Cristina's favorite football (soccer) team is the Corinthians, a team located in Sao Paulo. Could the team be moved to another city? To Brazilians, this would be unthinkable.
To me, as an American, I have seen this happen multiple times in my life. Let's look at the pro sports franchises back in 1952, a year I remember well.
At that time, there were 16 teams in Major League Baseball (MLB), 12 teams in the National Football League (NFL), 8 teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and 6 teams in the National Hockey League (NHL).
In 1952, the 16 baseball teams were located in only 10 cities, located in the northeast and midwest. 5 cities, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and St. Louis had multiple franchises. 5 cities had only one team, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Washington and Detroit.
The Boston Braves of the National League moved to Milwaukee in 1953 and to Atlanta in 1966. The St. Louis Browns of the American League moved to Baltimore (to become the Orioles) in 1954. The Philadelphia As of the American League moved to Kansas City in 1955 and to Oakland in 1968. The New York Giants of the National League moved to San Francisco in 1958. The Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League moved to Los Angeles in 1958. The Washington Senators of the American League moved to Minnesota (to become the Twins) in 1961.
In the NFL, the Dallas Texans moved to Baltimore (to become the Colts) in 1953 and then to Indianapolis in 1984. The Chicago Cardinals moved to St. Louis in 1960 and then to Arizona in 1988. The Los Angeles Rams (who had moved from Cleveland in 1946) moved to St. Louis in 1995 and then back to Los Angeles in 2016. The Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore (to become the Ravens) in 1996.
In the NBA, the Milwaukee Hawks moved to St. Louis in 1955 and then to Atlanta in 1968. The Rochester Royals moved to Cincinnati in 1957, to Kansas City (to become the Kings) in 1972 and finally to Sacramento in 1985. Also in 1957, the Fort Wayne Pistons moved to Detroit. The Minneapolis Lakers moved to Los Angeles in 1960. The Philadelphia Warriors moved to San Francisco in 1962 (now the Golden State Warriors). The Syracuse Nationals moved to Philadelphia (to become the 76ers) in 1963.
In the NHL, none of the original six franchises (Boston, Montreal, New York, Toronto, Detroit and Chicago) have moved.
And I haven't even touched the expansion franchises that started popping up in the 1960s: 14 in MLB, 20 in the NFL, 22 in the NBA and 26 in the NHL.
What does it really mean when a team "moves"? They designate a different stadium as their "home game" place? It's not like their players are from the city they are "in." Was it that way before?
ReplyDelete