After some prodding from my good friend Blake, I am making my much anticipated return to the blog.
After pretty much dominating everything the Mississippi State business school could throw my way, I'm now looking for new challenges in the business world. With 6 years of college experience under my belt and my recent induction into the Mississippi State Hall of Fame, I'm pretty pumped about earning a paycheck and sending off my fair share to Uncle Sam. Been looking forward to getting soaked with taxes for years now, the day has finally come and I can’t hardly contain my excitement. Hopefully next year I will get to pay even more. Got my fingers crossed on that one though.
Don’t won’t to get sidetracked on taxation though. So, down to business. It would seem that now that I have a job I would have a perspective on taxation and the use of MY money to fund bailouts and stimulus, or maybe I would give my opinion on immigration or gay marriage or the building of mosque, but I’m gonna stray from the norm for now and save the serious stuff for a later date. Today I want to touch on a hypothetical just for fun. Since we have adopted Friedman Friday, the ideals of good ole Milton have flooded this blog. So in honor of Milt, and due to the time of year, I want to do something a little different. So without further ado, my hypothetical:
What would happen to the NFL if Milton Friedman was the commissioner????
First off, the NFL as is, is very socialistic in nature. Milton would not go for this and would change that immediately. Day one on the job, the draft would be eliminated. No longer will the worst team get the benefit of drafting first. In Friedman’s world, if you fail to perform, you don’t get a bailout. If you fail for long enough, you won’t be able to compete, and sorry Detroit, but you might not be fielding a team the year after losing every game. And if Matthew Stafford wants to stick around Georgia and play for the Falcons after college, more power to him. Milton’s league won’t ship you off to the dreadful Lions just because you proved to be the best college quarterback in 2008. Instead, every NFL eligible football player would have the opportunity to throw his name into the free agency market, not the draft. From there, the NFL ready college studs could bid there services to the highest bidder, or head to the team of his choice for whatever price that team is willing to pay. Eli Manning doesn’t have to force a smile while holding a Chargers jersey after being drafted when everybody knows he doesn’t want to be there. He shouldn’t have to be there. Friedman would make the NFL a free market, kinda like….. every other occupation in America. I wonder how it would work if the worst performing hospitals each year got the first pick in the next years Rookie Doctor Draft. Sorry, Brett Jeter, we know you excelled in Med School during your four years and since you’re the best in this year’s class, the Detroit Inner City Drug Rehab Clinic has selected you first overall because they earned the right to you because they were downright awful last year. Good luck. Day one, Milton gets rid of the draft.
Day two, the league minimum salary is out. Friedman’s not a fan of a minimum wage. Sorry Jim Sorgi.
Day Three, now that the draft has been eliminated and league minimum is gone, Ole Milt needs to address the salary cap. It would take him all of three seconds to scratch that hurdle for teams. If the Cowboys want to spend a cool billion on players, go right ahead. Might not be a good investment, but it’s not the job of Commissioner Friedman to tell teams how to spend their money. However, when Jerry Jones spends a billion on players and his new stadium only has 72 fans in attendance for games because hes got to charge $7,894 per ticket, Milton and the rest of the league won’t be there to bail him out of bankruptcy.
Day four, Milton would lay out the role of the commissioner. It would go something as follows: He will make a schedule and assign home and visitors, however, if the visitors would like to buy the rights to be the home team, that’s fine if the teams can agree to terms. He will also define a playoff structure. He will be the enforcer to ensure that all contracts between teams, players, coaches, managers, and water boys are upheld. Pretty laissez-faire.
Day five through twenty, Friedman will deal with the Players Union. That might take a little while but I feel confident Milton will make them understand his free market ideals. Guys like Vince Young might struggle with economic principles though.
Day 21, Milton will handle the exit of the Chiefs, Dolphins, Raiders, and Lions who can’t compete in the NFL and can’t survive now that the league won’t prop them up and promote their failures by giving them top draft picks after awful seasons.
Day 22, when the Jets realize that they have a legitimate shot at being a contender this year but just need a little more cash to bring in another key player or two, they are more than welcome to go public and have an Initial Public Offering and sell their stock on the NYSE to raise that cash. If they want to issue bonds to raise cash so that they can afford Darrelle Revis, maybe their fans will give them a favorable interest rate.
Hmmmm, Ole Milt would shake it up a little bit. Would be interesting to see how the league would shape up if it was treated as a free market system and Friedman was in charge.
I wonder what would happen if Obama was the NFL commissioner?
Happy Football Season to all.
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