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Which franchise relocation do you think has been most devastating to a single city's collective psyche?
Baltimore Colts to Indianapolis
Cleveland Browns to Baltimore
Charlotte Hornets to New Orleans
Los Angeles Rams to St. Louis
Raiders to Los Angeles and vice versa
Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles
New York Giants to San Francisco
Philadelphia Athletics to Kansas City
New Orleans Jazz to Utah
Seattle Supersonics to Oklahoma City
Minneapolis Lakers to Los Angeles
Also, what franchise move do you think would completely f*** a city up? For example, would the Red Sox leaving Boston have a much more profound impact on the city than, say, the Carolina Panthers leaving Charlotte? Or would the Green Bay Packers heading for Los Angeles be worse than both of those scenarios? How about the Anaheim Packers? Or the Portland Steelers? Or the San Antonio Royals? Or, God forbid, the Orlando Eagles???
Last edited by BajanYankee; 08-04-2010 at 02:32 PM..
The worst I'd say is either the Colts or the Dodgers. The Colt's move permanently tarnished football for some people around these parts, and even though the Ravens won a super bowl, it's just not the same for them. Similarly, I still here some old timers bemoan the Dodgers' move.
The only move I could see realistically happening that might be really hard on people is if the Vikings left Minneapolis for LA.
If the Red Sox ever left Boston, I think the suicide rate would go through the roof. That's all people talk about in New England throughout the spring and summer. Some teams should never be moved from their respective cities. The Colts should never have moved from Baltimore, Browns should have remained in Cleveland, and the Raiders in Oakland. To me those are "landmark" teams. Teams like the Green Bay Packers, NY Yankees, Chicago Bears will never move, and should never move.
I also wish that teams would change their names to something that is more appropriate to the city they moved to, like the Utah Jazz. Jazz made sense in New Orleans, it just doesn't fit in Utah.
I think the Browns leaving Cleveland was perhaps the strongest gut punch in the history of sports. I've never even been to Cleveland, but I know that the fans there still hold a grudge against a team that bears a totally different name. Plus, the Browns are back, so what is there to be mad about? I don't think Houston Texan fans hold a huge grudge against the Titans or Baltimoreans hold this huge grudge against the Colts. But for some reason, Browns fans can't shake the feeling of betrayal associated with their team abandoning the city. 20 years from now, I think Browns fans will still be upset about that. It's probably because the city is in dire economic straits anyway, and once the Browns left, it was like ripping the soul out of the town.
In general, I think fans get much more upset when a football team ups and leaves town over any other team. Although there a few baseball teams that have fiercely loyal and fanatical support bases (Yankees, Red Sox, White Sox, Phillies), I think football loyalties run deeper. I mean, the White Sox won the World Series, but Chicago is "Da Bears" town. The Phils won the Series, but Philly is an "Iggles" town. In DC, the Redskins reign supreme. The Wizards, Capitals, and Nationals are just a sideshow. And as sorry as the Oakland Raiders are, I think the residents of Oakland would take a losing Raiders team over a winning Golden State Warriors team. This shows that football truly is the All-American sport.
Plus, the Browns are back, so what is there to be mad about?
Art Modell is still alive ...
Quote:
It's probably because the city is in dire economic straits anyway
Not quite. Some Browns fans still haven't forgiven Modell for firing Paul Brown. Or for any number of poor decisions both on and off the field that affected the Browns' play.
Or for being so greedy that he refused to share revenues with the Indians, who leased Municipal Stadium from Modell's stadium management company (which in turn leased the stadium from the city for a dollar a year in exchange for maintaining the stadium; if you'd ever been there, you might agree that Modell's definition of "maintain" may differ from anyone else's).
Or for refusing to take part in the Gateway project that built Jacobs Field and Gund Arena; instead, he asked that some of the sin tax revenue that funded Gateway go toward renovating Municipal Stadium, and the voters approved the measure.
The city and Cuyahoga County voters bent over backwards to get Modell what he wanted, and it wasn't good enough for him. Instead, he took his toys and ran away.
That is why Browns fans are still mad.
But psychologically devastated? No. Just mad. Mad enough to get what they wanted -- the Cleveland Browns back in the NFL -- and to get the NFL to listen.
^^Actually the team was finally getting good with the new mangement the last couple years. The building was consistently full when they left. Just so many years before of crappy drafts and cheap management...the Gund Bros.
The OP left out two that affected me...The aforementioned North Stars to Dallas, and my new home Houston Oilers to Tennessee.
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Crap, I wanted to see that new kid Jerry West this year and I think Elgin Baylor is just coming into form.
