Forgettable sports teams

[charger77]

Ship the disaster from either Miami or Atlanta to Winnipeg and the Wings could move East.

-Dan

[Lee.]

Ship the disaster from either Miami or Atlanta to Winnipeg and the Wings could move East.

-Dan

Move Atnalta to Winnipeg, pissing off paynomind and Flame, and move the Isles to KC, pissing off no one, and it's a done deal.

Someone with more werewithal than I can run this into the ground in the Pointless Realignment Outpost.

[charger77]

For me the Isles can't move. I have a hard time dealing with a dynasty team moving. If the Lighthouse project ever happens it may be enough to help that team. Playing in that dump on the Island is definately holding them back.

-Dan

[vmd9]

MLB: Washington Nationals

MLS: Kansas City Wizards

NBA: Memphis Grizzlies

NFL: Carolina Panthers

NHL: Florida Panthers

I think the MLS in general would be considered the most irrelevant league...

NBA: Memphis Grizzlies

NFL: Buffalo Bills no question, even when TO went there no one cared

NHL: Columbus Blue Jackets (They should just move that team to Cleveland)

MLB: Pirates (example of Pittsburgh fair weather fans)

[WSU151]

I think the MLS in general would be considered the most irrelevant league...

WNBA?

[Sport]

NBA: Memphis Grizzlies

NFL: Buffalo Bills no question, even when TO went there no one cared

NHL: Columbus Blue Jackets (They should just move that team to Cleveland)

MLB: Pirates (example of Pittsburgh fair weather fans)

You're a genius . Directly compete with one of the most popular teams in the NBA in a city that has proven time and time again (once already in the NHL) that they don't care about hockey. Nobody I know from Cleveland cares the slightest bit about the NHL. Putting a team there to be overshadowed by the Fightin' Lebrons would not help their relevance.

[BrySmalls]

I think the MLS in general would be considered the most irrelevant league...

WNBA?

Major League Lacrosse or National League Lacrosse.

[The_Admiral]

The problem with Columbus is that the Blue Jackets have to compete with Ohio State football, Ohio State basketball, Ohio State hockey, and Ohio State competitive ass-wiping, and by the looks of their books they're not really winning that fight. Building the Nationwide Arena and the other state-of-the-art arena that Ohio State uses for basketball and hockey in such a small market was even dumber than building two arenas for Phoenix because of how it cannibalizes the market for other events. Now they're in trouble. What did they think was going to happen?

Cleveland doesn't work for the NHL because Cleveland doesn't seem to want the NHL. Cincinnati is probably overextended with baseball and football. Maybe Ohio doesn't have a place for the NHL?

[Sport]

The problem with Columbus is that the Blue Jackets have to compete with Ohio State football, Ohio State basketball, Ohio State hockey, and Ohio State competitive ass-wiping, and by the looks of their books they're not really winning that fight. Building the Nationwide Arena and the other state-of-the-art arena that Ohio State uses for basketball and hockey in such a small market was even dumber than building two arenas for Phoenix because of how it cannibalizes the market for other events. Now they're in trouble. What did they think was going to happen?

Cleveland doesn't work for the NHL because Cleveland doesn't seem to want the NHL. Cincinnati is probably overextended with baseball and football. Maybe Ohio doesn't have a place for the NHL?

Building the two arenas within two years of each other was retarded, but Columbus has the fan support for the Blue Jackets. Though at this point, really strong fan support like we saw in the years prior to the lockout will only come back with a consistent winning team. The problem for the Jackets is the lease and the competition for events with the other venues in the city. I've been at Blue Jackets sell-outs that were played opposite of Ohio State football and basketball games. I've seen first-hand that Columbus can be a good hockey market, and I'm confident (hopeful) that it will be once again.

But the "Cleveland should be an NHL market" argument is dumb. It's like people think, "hey, Cleveland is pretty cold. They should have a hockey team". It's especially dumb in a discussion about making the team more relevant.

[vmd9]

NBA: Memphis Grizzlies

NFL: Buffalo Bills no question, even when TO went there no one cared

NHL: Columbus Blue Jackets (They should just move that team to Cleveland)

MLB: Pirates (example of Pittsburgh fair weather fans)

You're a genius . Directly compete with one of the most popular teams in the NBA in a city that has proven time and time again (once already in the NHL) that they don't care about hockey. Nobody I know from Cleveland cares the slightest bit about the NHL. Putting a team there to be overshadowed by the Fightin' Lebrons would not help their relevance.

They just had an NHL, the barons for a few years if that. Of course a city with the Browns, Cavaliers, and Indians isn't going to care about the AHL teams they have had. The only problem I would see with Cleveland is loyalty. Thats what makes the fans there great, tradition and sticking with their teams. But if a new team came along I'm not sure if the city would embrace it as much as the teams they grew up watching...and being a hockey team makes it more difficult, but it could work

[Eye]

For me the Isles can't move. I have a hard time dealing with a dynasty team moving. If the Lighthouse project ever happens it may be enough to help that team. Playing in that dump on the Island is definately holding them back.

-Dan

Dynasties don't move. :censored: teams almost 30 years removed from its dynasty with terrible arenas do.

[rams80]

NBA: Memphis Grizzlies

NFL: Buffalo Bills no question, even when TO went there no one cared

NHL: Columbus Blue Jackets (They should just move that team to Cleveland)

MLB: Pirates (example of Pittsburgh fair weather fans)

You're a genius . Directly compete with one of the most popular teams in the NBA in a city that has proven time and time again (once already in the NHL) that they don't care about hockey. Nobody I know from Cleveland cares the slightest bit about the NHL. Putting a team there to be overshadowed by the Fightin' Lebrons would not help their relevance.

