By
Steve Seepersaud
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Buying Championships
You might remember those investment firm commercials where the company says,
"we made our money the old-fashioned way, we earned it". Over the past few
years, the New York Yankees have won their championships the new-fashioned
way -- they bought them. The Yankees have the highest-payroll in Major League
Baseball. That money allowed the team to put together a collection of talent
that's won four world championships.
The Los Angeles Lakers have basically become the Yankees of the NBA. The
Lakers have the championships. After failing to win a fourth-consecutive
title this past season, the Lakers made some moves to try and keep the dynasty
going. With an impressive roster of Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone,
and Gary Payton, the team looks on paper as if it will steamroll through
the 2004 playoffs. On paper, this also looks like another example of the
rich getting richer.
It's an obnoxious trend in baseball. The Yankees make a tremendous amount
of money from television broadcasts of their games, as well as sales of tickets
and merchandise. The Yankees have the dough to attract the top talent. How
can teams like the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Montreal Expos have a shot?
Baseball is so unprofitable in Montreal that MLB owns the team, and some
of the Expos' home games are played in Puerto Rico.
The little guys fare somewhat better in the NBA. The New York Knicks make
a lot of money playing in the country's largest media-market, but they're
terrible. San Antonio is considered a relatively small-market, yet the Spurs
have won two titles in the past five years. The Chicago Bulls, despite all
their money and semi-recent championships, are a train wreck.
Pulling for the little guy is always fun. In 2002, the Yankees looked unbeatable,
having added Jason Giambi to an already-stacked roster. But it was great
to see the Anaheim Angels take the Yankees apart in the American League playoffs?
It was also great to see the Spurs take out the Lakers, blowing out Los Angeles
in the final game of the series.
Just like the 2002 Yankees, the Lakers are loaded. The new season is just
months away. The Lakers are eager to erase the bad memories of losing to
San Antonio. But wouldn't it be kind of fun to see the Lakers lose again?
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