| | Blockbuster trades are nothing new in the world of sports.
In the 50's, NFL linebacker Les Richter was traded to the Los Angeles Rams for 11 players. Heck, the Dallas Cowboys dealt Hershel Walker to the Minnesota Vikings for what seems like half the Vikings team and future draft picks.
Just this week Ken Griffey Jr. told the Seattle Mariners he wants to be traded after 10 years in the Northwest. Scottie Pippen was dealt from Chicago to Houston and then on to Portland; Wayne Gretzky was exported from Canada to Hollywood.
|  | | The Rainbow Warriors are taking resumes after the defection of five members this week to the No. 88 team. |
Well, NASCAR doesn't exactly call 'em trades, but when teams start switching players like this week in the garages of Winston Cup, it makes headlines just the same. And the moves that were made in the pits of the 24 and 88 teams left everyone asking, "Why?"
Five Rainbow Warriors did the unthinkable this past week -- they jumped ship to Dale Jarrett's team. Tire changers Mike Trower and Kevin Gilman, tire carriers Jeff Knight and Darren Jolly, and jackman Barry Muse all signed multi-year deals and shocked everyone on pit road -- including Jeff Gordon.
"We weren't prepared for that," Gordon said this week in Phoenix, where he'll start second in Sunday's Checker Auto Parts/Dura Lube 500K at Phoenix International Raceway. "We had no opportunity to really even talk to those guys before that happened. They pretty much sprung it on us. (But) I've been on both ends of it, and we'll just move on."
When you examine the reasons why these Sunday specialists would move to the soon-to-be 1999 Winston Cup champion's pit box, a lot of things come to mind.
Was it a bold move on the 88 team's part?
Yes.
Was it a smart move considering the team is about to win the title?
Absolutely.
Every team has to continue to improve, especially if you are on top. Trying new things is just one way to get better.
"We had a very, very good pit crew," Jarrett said Thursday in Phoenix. "This sport is very specialized and it's getting to the point where you have to start thinking about people. What's in their best interest and the team's best interest?
"We ask a lot, we had to get into a situation of the pit crew only pits the car. It keeps the guys who work only on the car much more fresh over the course of the season, especially as the schedule is increased down the road."
Crew chief Todd Parrott knows the steps taken to get to the top, and it will take more steps to stay there.
"Some people will ask, 'How can that improve your program?'" Parrott said. "But if you look at the bigger picture -- four, five, six years down the road -- it should pay off big. That is what I'm looking at -- the future. I think the other guys will soon follow."
The departure of five of seven Rainbow Warriors just continues the 24 car's current trend of change. Since late September, a crew chief, a chief mechanic, a head fabricator and now five key over-the-wall guys have followed their own pots of gold.
Betrayel is a strong word, but Gordon & Co. certainly felt disappointment, frustration and bitterness about being blindsided by the latest news.
"It's unfortunate because we lost really good guys. (But) we were probably gonna make changes with a couple of them anyways," Gordon said. "But I'd sure like to have a couple of them stay and hate to lose them. It's the way they went about it that could have been handled a little bit better and definitely different.
"I thought a little more respect would have been given. If they had problems, it would have been nice to know it. If they wanted more money, it would have been nice to know.
"Heck, we were gonna make changes anyways and didn't want all five guys back. So, if they were a package deal, it wouldn't have worked anyway."
The 24 team has undergone a considerable amount of change, but all Gordon needs to do is look at Mark Martin to see change isn't always a bad thing. It was just a year ago when Martin's team underwent a complete transformation. Everyone except Martin, his crew chief and the team's truck driver were replaced. The team even moved from Liberty to Mooresville in North Carolina.
But by season's end, the No. 6 team had scored seven wins and finished second in points. The year before, Martin had five wins and finished third in points.
Sometimes a little house cleaning is in order. Only time and history will tell how this latest overhaul of a championship team pans out. Obviously, the team Gordon puts together to replace those who left will be hard pressed to duplicate the original Rainbow Warriors.
But the Rainbow Warriors weren't the benchmark for success. They were simply a template for all others to follow.
Or in this case borrow.
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