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In Sports Commentary

By Dave Begel Special to OnMilwaukee.com E-mail author | Author bio More articles by Dave Begel

Published Oct. 21, 2008 at 5:24 a.m.

Tags: dale sveum, brewers, manager, doug melvin, mark attanasio

There is perhaps nothing in life -- other than the love of another or a child -- that demands such a large portion of our heart than sports.

Think about it. All of your heart goes out to the person you love or to your children.

But sports teams also ask for our heart and soul. They demand our passions and support and faith, demands not unlike those of a loved one.

We may say we love a movie or liver and onions or a song. But that love is quick and relatively shallow.

When you say you love the Brewers or Packers or Bucks, you really mean you LOVE them.

I'm reminded of affairs of the heart with the news that Brewers general manager Doug Melvin and principal owner Mark Attanasio have decided not to offer the job of manager to Dale Sveum.

Professional sports is a heartless business. Heartless. It could be run by pirates, it's so heartless.

Dale Sveum did nothing wrong as manager of the Brewers. In fact, he did what he was supposed to do. He righted a reeling ship and got them into the playoffs. So what if it was by the skin of their teeth? He did everything they asked him to do.

And they fired him.

I don't know if that's the right move or the wrong move. We won't know that until some retread takes over and runs the team next year. Then, we'll know.

But one thing I do know is that the game of baseball, especially with Attanasio at the helm, is heartless. Attanasio makes his living in the cutthroat world of money management. He makes decisions quickly, decisively and with absolutely no room for emotion.

He's running his baseball team the same way.

I can't help but feel that under the previous ownership, given the same set of circumstances, Sveum would be back. Good or bad? I don't know.

But certainly different.

Think of all the coaches who have headed the Bucks over the last 20 years. They all tried hard. They all worked their butts off. And they all got shown the door fairly quickly.

Think of Ray Rhodes, the first black coach for the Packers, who got dumped just seconds after an 8-8 season.

Think of Dale Sveum.

This is a very good baseball man. All the players said they liked him, but that was probably more for public / press consumption than reality. He had been a wonderful coach. And he did everything his bosses wanted him to do.

But, he didn't have the experience that Attanasio and Melvin desire. The front office thinks this team is very, very good and needs an experienced manager to guide it to the next level.

They might be right. As a matter of fact, I think they probably are right.

But that doesn't make the business any less heartless. Not a single damn bit.

8 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by WestSideWillie on Oct. 22, 2008 at 3:13 p.m. (report)

Simply, the owner has little patience. Dale would be in charge if the team advanced another round, but did not. With Mark A's West Coast connection, look for Jim Tracy to be manager, not Bob Brenly. Tracy won a division with the Dodgers, plus he was fired from the Pirates, too. Let's give him a third chance rather than keeping Sveum. Only one losing season with LA and that got him fired, On the other hand, I would love Buck Showalter hired as manager and see those battles of the egos within the front office, ownership, and on the field. Would that be fun or what?

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Posted by HometownSC on Oct. 21, 2008 at 7:28 p.m. (report)

I have to agree with sports becoming more based on cold numbers and less on passion and fire, and too many people getting into front offices these days haven't played/coached the game at a high level and thus don't seem to be emotionally invested in the results.

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Posted by In2Infinity on Oct. 21, 2008 at 4:40 p.m. (report)

Really? Really?! Is this the first time we have realized that sports is a business?! Give me an example of a non-heartless business that is extremely successful the way MLB is successful. Professional sports is not about feelings and emotions, it is about making money. Yes, Mark Attanasio is running his team the same way he runs his business - successfully! He is a multi millionaire and has obviously done a few things right. I didn't hear anyone complaining about his "heartless ways" when opened his wallet for CC Sabathia- the KEY player in sending our beloved Brew Crew to the playoffs for the first time in 26 years! "I can't help but feel that under the previous ownership, given the same set of circumstances, Sveum would be back. Good or bad? I don't know." You don't know. You can only speculate. I don't have to speculate when I say that the old ownership couldn't manage to put together a team that could reach .500, much less the playoffs. "They all tried hard. They all worked their butts off. And they all got shown the door fairly quickly." When the accountant at the office tried really hard to make the budget balance, but can't because he/she can't keep the books right - does the accoutant get to keep their job? NO! If you can't do your job, you lose your job. That simple. And if you think managers/coaches in professional sports don't know they are going to be first on the chopping block when things aren't going right, you obviously started paying attention to sports yesterday. "Think of Ray Rhodes, the first black coach for the Packers, who got dumped just seconds after an 8-8 season. " What does this have to do with anything? Who cares what color he was - he was not the right fit for the team. I don't understand your point here. "But that doesn't make the business any less heartless. Not a single damn bit." Maybe you should retire from being a sports fan. I think you're a bit too sensitive for the big boys.

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Posted by GraveDigger on Oct. 21, 2008 at 1:39 p.m. (report)

In what messed up view of the Brewers off season did Dale get "fired". He was named INTERIM manager, which means exactly that. The considered him for the full time position but decided to go in a different direction.

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Posted by buck on Oct. 21, 2008 at 10:45 a.m. (report)

Well, first of all, we can't even try to comprehend what the "old regime" would have done because they were incapable of competing in the modern baseball environment so this situation would have never happened. But I'll take Attanasio's "cold" decision making any day over Wendy and Laurel. This article was no good but at least it's not another wistful Begel article about that jerk Favre. Gee, wonder why he didn't touch that topic today.

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