your product by the marketplace. This is cause for panic, with a capital ‘P.’ If you want to know why former Padre CEO Sandy Alderson wasn’t retained by the new Padre ownership group, look no further.
If your season ticket renewal rate is below 90 percent, sports franchises go into corporate shock and all of the stops are pulled out immediately to control the hemorrhaging of lost revenue. This now becomes ‘team president becomes season ticket salesman for eight hours a day’ time. The alarmingly low ticket renewal figure is in itself stunning and so is the fact that Garfinkel would admit to the number publically.
The column closed with the revelation that the Padres will begin serving breakfast on Sunday mornings when the Padres are in town. Again quoting Garfinkel, “I want the concourse to smell like bacon and coffee. And cinnamon rolls out in the Park at the Park… This is something we want to build on over time, not a one-time event. It’s a breakfast town. We want to own breakfast.”
Translation. Our team is experiencing so many problems on the field that we have to change the discussion to breakfast buffets, which are now more important than base hits. Here’s a suggested solution; spend some money on player development and acquisition. Build a team and not an overflowing breakfast plate and the fans will come.
In the Padres defense, 10 players on their 40-man roster are on the injured list, including their No. 1 and 2 starting pitchers Jake Peavy and Chris Young. On the other side of the coin, going into the All-Star break, the Padres rank last in the Major Leagues (30 teams) in batting average, RBIs, runs scored and hits. They rank 29th in total bases and on base percentage. In case you think the pitching is any better, they are 26th in team earned run average and 28th in total wins. Folks, this is a sports franchise in distress. I’m trying to maintain my focus, but that bacon really smells delicious and please pass the syrup.
July 4th 15K Run and 5K Run/Walk a Rousing Success
For several of the past weeks, we have hyped the Coronado Independence Day 15K Run and 5K Run/Walk, which is the largest annual fundraiser for the Islander Sports Foundation and our member teams. This year we had 2,640 runners in the event, which sets a modern-era record for the race.
I would like to thank the Unified Port of San Diego, Sports Authority and EDCO Disposal for helping to sponsor the event. Thanks should also go to the more than 200 volunteers who worked various stages of the event. Many teams provide labor for the run, but the Girls Water Polo Team, which arrives en masse literally an hour before the sun rises to do the set-up of tables, chairs, and countless other duties, gets a huge round of applause. When they arrive, the event organizers know we’re off to a good start.
Thanks should also be extended to the runners and walkers who make the run possible. In the last eight years, the numbers of participants has steadily climbed higher and higher.
Athletic Physicals for the 2009-10 School Year Announced
Another important program that the Islander Sports Foundation provides is Doc Eaton’s Sports Physicals for Sports Event, where for the past several years more than 20 Coronado physicians combine to help support the CHS athletic department. The physicians provide athletic physicals for all interested Coronado High School and Coronado Middle School student-athletes. A fee for the physicals is collected and 100 per cent of that total dollar amount goes to help fund the athletic training room at CHS.
Please note that at both the high school and the middle school, a current athletic physical is required to be completed and submitted before the student-athlete can begin to practice or tryout for a team.
This year the physicals will be held at the CHS 500 Building on Wednesday, August 5th. Students should line-up on 7th Street behind Niedermeyer Field. There will be a 5:30 pm start for last names which begin with the letters A-L. Last names which begin with the letters M-Z will begin at 6 pm. Last call for students wishing to have physicals is 6:30 pm and the session will conclude at promptly 7 pm.
The cost is $15 per student, or $25 for two students from the same immediate family. The fee drops to $10 per student for three or more students from the same immediate family.
You may bring cash or checks made payable to the Islander Sports Foundation. The required two-page physical form may be downloaded from www.IslanderSportsFoundation.com. Please answer all of the questions on page one before attending and bring both pages of the form to the physical examination. If you have questions, please direct them to info@IslanderSportsFoundation.com.