By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston

BOSTON (CBS) — Folks love sports activities. Individuals love sports activities. To a startling diploma.

It’s that obsession with sports activities that makes the trade so worthwhile and so outstanding in our society. Followers fill stadiums and arenas, homeowners swim in swimming pools stuffed with gold cash, TV networks pay billions of {dollars} to air video games to allow them to promote billions of {dollars} value of ads, companies increase just by advantage of being adjoining to sports activities venues, and the gamers make out fairly effectively, too.

The leagues and the sports activities mainly run themselves. Why, then, is it apparently so rattling troublesome to be a reliable commissioner of a serious sports activities league?

Is being largely horrible, largely uncreative, extremely stiff and painfully tone-deaf a prerequisite for the job? Or is it a symptom? It’s getting laborious to inform.

This can be a urgent matter nationally, after all, as a result of Rob Manfred — apparently unhappy with magnificently bungling the Astros’ dishonest fiasco — has seemed to be hell-bent on ruining the game of baseball. That won’t even be an exaggeration.

Manfred and MLB have finished such a poor job disguising their true intentions throughout this “negotiation” interval to restart baseball that fairly actually everybody paying consideration has referred to as him out. It’s to the purpose the place the person went from 100 p.c, unequivocal confidence that baseball would return to now harboring some severe doubts on baseball being performed in any respect this yr. The one factor that occurred in that five-day interim was the baseball world calling out MLB’s pretend proposal for what it was: a stall tactic.

This all got here after the aforementioned Astros saga, the place Manfred didn’t even attempt to punish a single dishonest participant, as an alternative providing all of them immunity for sincere testimony. So the entire operation acquired pinned on the bench coach (who left the crew) and a veteran participant (who had since retired). The supervisor and GM acquired fired, and though different individuals within the group have been confirmed (because of The Wall Avenue Journal) to have been concerned, no one else was punished. The complete process was seemingly finished to make the story go away as rapidly as potential.

It has since gone away, largely as a result of international pandemic. But each step Manfred has made since then has been embarrassing for anybody who nonetheless clings to the notion that baseball is wholesome for the long run in America.

Manfred, although, is hardly the exception within the case of commissioners failing to fulfill even essentially the most primary line of expectations. No, that appears to be the hallmark of most commissioners over the previous 20 and even 30 years.

To be honest, Adam Silver has a clear report with the NBA. Since taking on for David Stern in 2014, he navigated the Donald Sterling scandal decisively, and he’s confirmed to be the uncommon commissioner who works for the homeowners whereas nonetheless permitting the gamers to carry energy inside the league’s construction.

Ideally, that may be the commissioner’s position — serving the pursuits of each the homeowners and the gamers as a way to really work towards what’s finest for the league’s short-term and long-term well being when it comes to competitors, fan curiosity, and profitability. As an alternative, the modern-day sports activities commissioner has taken on the position of merely being the general public face of the homeowners — prepared to do their bidding and put on the criticism that goes with it, and unwilling to push again in opposition to the bosses who make him very wealthy.

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Gary Bettman, NHL

Bettman owns the uncommon distinction of being in cost for not one work stoppage, not two work stoppages, however three work stoppages. The second price the league a whole season. When the league returned, Bettman misplaced the nationwide TV contract with ESPN, however that’s OK, as a result of he discovered a brand new contract with … the Out of doors Life Community, a cable channel that had beforehand existed solely to indicate biking and turkey searching.

In his near-30-year tenure as commissioner, he’s made no progress in getting the NHL to slip up from fourth place among the many main North American sports activities, and his mission to broaden hockey into Florida, Georgia, and Arizona — on the expense of hockey-loving NHL cities in Canada — has likewise been unsuccessful.

Bettman was, for some cause, inducted into the Hockey Corridor of Fame in 2018.

Rob Manfred, MLB

In his 5 years as commissioner, baseball has moved backward.

