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12/05/2006: "The End Of Professional Team Sports?"
Is it just me, or have professional team sports pretty much run their course? There was a time when towns would rally around their team, and the team took on the identity of the town and there was a great deal of loyalty between the two. Not much of that any more.
Once upon a time, Los Angeles had not one but two NFL teams - the Rams and the Raiders. Now, maybe the Rams played their last 10 years in Anaheim, but hey - it was near LA, right? And the Raiders - they were refugees from Oakland, but they brought us our only Super Bowl title, so that makes it all OK. That is, until both teams bailed out in the mid 90's for St. Louis and - amazingly enough - Oakland. The assumption was that there would quickly be an expansion team formed, much as had happened when the Colts and Oilers abandoned Baltimore and Houston.
But something different happened here in LA. As month became year and the seasons began to pass, we realized not only did we not need a football team, we didn't want one! A new team would mean a new stadium and new debt, and for what - a bunch of stiffs like the Texans? Hell, we get more games on TV now without local blackouts. So we're just fine without the NFL.
Can this level of indifference be far behind for the other team sports? Sure, the Lakers have Kobe, but can you name the other guys? How many were even here last season? It's Ocho ...er, Veinte-quatro and a bunch of stiffs - and we don't care! So long as they wear the purple and gold - and keep winning - that's all that matters. The Dodgers? Baseball is such a revolving door today it doesn't matter if a guy has a contract or not. Used to be you could lock a guy up for a career, then at least for a couple of years. Now you have guys like J. D. Drew voiding a $30 million contract - 30 megabucks! - because he knows he can get more elsewhere. And he probably will. We're left pulling for a bunch of uniforms.
And that's really what professional sports has become - cheering for the uniform of your team, and ignoring who's in them. After all, your current hero probably played for the enemy last season and may well again next year. Loyalty means nothing ... rivalries mean nothing ... only cash seems to mean anything.
Well, they won't be getting my cash. I'm officially boycotting professional team sports. If it's on TV, fine, but anything that would require me to put out money won't happen. I'll miss day games at Dodger Stadium, but ever since they butchered it to put in expensive seats - all about the money, baby - it's not the same anyway. It won't matter to anyone but me, but that's what's important. And if you choose to stage your own one-man protest, well all the better!
