Thursday, January 25, 2007

Pro Sports, Hollywood: Not So Different

From "Young, several others, still seek an opportunity" by Jerry Crasnick at ESPN.com:

Meanwhile, lots of established players inhabit a more stressful universe. For Steve Finley, Steve Trachsel, Mark Redman, David Bell, Ronnie Belliard, Bernie Williams, Preston Wilson and others, life is all about calling their agent, reassuring the wife and kids that everything will be fine, and coping with the realization that their skills are no longer in demand.

It's not only players who feel the strain. Now that budgets are almost tapped out, 40-man rosters are nearly set and teams have turned their focus to salary arbitration cases, free agent shopping is less of a priority. Agents, in the quest to find jobs for their clients, walk a fine line between persistence and pestering front offices.

"Nothing is as hard as having a client that you believe has the ability to contribute, and not being able to find the right spot for him," said San Diego-based agent Barry Axelrod. "You find yourself in the position of calling and calling and calling again. It's very difficult and draining. It's hard on the client and hard on the client's family."

Substitute "actors" for "players" and "shows" for "teams" and you might as well be reading Daily Variety.

5 comments:

Steve Sax said...

Glory days. Yeah, they'll pass you by, glory days. In the blink of a young girl's eye, glory days. Glory days, yeah.

Orel said...

I had a friend was a big baseball player
Back in high school
He could throw that speedball by you
Make you look like a fool boy

Steve Sax said...

That's odd. I think I just saw him, the other night at a roadside bar (he was walking in, I was walking out). We went back inside, sat down, and had a few drinks.

But man, all he could keep talking about?

Orel said...

Then I got Mary pregnant
and man that was all she wrote
And for my nineteenth birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat
We went down to the courthouse
and the judge put it all to rest
No wedding day smiles, no walk down the aisle
No flowers, no wedding dress

That night we went down to the river
And into the river we'd dive
Oh down to the river we did ride

Steve Sax said...

Clearly, your friend from high school wasn't Mark Hendrickson.