The St. Louis Ram's franchise announced yesterday that it would be playing one game per season in London for the next three years. Fans and media are up in arms, spouting that this is just a prelude to relocating the team to Europe, a long speculated idea around the NFL. Ram's personnel, including head coach Jeff Fisher and COO Kevin Demoff have both voiced their support for the move, commenting that this is a good move for the franchise. They are selling the idea that this move will create buzz for the team and attract untapped revenue streams.
Everyone please take a deep breath. What I am about to suggest will at first, seem like anarchy. Go support the team! During the Jeff Fisher hiring press conference, owner Stan Kroenke was asked about the future of the franchise in reference to possible relocation in 2014. His response, "we'll see". Many fans and media members were turned-off by this vague response. However, I saw this response as a business man... being a business man. His response is truly a "we'll see" proposition. It's the same response we give to our kids when they ask for something. Our response as parents is decoded like this: If you are good, then yes; bad, then no. Stan Kroenke's message decoded:
"Regardless of how bad the team has been in the past, I feel we have vastly improved the team with this hiring. During the next three years, we will make every attempt to produce a winning team and fill the dome every Sunday. If fans come to support the team, the team makes money. If fans do not come to support the team, it does not make money".
I saw this as Stan Kroenke daring the fans to support the team. Let me repeat, Stan Kroenke is a business man. If Kroenke does not make money, he will move the franchise to a location that has better potential for making money, possibly Los Angeles or London.
Two weeks ago, Ram's fans had no good reason to support the team in 2012; they do now. The Ram's finally made a good personnel decision with the hiring of an experienced, winning coach. There is an old saying in professional sports, "winning solves everything". If the Ram's can at least get back to respectability, fans will show up.
Because I know there are still some doubter's out there, consider this: If you support the team now and prove that the fan base in St. Louis is indeed supportive of an NFL franchise, they there is no need to worry about what Stan Kroenke does with the Rams. Bottom line: even if he moves the team, there is a good possibility that another franchise will seriously consider moving here. The Jacksonville Jaguars are an example: a failing franchise, long being rumored to relocate.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
Patrick the Pancake
On his way to work Patrick the Pancake said to himself confidently, “Today I shall be covered in maple syrup, lathered with butter, and consumed to satisfy the taste-buds of Tristan the Pancake Taster”. Just before consumption, Patrick had second thoughts and pleaded for his life. Terrified that a pancake was talking to him, Tristan dropped Patrick the Pancake on the floor, where he met his doom with Kari the K-9.
Why does Pujols have to be traded NOW?
At the water cooler, on sports radio, family gatherings, heck even my sports-hating wife has weighed in about the subject. If you live in St.louis, right now you probably have a good idea about what your beloved Cardinals should do about the Albert Pujols contract. The extremist says trade him now and get what you can, and the loyalist says lock him up no matter the cost. Perhaps there is more space for another argument. What most people do agree on is that the deal should reward Pujols for time already served but not hinder the club in the future as Pujols' age rises and production declines. This would lead one to believe that the ideal contract would be between 7 to 8 years at a rate of $27-30 million per year. One of the local radio stations held a poll last week and asked whether or not fans would blame the Cardinals for not signing Pujols should he demand an outrageous asking price such as $30 million for ten years. In a landslide, fans voted that "no", they would not blame the orginization. Okay, I guess I agree with that. But what about doing both? The Yankees and the Boston Red Sox are the only two teams projected to have the kind of spending power to pay a player that much without seriously crippling the rest of the team. The only problem: The Yankees already have a firstbasemen locked-up long term in Mark Texeira and Adrian Gonzalez just arrived via trade to the Sox. For some reason, people have it in their minds that a sports contract is for life and their is no wiggle room should either party want to get out of it. This is simply not true. What I suggest is that the Cardinals answer his demands but realize the door could be open later. The Texas Rangers did something very similar in 2004 when they decided the $250 million Alex Rodriguez contract was not worth three consecutive losing seasons and an unhappy player. The Cardinals should lock him up but not throw away the key. Many things will change during the contract. Maybe the Cardinals will keep raising the payroll to keep the "winning tradition". Maybe the world will end next year. No one can predict the future, but letting Pujols walk away now would be a mistake that would haunt the franchise. They would need to win the World Series during those ten years to validate their decision. Even when his production slips in a few years (it is inevitable), he will still be reaching a MLB milestone every few months. Classy orginizations like the Red Sox and Yankees will line-up to overpay for the best baseball player in the modern era, perhaps as their new DH.
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