Drew Carey: A sports revolutionary

Comedian Drew Carey is revolutionizing sports management as we know it. Carey, who is a huge soccer fan and now a minority owner of the MLS expansion team, Seattle Sounders, announced that every four years, season ticket holders can vote on whether to keep or fire the team's general manager.

Undoubtedly, all the elitists and professionals 'in the know,' will tout how terrible an idea this is. Some of their arguments will be correct and other arguments will be blather based on the Mel Brooks's philosophy of protecting their phony bologna jobs.

The dirty little secret of experts and executives is that they believe so many fans lean toward imbecilic on their knowledge concerning the intricate nuances of sports. Of course that's not a commentary on sports insiders. Human nature seems to relegate experts to a sense of elitism over the layman.

But if fans are avid and see the effects of management, then are they not qualified to make reasonable judgements on the quality of the the players, managers and executives. Fans do not have to be in the weight rooms, the clubhouses, the suites or even sitting courtside to understand the trends and many intricacies and how they affect their teams. Just as it bugs me to no end to see a professional sports player denigrate a reporter for not knowing what it's like to actually be playing (as if it's so complicated), so am I equally irritated to see sports executives pretend they are so much higher than the sports fans they allegedly cater to.

A 2004 book, 'The Wisdom of crowds' by James Surowiecki is built on the premise that crowds have received the unfair connotation of rowdiness and sub-par intelligence. He gives many antedotes to the contrary; such as the idea that the average of fair goers guesses for an ox's weight at a county fair was equal to the ox's exact weight.

It's true their are many unseen variables that go into managing a team that are not understood by fans and a GM could be unduly fired by fans. Consequently a GM's long term aspirations on his team's behalf could be sacrificed in order for that GM to increase his fan satisfaction that correlates with his job security. The DNA in building dynasties and perennial winners could be altered. Cost cutting sacrifices that could build a team's assets and long-term prowess would be less of an option and could even ironically result in higher ticket prices.

Still, as we enter the 'multimedia age', fans are becoming quite knowledgeable. Many fans have sports high IQ's and sensibilities that are higher than the leaders of their teams. Also the average sports fan can benefit and become more invested in his team's future by included in such a weighty decision.

We also must remember this is a season ticket holder vote and not just some online sports poll. Presumably, season ticket holders are very informed on their team's dealings. These are the fans at the heart and soul of any team's success.

Shotsheard cannot directly support or deny Drew Carey's groundbreaking policy of letting the fans control the fate of their team's GM. Their are pros and cons to both and nobody should say otherwise.

However, Carey has stumbled onto a new age business concept that is working in nearly every other industry, including even the 2008 presidential race. It's the concept that the consumers should have direct influence on the end-product. Video game makers have been doing it for years to gamers' intense satisfaction. With billions of dollars rolling in and the sports industry booming, big wigs should not be fooled into thinking that catering to the consumers is not an integral part of success.

In the meantime New England Revolution (soccer team) should abdicate their name to Seattle so that they can be called the Seattle Revolution, in honor of their part-owner, Drew Carey.