the rest, only noise

Chapter 95
Cleveland is definitely a sports city with professional teams in all three major leagues.

But since the 60s, Cleveland has entered a recession, followed by an ice age without a championship in their professional sports.

In the 80s, in addition to being unable to win the championship, serious blows followed.

The Cavaliers changed owners and ushered in the era of Ted Steppi, who had destroyed the Cavaliers in just two years.

The NFL's Browns went 11-5 last year and finished first in the Eastern Conference.The five teams that entered the playoffs in the American League this year all had the same record of 11 wins and 5 losses, which indirectly showed how fierce the competition in the American League was.

The Browns' Rise Originated From Their Core Four, Brian Sipe

Spee is the first and only quarterback in Browns history to pass the 4000-year passing yardage mark in a single season.Selected for the first team of the year, UPI Associated Press best offensive player, Kansas 101 committee AP best offensive player, selected for the Pro Bowl that year.Most importantly, he's the only Brown player to win MVP of the year since 1965 Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown.

It was Spey who succeeded and Spey who lost, and it was he who delivered a pass that made Brown fans heart-wrenching.

They played the defending champion Oakland Raiders on January 1 earlier this year.That day, Cleveland Stadium was so cold that even the grass froze, and they had to play at minus 14°C.

The two sides fought hard until 6 minutes left in the fourth quarter, when Oakland made another touchdown, the score came to 14 to 12.

The Browns went all out to get the ball 44 yards from the opponent's field with 14 seconds left.This time, they are faced with a choice, the difference is 2 points, whether to choose touchdowns (5) or shots (3).It was very windy that day, and the Browns' shooting success rate was less than 88%, so the Browns' coaching staff decided to pass the ball for touchdowns and drew a tactic "Red Slot Right, Halfback Stay, [-]".

Spey, the MVP of the year, made the fatal mistake of not paying attention to the position of the opponent's safety.It was an incomprehensible mistake, a mistake that shouldn't have happened at his level.It was this mistake that cost the Browns the ball, and the opponent completed the steal, ending the Browns' season.

The moment of that mistake is called "Red right 88".

Become a symbol of shame similar to the future "The shot".

The owners of the Cavaliers, the Browns' "Red right 88," had their reasons for optimism, but they never imagined this was just the beginning of a nightmare.

The "Red right 88" tragedy made Louie pay attention to the Browns, but he only had a taste of it.

In the NBA field that he is more concerned about, the damage and influence brought by Steppi are by no means limited to the Cavaliers.He ruined the Cavaliers, but at the same time, he set a bad precedent in the league.

Before Steppi, the NBA had premium contracts, but no junk contracts.The contracts given by the management are all based on professional judgment on the career prospects of the players. The contracts given may be at a premium, but they will not become garbage, and they will not give an ordinary player a top salary that does not belong to him.

Before the NBA, there was a league called the ABA that offered all kinds of junk contracts to grab players.

As we all know, this alliance became history in 1976.

Therefore, in the broad sense of junk contracts, Cavaliers owner Steppi is the "patient zero" in this field.

It's hard not to think of the bankrupt ABA, and some owners worry that the NBA will follow in the ABA's footsteps.

So at the NBA's annual meeting in July, many said Steppi's unreasonable contract was a market-shattering move that other clubs would not follow.

Steppi was very unconvinced. He compared himself to Auerbach, and said that if Auerbach did this, other teams would dare to accuse him, right?

Those who made comments at the NBA annual meeting are obviously a little too optimistic about the self-control and judgment of their peers.

"Other clubs won't follow suit" is definitely too early to say.

As recently as July, the Seattle SuperSonics were salivating over the Nuggets' Mr. English, Alex English, with a $310 million contract.The Nuggets reluctantly matched.Then the Sonics offered another contract to mediocre veteran Steve Hawes.The Nuggets are still a match.This is another rubbish contract.

Lakers owner Jerry Buss quickly couldn't hold himself back, and a crazy 7-year, $560 million offer stole Mitch Kupchak from Washington before offering a 25-year, $2500 that rocked the sports world The $[-] contract keeps Magic in Los Angeles forever.

The media shouted: Bass took care of the magician!
Beginning with Steppi, symptoms spread across the league, and the NBA's era of junk contracts began.

Buss stunned other teams by poaching Kupchak from Washington.

This is pure "money capability". It's not that Washington doesn't want to keep Kupchak, they just can't match and are forced to reluctantly part with them.

The vicious influence of Steppi has increased the cost of free agency for teams.

And Bass brought about a different kind of devastation.

Buss has never been shy about spending money since taking over the Lakers, in fact, he's more aggressive than any owner in the league.He often gives his players pay raises during their contracts -- though he doesn't have to.

到1981年，巴斯几乎增加了所有湖人球员的薪水。他把贾巴尔的年薪从65万美元提高到了100多万美元;贾马尔·威尔克斯从35万美元增至60万美元;诺姆·尼克松的收入从6.5万美元增加到40万美元;迈克尔·库珀从3.5万美元到25万美元.这激怒了其他的老板，巴斯随意动用钞能力的做法，会让联盟的工资水平推高到其他小球队无法承受的程度。

Bass's attitude towards this is domineering and arrogant. He thinks he can spend his money how he wants, and no one else can control it. If there are other bosses who can spend hundreds of millions of dollars to play this game, he will accompany him to play this game. It's the rules of the game, the league doesn't prohibit them from spending money.

Buss and Steppi's inadvertent pairing of swords has boosted the value of free agency.

As a result, most bosses demand that a salary cap be set in the new collective agreement, otherwise many people will not be able to persist and go bankrupt.How do players think about it from this perspective?I want to get the money back in my pocket, but there is no door.Not only did they say no, but they also demanded a share of revenue from tickets, advertising and TV contracts.

This time, they stepped on the tails of the bosses, and the two sides put on an endless posture at the negotiating table. As the date of the end of the old labor-management agreement approached (summer 1983), a new negotiation was about to start. Judging from the existing situation , both sides refused to back down.

Louis was in the era and learned a lot of things he couldn't before.

The Magician and Bird Save the Alliance is a beautiful fairy tale.

They did bring more attention to the league, but two years into the NBA, the league's decline hasn't slowed.

Although the violence on the court is not as frequent as in the late 70s, it is a more serious problem - the proliferation of unique products and increasingly large contracts are ruining some small teams, and big bosses can throw away sky-high contracts at will to rob people to improve themselves Strength.

If the status quo remains unchanged, the poor and weak team can only continue to be weak until the operating costs are too large to bear and declare bankruptcy.

If there are only a few rich owners left to support it, the NBA will be over.

Louie hasn't waited for Magician and Bird to cast their magic to save the struggling big league, and while he doesn't know what's going on, the league must have found a way out.

He was in Cleveland from early July to the end of August, and didn't pack his bags until Fitch called him back.

Before Louis left home, Li Xuanbing gave him an ancestral amulet.

It is said that Louie's father was involved in a car accident because he did not carry this amulet when he went out.

Louis didn't believe in God originally, but after he crossed over, he believed it a little bit, so he took his mother's amulet and put it on him to reassure her before leaving.

(End of this chapter)