Class- You either have it or you don't.

Recently I wrote about the quiet departure of Bill Mueller from the Red Sox, and now we have seen the other end of the spectrum with Johnny Damon’s, as some people call it, traitor like defection to the rival Yankees.

Johnny Damon used Boston and did a good job of marketing himself. He drew attention to himself with his long hair and beard. Now he has to shave it off in order to join that money laden team from the Bronx. That is a small pittance to pay in order to earn a nifty $52 million dollar contract; some people would cut off a leg to earn that amount of money. I say good luck and good riddance to him. I wonder how many times he and his wife is going to appear on Letterman and shows of that ilk.

This is another case where the person that makes the moist noise gets the most attention. OK, you decided to sign with the Yankees, that’s fine, but do us a favor, just go and stop your yapping about nonsensical stuff. The public unfortunately eats this stuff up.

Bill Mueller had what many lack and that’s CLASS. Yet people with class seem to be underappreciated. Ray Bourque had it and was criticized because he wasn’t outspoken Ray left Boston and guess what, he won a Stanley Cup.

Look at the NBA (the National Boob Association) and see who gets most of the press. You’ll find people like Shaq, Koby, and Iverson getting a lot of attention, but someone like Tim Duncan, although respected as a player, gets very little notoriety in comparison.

Jim Brown, one of the greatest running backs in the NFL had class. Barry Sanders and Walter Payton had it also. They just went about doing their business without any fancy celebratory dances. They didn’t need to have the spotlight drawn to them; they already had it. Some have forgotten about Jerry Rice, one of the greatest receivers, because he wasn’t flashy.

Some others that come to mind that are in this category are Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, John Havlicek, and Johnny Bucyk. There are many that are being left out for the sake of brevity.

Johnny needs to look at his new teammates and see how Jeter and Matzui carry themselves.

There’s an English proverb that says, “Every ass loves to hear himself bray.”
Johnny, I hope you don’t make an ass of yourself in the big Apple.