World Sequence rankings acquired a pleasant enhance in 2016 because of the Cubs profitable their first title in 1,000,000 years, however the 2019 World Sequence garnered the bottom TV ranking ever.

Manfred has imposed some tempo of play initiatives that had no impact on the sport, and through his tenure, a curious lack of curiosity has unfold among the many possession as groups have seemingly pursued avenues of making an attempt to compete with out spending cash.

His dealing with of the Astros’ dishonest scandal was abominable, and his effort to make up for that with the Purple Sox “investigation” — whereby he blamed solely a rogue video replay room employee — was equally as dangerous. Quickly, we’ll be taught that his dealing with of comparable allegations in opposition to the Yankees was simply as shameful.

Manfred is at present vulnerable to shedding the 2020 season, not due to the issues of the coronavirus however as a result of he can’t persuade his homeowners to spend some cash as a way to get the game in entrance of Individuals’ eyeballs throughout this time when no different sports activities are enjoying. As an alternative of defending the game, he’s defending the billion-dollar financial institution accounts of the homeowners.

How Manfred navigates the 2021 CBA negotiation can have a long-term impact on the well being or demise of the game in America. His work to date evokes little confidence.

Roger Goodell, NFL

We’ve made it this far with out attending to the worst of all of them, Roger Stokoe Goodell.

He confirmed zero human compassion consciousness after Ray Rice knocked his fiancee out chilly in an elevator. He maintained sustaining zero consistency on that home violence coverage he created to save lots of his job (test the distinction between the Josh Brown case and the Ezekial Elliott case after which marvel who’s actually answerable for the league). He quietly sat again and let Colin Kaepernick shuffle out the door in an effort to let controversy fade away, just for it to explode in his face spectacularly the next fall. He’s overseen the worst missed name within the historical past of sports activities and tried to “repair” it with a replay assessment resolution so dangerous that it lasted solely a yr earlier than everybody concerned voted to finish it. With DeflateGate, he turned what would have been essentially the most minor infraction within the historical past of sports activities right into a years-long federal case. He’s lied, and lied, and lied, and lied, hoping individuals wouldn’t discover or woudln’t care. He oversaw the shameful “substitute ref period.” He made the league revenue off merchandise that was purportedly to boost funds for breast most cancers consciousness. He additionally oversaw the league because it collected thousands and thousands of {dollars} from the Division of Protection for shows of paid patriotism in NFL stadiums. He dominated so poorly within the Saints’ bounty case that his predecessor needed to overrule him and vacate all the suspensions he had issued. He in contrast the danger of concussions in soccer to the dangers of sitting on a sofa. He and the league fought to not give cash to former gamers with disabilities, in the end reaching a settlement that hardly coated all prices.

He additionally wouldn’t let his employees eat pizza till he ate pizza, which would be the worst offense of all of them.

By means of all of it, the NFL has generated report earnings and large consideration, standing head and shoulders above the remainder of America’s sports activities leagues because the king of the hill. That’s absolutely occurring regardless of Goodell, not due to him.

Ideally, a superb commissioner would be capable of contemplate all events — homeowners, gamers, followers, media, sponsors, municipalities — and work laborious to determine options that serve all of them one of the best. It’s not possible to make everyone blissful all the time, and infrequently a enterprise determination will merely not jibe with fan or participant happiness. Such is life. That being stated, there’s all the time a steadiness to be struck, however at the moment’s commissioners not often even take the time.

The tip outcomes are sports activities that prey on followers’ obsession and addictions whereas typically treating gamers like disposable chess items. It really works, one supposes, however it’s not a maximization of how nice sports activities may be.

Maybe it’s a naive or idealistic viewpoint to desire a commissioner who tries to do greater than improve earnings for billionaires whereas having only a contact of humility. But it’s laborious to imagine there aren’t just a few extra Adam Silvers on the market who might be doing a lot better jobs with their respective leagues.

You’ll be able to email Michael Hurley or discover him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.