Dear No Fun League, Fine Me!

Recently, I watched the documentary ‘The Band That Wouldn’t Die’, about the Baltimore Colts heading to Indianapolis, and now I read this:
LA tries to Lure NFL Team

I was born and raised in New York and as such my sports allegiances lie with the professional teams from that great state*. Luckily, the teams from the Metropolis area each have strong ownership, loyal fans and make boatloads of cash, so I will never have to worry about my teams moving.

My father, a Brooklyn Dodgers’ fan, watched his team move away as a child, and he hasn’t given his allegiance to another sports team since – I assume out of some rightful bitterness. He watches games now only as a fan of the sport, but no team. He roots for excitement and good play, but his palms don’t sweat with 2-outs in the bottom of the ninth and his heart doesn’t pound during the 2-minute drill. A part of him was clearly stripped away when his beloved Dodgers left town.

I know sports are a business, but they are much more than that. Sports transcend entertainment and become a part of us; the teams we root for become a part of us. For better or worse, Yankees fans carry a sense of increased entitlement and Philadelphia Eagles fans carry a large chip on their shoulders and a reputation, which many dispute, but yet refuse to live down. It’s not just on gameday, though. It’s at the Monday morning meeting, the Wednesday afternoon soccer game, and the Thursday night at the bar. Who we are is in large part due to who we root for. It’s part of our psyche.

I could talk about the money in more depth (and maybe I will in a future post), but anyone who buys the jersey of a particular player knows loyalty. Why doesn’t the NFL? Why don’t team owners show their fans the same loyalty? Most of you have seen Major League (the movie with Charlie Sheen). We watch as an ‘evil’ owner tries to move the Cleveland Indians and we happily root against her. Why doesn’t this lesson translate into real life?

I’ll get into the absurdity of states/taxpayers paying for private stadiums at another time, but if owners want to make more money, they shouldn’t move, they should enhance the product or review the pricing strategy, etc. - more fans will come to games if the team wins, or if ticket prices are more reasonable, or if beers aren’t $9 each… If the NFL wants a team in Los Angeles or somewhere else they should look into expansion rather than alienating an existing fan base.

(Can we also agree that Los Angeles has proven time and again that it won't support a football team? http://www.laalmanac.com/sports/sp02.htm.)

*for full disclosure, I actively root for the Giants/Yankees/Rangers/Knicks