Manny Stays and T.O. Goes

You gotta love sports. One saga ends and another one begins. Yesterday, Manny Ramirez returned to the Dodgers in a two-year, $45 million deal, officially putting to rest four months of “will he/won’t he re-sign with L.A.” drama (by the way, according to ESPN’s Salary Crunch I’d need to work over 300 years to make what Manny earns in a year. Seriously, you have to try Salary Crunch, it’s the most depressing yet awe-inspiring thing on the planet). Less than 24-hours later, the Dallas Cowboys released wide receiver Terrell Owens, and like the passing of a baton or Madonna with Latin boy toys, the news immediately switched from non-stop Man-Ram coverage to T.O. mania.    

The two stories bring up an interesting question: How do a pair of guys with similar raps (extraordinary athlete/serial problem child), end up in completely different places? How, on the same day the Dodgers welcome Manny back like the prodigal son (after months and months of salary negotiations and wrangling) do the Cowboys kick T.O. out like the uncle who drank too much at the family Christmas party (after a relatively quiet off season)? Is the sports world biased for Dominicans? No (just ask A-Rod), the reason L.A. mayor Antonio Villaraigosa FedExed Ramirez a key to the city, and people in Dallas currently use T.O.’s jersey for target practice, lies in two key factors: results and personality.

Last year, when Manny Ramirez came to the Dodgers from Boston he single-handedly transformed L.A. from a boring-to-watch, going-nowhere squad into must-see playoff contenders. Sure, Los Angeles has a rep for being a “lousy sports town,” but true Dodgers fans (and there are a lot of them) follow that team passionately. They recognized that, in less than a month, Man-Ram brought their franchise back to life.

As for T.O., in his three seasons in Big D the Boys notched zero playoffs wins and were considered by many to be the biggests busts of the 2008 season. Does the Cowboys' lack of success fail completely on Owens? Absolutely not, but when you make yourself the center of attention (the cheesy “get your popcorn ready” signing day press conference, the elaborate end zone celebrations, the calling out of teammates and coaches) you run the risk of also making yourself the target of blame.

Which brings us to personality, and I know what you’re thinking–aren’t both these guys on-again-off-again malcontents? Yes, but don’t confuse attitude with personality. Manny jogs out grounders and takes one too many games off, but he also keeps teammates laughing and instills a (usually) healthy carefree air to the clubhouse. So with Manny you get a questionable attitude toward the game but an infectious personality.

 
T.O., on the other hand, fails on both fronts. You’d forgive him for taking a play or two off if he wasn’t the same guy who yells at teammates on the sidelines. Basically, Manny’s the sometimes troublemaker you know you shouldn’t hang out with but he’s just too much fun, while Owens is the misbehaving brat who takes his toys home when things aren’t going his way.

Results and personality – that’s why “Manny Being Manny” works, and T.O.’s “I love me some me” don’t work.