Sports Teams You Would Get Rid of or Move

We're seeing two other things when it comes to high school sports as well. One, the building of second and third schools, which divides loyalties. I don't think I have to remind those still in the business of the hours of life we'll never get back listening to calls about coverage of Podunk East vs. Podunk West. The other thing we're seeing is, in smaller towns, consolidated teams, say, Springfield-Shelbyville.

This should probably be spun into another thread, but I'm agreed that we're a generation or two away from seeing the current model for high school sports dismantled in favor of amateur programs. But I wonder if, in the current cash crisis for schools, if combined teams, ala the "Friday Night Lights" finale, might become a reality in some districts? Perhaps not in any of the major sports, but, say, if Podunk East and Podunk West are struggling to field full teams in, say, track and field, tennis or swimming, why not send all the tennis players to Podunk East and the track athletes to Podunk West to compete as a combined team?

 

I don't think art, music and teachers will be cut out of education either. Especially teachers. That would be interesting.

My point is that I can see it cut back and scaled down, but I don't see it going away at all. I can show you in my city what happens when sports lose community support. Among the things that have happened hasn't been the drop of any programs (unless there is a decline in participatory interest, such as baseball in many of the mostly black inner-city schools). They have cut back travel, sub-varsity teams, coach staff sizes, etc. But they've actually added sports to meet the demands of students in a participatory sense. For example, soccer has grown as a sport in my city, even at some of the troubled inner-city schools.

In the suburbs, it's a completely different story. They still draw well and the community support towards the team exceeds actual attendance, which is a phenomenon I've seen elsewhere. In another city where I used to live, attendance had long since suffered in football at one particular school that had a rising enrollment, but because of the transient nature of the families sending their kids to school there -- a large percentage of parents did not attend this school and the town is big enough to give them plenty else to do on a Friday night -- folks weren't interested in going to games that much. But the community still rallied to build a stadium for the school (they had been sharing one with a cross-town rival) and the athletic department was still well-funded and supported.

What I'm saying is, at that level support can be expressed without putting a butt in the seat. Nobody's going to donate $1,000 to the New York Yankees because they believe in major league baseball. They will, however, donate money to a high school athletic fund drive because they believe in community schools and community programs.

 

Not when there are screaming teabaggers in the street shrieking "i don't want to pay no taxes for nothin.' "

Those people want to get rid of public education altogether. Sports will be (actually, are and have been) some of the first branches of the tree they will chainsaw off.

AAU and club sports are already taking over most of the minor sports and basketball is going fast. Once you start seeing AAU football teams, high school sports is finished.

Much less than a generation. 10-15 years tops.

 

Coyotes to Winnipeg
Thrashers to Quebec City
Panthers to Southern Ontario

Nashville, Tampa and Carolina will never be great hockey markets but they do alright. I think Columbus will be a decent market when the team starts winning.

 

You guys let me know when the majority of letter of intent signings are happening at AAU gyms rather than at high schools. 'Course, I probably won't be able to respond, because I'll be pushing daisies.

In the South, one could make the argument that the 3 most popular sports might someday be: college football, pro football, high school football.

 

South Florida doesn't deserve the Marlins.

Atlanta, unfortunately, is heading to a similar fate with the Thrashers.

 

The Oakland A's. They've never drawn worth a damn, even when they were good. Move them somewhere they're not crippled by a bad lease and another major-league team just across the bay.

All the sun belt hockey teams, except maybe Dallas.

 

I think we can all agree the world would be a better place without the Steelers, or at least their fans.

 

Maybe this has been posted in other threads, but it's a good read in terms of making the case against Winnipeg, Quebec, Hartford and other small markets.

http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2010/12/8/1536097/nhl-relocation-winnipeg-quebec-city

 

Any day the 'Canes lose is a great, great day.

 

Hartford is going to get 30,000 for an AHL game on Saturday and has much more disposable income than Winnipeg or Quebec.

 

Hope to be there, for the spectacle . . . but suspect the bigger draw will be the Legends game in the afternoon.