Alan Greenwood

Maybe the pandemic makes the jack-asses among us bray even louder, but we are enduring several of them this week

From highest volume to lowest, we offer these candidates:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sounded like a soulless huckster at a Wednesday press conference in response to a question on his state’s availability to host one, two, three or even more big-league seasons.

“There’s been reports that Major League Soccer may want to have their season in Orlando. Do it. We want to have you here,” DeSantis said, as reported by the Associated Press. “We want to have the basketball practicing again. We would love to have the Major League Baseball. And I think the message is that our people are starved to have some of this back in their lives. It’s an important part of people’s lives. So we want to be able to do that. I think we can certainly do it in a way that’s been safe.”

Speaking as a lifelong sports fanatic, is this really the most important thing a governor should spend energy touting these days?

If the Major League Baseball Players Association prevails – as it always does – in its arguments with MLB owners, Florida can cross one potential client off its telemarketing list. Union president Tony Clark dismissed the owners’ proposal to begin an abbreviated schedule on or around July 4, which included pay cuts for his membership reflecting the estimated 40 percent revenue loss if games are played in empty ballparks.

“Players recently reached an agreement with Major League Baseball that outlines economic terms for resumption of play, which included significant salary adjustments and a number of other compromises. That negotiation is over,” Clark said, referring to a March 26 agreement that assumes a full schedule and fans in the seats.

And backing up Clark is player agent Scott Boras, who has held greater sway in MLB than any commissioner of recent vintage.

“The players I represent are unified in that they reached an agreement and they sacrificed anywhere from 30 to 40% of their salaries so that the games could amicably continue,” Boras said. “The owners represented during that negotiation that they could operate without fans in the ballpark. Based on that, we reached an agreement and there will not be a renegotiation of that agreement.”

The Miami Marlins announced Wednesday that they may start furloughing ts off-field workers – the ones earning less in one year than many players earn in one game – on June 1. There will be a flock of teams doing that, likely sooner than later.

Let us hope games – in any sport – resume soon so these fools can be easily ignored.

Contact Alan Greenwood at 594-1248 or agreenwood@nashuatelegraph.com.