Naslund retires the right way
Rangers winger Markus Naslund, left, announced his retirement on Monday after one season on Broadway. (Newsday / Paul J. Bereswill)
Markus Naslund did something remarkable yesterday, something you
needed to dig for in our sports section and others.
Past the stuff we take for granted now -- a splashy A-Rod book; the
Yankees holding their fans hostage through a two-hour rain delay to
finish a Monday night game at 1 a.m.; the U.S. Open golf tournament
graciously throwing tickets to the public after not being able to sell
enough of them to big corporations; the Mets sending Oliver Perez and
his $12-million a year, guaranteed, to the bullpen.
Past all that was the story of Naslund, a Ranger for one season,
retiring. Not just retiring at age 35, but walking away from at least
$2-million, possibly $3-million, because he knew he didn't have it in
him to keep playing at a decently high level. Naslund told the Rangers
-- who are owned by Cablevision, which also owns Newsday -- that he
was done, and that's it.
The Rangers have a long history of signing past-their-prime free
agents and paying them as they decline. Cablevision's other sports
team does that too, and keeps on paying, thanks to the wonderful world
of NBA contracts. In the NHL's relatively new cap era, buying out
someone like Naslund, with a year left on a contract (two years, $8-
million) that's not as laughably bad as some others in the league,
would have been an easy move.
But Naslund took the dignified way out after 15 seasons, saving the
Rangers $4-million in cap space for next season. There's no telling
what Glen Sather will do with that money, but Naslund turned it down
because he didn't earn it.
How refreshing. How crazy, even -- and even more crazy that we think
he's nuts to walk away from a chunk of change most of us will never see.
Greed, of course, is the norm now. Not just in sports, but sports is
where it's taken to the most absurd extreme. The Yankees get headlines
for making their most unaffordable tickets slightly less unaffordable,
and now comes word in a report today that the team's fan assistance
brigade told some fans during last night's rain delay that the game
wouldn't be played.
So some fans left, heard the game was on, tried to get back into the
new stadium and were rebuffed. No reentry, as it states on those
tickets.
Even the simple act of retiring is confused by greed. Compare Naslund
to our old pal Brett Favre, who may yet come out of this second,
absolutely-I'm-done-no-way-I'm-playing-again retirement to play for
the Vikings. Favre is a competitor, everyone says, a guy who can't
scratch that itch to play.
Well, no. He's actually a selfish, greedy egomaniac who can't be
trusted to tell you the sky is blue. Maybe we'd be inclined to believe
all the nonsense about Favre's love for the game if he, say, offered
to give a Minnesota charity $10-million so he could join the Vikings.
Crazy, right?
If Favre returns, the back pages will be his.
Markus Naslund walked away yesterday, quiet as can be, leaving
millions behind.
That deserved more attention than it got.
Copyright © 2009, Newsday Inc.
Rangers fan zone
Popular stories
- Woman sentenced for killing friend in DWI crash
- Good Samaritans rescue four from fishing boat
- Rangers add offense with Ales Kotalik
- Officials warn: Be prepared for more swine flu in fall
- For Rent: Bernard Madoff's old offices
Latest scores
High school sports
Isles in 2008-09
Message board
Headlines
Rangers in 2008-09
Blog updates
Message board
Headlines
Mixed Martial Arts
Buy tickets
Give us your best shot
Submit your photos and view pics taken by other fans.
Upload your photos!



Mixx it!
