My second rendition of Top 10 deals with the ten toughest jobs today in sports. This includes being a specific position player or coach/manager/general manager in the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL.
Enjoy and provide your comments or critiques! And check out sportsencyclopedia.com. It's where I get some information when I'm not sure of something sports related!
No. 10: General Manager of a small-market baseball team.
In today's MLB financial structure, you have two types of teams. One type is a big market team like New York, Los Angeles, and Boston. The other is a small market club like Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, Miami, and Kansas City.
In today's MLB, it is much easier for teams like the Yankees and Dodgers to hold onto their young talent and also to pursue big name free agents. For teams in Florida and Pittsburgh, it's a totally different approach.
You need to have the right scouting, the right manager, and the right players. When those players get too expensive, you have to find the right players to get in exchange for the player that is too expensive. That is the job of a general manager of a small market team. Nobody does it better than Billy Beane and his "Money Ball" approach.
But for many franchises they don't have the right guy, it leads to them losing their jobs and that particular franchise floundering in last place for many many years—see the Kansas City Royals.
No. 9: Kobe Bryant's Teammate
He is probably the best player in the NBA today. He has won three titles, but all of them came with a guy named Shaq. He is constantly being criticized of being a bad teammate, selfish, and a cry baby.
He bashed the owners last year and demanded a trade. He was criticized by Phil Jackson in his biography and Shaq—well you know they love each other. If you win a title or if you lose 20 straight, Kobe will be tough to deal with because that's just the way he is.
He wants to win and he wants to be the main act people come to see. That's tough in today's ego driven NBA, to have a two man act, especially in LA.
No. 8: Oakland Raiders Head Coach
Al Davis has moved the Raiders from Oakland to Los Angeles and back. Oakland has had nine coaches since its last championship in 1983, with many of those stints being two years or less.
Al Davis has a very little patience, he was born to win and if he doesn't, it's your job that's at stake. Heck it's even pressure filled to be a Raiders fan, with the constant threat of possibly moving back to, yeah, you guessed it, Los Angeles.
No. 7: The Montreal Canadiens' Goaltender
Montreal's 24 Stanley Cup Championships is only second to the Yankees. In Canada, people breathe hockey as it were oxygen. In Montreal, many greats have skated through the Montreal Forum and today's Bell Centre.
The one position that is most known for many Quebec boys is goalie. Montreal has had Patrick Roy, George Hainsworth, Bill Durnan, Jacques Plante, and Ken Dryden just to name a few. If you are a Montreal goalie and can't stop the rubber, be prepared to be booed and jeered in two languages. Just ask Jocelyn Thibault, who tried to fill Patrick Roy's skates in 1995.
No. 6: Quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys
We're going to send you the most entertaining Philadelphia 76ers articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
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