Every player in Major League Baseball should be sending Curt Flood, Dave McNally and Andy Messersmith a piece of each paycheck. And while I won’t indulge the squabbling of billionaires versus millionaires called “free agency,” I do begin to wonder if I’ll see the demise of Major League Baseball in my lifetime.

Considering MLB just completed its most financially-successful season by generating more than $6-Billion in revenue, I know the talk of demise may sound foolish. However, when will this excess stop … and how long will average Americans continue to support their home-town teams?

By the way, how many players of today even know the names Flood, McNally or Messersmith? I would bet not many … but, I bet they could tell you who’s on a $1,000, $5,000, $10,000, and $100,000 bill.

Hey, I’m a true-blue capitalist, so I really don’t care how much money players make. Good for A-Rod and his $275 million contract and Torii Hunter and his $90 million windfall. And, only God knows what the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets or Dodgers will offer Johan Santana if traded by the Twins. To billionaire owners it’s all Monopoly money, anyway. But just remember, even in the game Monopoly, there’s only one Rich Uncle Pennybags. How many “Pennybags” are in MLB? And, I hope, you do know that baseball is really playing the game with your money. How long will you keep rolling the dice?

Today’s bandwagon baseball fans could care less about the future of the game. But, for baseball’s purists, where will the game be in 10, 20, or 25-years?

God willing and with a little luck, I’ll probably only be around another 20 years anyway. I just hope baseball’s demise will wait.

FYI, in case you don’t know any MLB players, faces on those bills are Grover Cleveland, James Madison, Salmon Chase, and Woodrow Wilson, respectively

I was a big fan of Johnny Unitas and the Baltimore Colts. Many football insiders still consider him the greatest NFL quarterback ever. I actually remember watching him on black and white television in what’s called “the greatest football game ever played” in 1958. The Unitas-led Colts won the NFL Championship by defeating the New York “football” Giants with an exciting 23-17 sudden death overtime win. It’s hard to believe that was nearly 50-years ago.

So when Don Shula took over the coaching reins of the Colts in 1963, I quickly became a fan of Shula, too. While with the Colts, Shula won NFL Coach of the Year three times – in 1964, 1967, and 1968.

In 1970, Shula moved on to the Miami Dolphins, and I enjoyed watching Larry Csonka, Jim Kick, and Nick Buoniconti. When the Dolphins went undefeated in 1972, winning Super Bowl VII and later Super Bowl VIII, I thought Shula and his team were, respectively, the greatest of their time. His induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997 was certainly well deserved.

Shula has always been considered a class act, as his 1993 Sports Illustrated Sportsman-of-the-Year Award would indicate – despite that he and his 1972 team drink champagne after the last-standing undefeated NFL team falls each year. I’ve always felt that tradition to be questionable, but no big deal.

However, Shula’s recent “asterisk” comments about the possibility of the New England Patriots going undefeated this season is off base and causes me pause as to his sportsmanship image.

“The Spygate thing has diminished what they’ve accomplished,” Shula said in an interview with the New York Daily News. “You would hate to have that attached to your accomplishments. They’ve got it.”

Shula has certainly gained enough cachet in the NFL to have his opinion about “Spygate” deemed significant. However, to relate “Spygate” to this season and the Patriots’ run at becoming the second undefeated team in NFL history is irresponsible and appears more self-centered.

First, if the Patriots indeed go undefeated, it doesn’t remove the ’72 Dolphins from the record book. They will simply have to share that great distinction. And, secondly, if the Pats accomplish the feat, shouldn’t Shula and his Dolphins take the high-road as did Henry Aaron and show some class acknowledging the feat with congratulatory remarks?

As we all get long-in-the-tooth, we need to project wisdom more than bitterness.