The era of expansion is coming closer and closer to an end, as many sports commissioners are figuring out that a lot of cities could care less what their teams are doing.
Major League Baseball may vote to eliminate the Minnesota Twins and the Montreal Expos, considering the lack of attendance at the games.
Thank God.
The contraction of the two teams would undoubtedly result in a better league, as good players from both teams will solidify other teams in the league.
Expansion has led to watered-down leagues in which the talent pool of various teams has become too wretched to watch, and the bad teams are really, really bad.
No longer watching the Twins and the Expos will not bring tears to my eyes, and the same fate should come to other teams in various leagues.
For starters, why don’t we chew up the Florida Marlins, even though the team bought a World Series not so long ago? Remember?success does not matter in what teams are destroyed.
All that matters is fan base, and Florida will never warm up to a baseball team. Nobody knows what the hell Major League Baseball was thinking when adding the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and league executives should recall their mistake in the next couple of years when Tampa grows worse still.
Watching baseball in 100 degree weather is not appealing to most fans and will never work in Florida.
Other than the Marlins and the Devil Rays, there isn’t a team that should be contracted at this point, but Kansas City better watch out.
Time for the entree.
The NBA has experienced expansion many a time, and one of its most recent entrants?the Vancouver Grizzlies?moved to Memphis for lack of support.
David Stern is beating a dead horse with the Grizzlies, and if not for Vince Carter, basketball would be dead in Canada .
Memphis will not warm up to the Grizzlies if they keep using lottery picks on players such as Pau Gasol, and will be moving again or contracted within the next seven years.
The Charlotte Hornets may be moving after this year, even though they have a quality basketball team. However, the fans are reluctant or are just cheap, as they will not fund a project for a new stadium.
There are other “dead” teams in basketball, such as the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Atlanta Hawks (except when Jordan plays) and the Detroit Pistons, who rarely sell out and will never compete for a World Championship again.
The problem that arises is that, when these teams are contracted, then the league will inevitably decide that the market is too big and will create another team in that same area, not learning from its past mistakes.
Which brings us to our dessert.
The NFL has had the largest problem with trying to put new teams into cities that have already ignored and discarded old ones.
This thought has led to the existing parity and will continue to ruin the league, as the Houston Texans will be initiated into the NFL next year.
The Houston Oilers could not sell out a game for the life of them, and what does the city get? A new team. A great reward for running the Oilers (now the Titans), out of town.
Contract the Texans now before they get started, and save yourselves the embarrassment.
Considering the NFL’s past idiotic moves, Los Angeles should have a new team within the next year, since they averaged one or two fans a game when the Rams were in town.
Maybe contracting all these teams may not be the right idea for the fans in those respective cities, but I don’t care. All I want to see is a solid league, JUST ONE, that is not watered down with expansion.
Three leagues and eight teams gone is a good start for a very long meal that will make our TV lives a lot better.
Asad welcomes feedback at: [email protected].