They just had an NHL, the barons for a few years if that. Of course a city with the Browns, Cavaliers, and Indians isn't going to care about the AHL teams they have had. The only problem I would see with Cleveland is loyalty. Thats what makes the fans there great, tradition and sticking with their teams. But if a new team came along I'm not sure if the city would embrace it as much as the teams they grew up watching...and being a hockey team makes it more difficult, but it could work

And they were the last team in the "Big 4" to fold. Not move...fold. I just don't see Cleveland as being large enough to support 4 teams. Cleveland has had "successful" hockey teams in the past, such as the original AHL Barons, the early 1970s WHA Crusaders, and the early-to-mid-1990s Lumberjacks, but that success has come at the expense of the Cavaliers. With the Cavaliers as popular as they are now, I just don't see an NHL team being able to take off.

[infrared41]

NBA: Memphis Grizzlies

NFL: Buffalo Bills no question, even when TO went there no one cared

NHL: Columbus Blue Jackets (They should just move that team to Cleveland)

MLB: Pirates (example of Pittsburgh fair weather fans)

You're a genius . Directly compete with one of the most popular teams in the NBA in a city that has proven time and time again (once already in the NHL) that they don't care about hockey. Nobody I know from Cleveland cares the slightest bit about the NHL. Putting a team there to be overshadowed by the Fightin' Lebrons would not help their relevance.

They just had an NHL, the barons for a few years if that. Of course a city with the Browns, Cavaliers, and Indians isn't going to care about the AHL teams they have had. The only problem I would see with Cleveland is loyalty. Thats what makes the fans there great, tradition and sticking with their teams. But if a new team came along I'm not sure if the city would embrace it as much as the teams they grew up watching...and being a hockey team makes it more difficult, but it could work

There is simply no way an NHL team would make it in Cleveland. The interest in the local teams in Cleveland breaks down like so...

1. Browns

2. Browns

3. Browns

4. The Cavs or Indians depending on which one is competitive.

5. High School Football

If LeBron leaves the Cavs will have trouble outdrawing The Lake County Captains and The NBA is much more popular than is hockey in Cleveland. Columbus may not be a great hockey market but it's Toronto or Montreal by comparison when we're talking about Cleveland. I bet 80% of the people in the Cleveland market aren't even aware of the Barons, let alone the fact that they were once an NHL team. The Cavs could move to Columbus and people still wouldn't get behind an NHL team. It's just the way it is.

[Alphabet Man]

i cant be bothered reading 8 pages, but.....

Every Scottish Premier League club apart from Celtic and Rangers.

[Sodboy13]

Well, the subject is Most Irrelevant Team in the 4 major American sports leagues, so there's that.

[CS85]

NBA: Memphis Grizzlies. I don't mind them as a franchise, but I just think they're one of those fluff teams that can't chisel an identity in the league. They were a lukewarm failure in Vancouver, and now they're just another middling Nashville franchise that can't get a headline.

NFL: Jacksonville Jaguars. They're becoming a blackout machine, and have waning local interest. Their management seems well-intended, and I think they have some pieces, but their lack of success has sent them hurtling.

MLB: Oakland A's. The Marlins god awful attendance had me itching to say them, but at least they've won a title in my lifetime. The Pirates would easily top this list, but even as crappy as they are they still get almost 10,000 more bodies in PNC Park per game, and if they begin winning games again, the Pirate faithful awaken from their comas. The A's have been ok for awhile now, but Oakland, the Warriors, and the Raiders are all doing a pretty dismal job of representing themselves with a winning product as of late.

NHL: Florida Panthers. This is consensus throughout, I think. I've never met a Florida Panthers fan, happened across anyone wearing a Florida Panthers jersey, hell I bet the average Floridian even knows they have a pro hockey team. I think I played as the Panthers in NHL 94 once, but ... it doesn't get too much worse.

This thread should probably be renamed to include the Florida Panthers.

[TrueYankee26]

Weird to see hockey teams in Florida in the 1st place.

[Sport]

I sat next to a Panthers fan at Blue Jackets-Panthers game this season. He was decked out in a Panthers cap, gorgeous mid 90's red Vanbiesbrouck jersey, and Panthers pijjama pants (which kinda ruined the cool factor of the guy in the jersey). I asked why he was a Panthers' fan and he said that he was without a team growing up in Columbus and fell in love with them during their finals run in 96. So he picked them. That decision worked out more poorly than my decision to be a Blue Jackets fan.

[Lee.]

I sat next to a Panthers fan at Blue Jackets-Panthers game this season. He was decked out in a Panthers cap, gorgeous mid 90's red Vanbiesbrouck jersey, and Panthers pijjama pants (which kinda ruined the cool factor of the guy in the jersey). I asked why he was a Panthers' fan and he said that he was without a team growing up in Columbus and fell in love with them during their finals run in 96. So he picked them. That decision worked out more poorly than my decision to be a Blue Jackets fan.

Meh. His team got to the finals.

[CubsFanBudMan]

NHL: Florida Panthers. This is consensus throughout, I think. I've never met a Florida Panthers fan, happened across anyone wearing a Florida Panthers jersey, hell I bet the average Floridian even knows they have a pro hockey team. I think I played as the Panthers in NHL 94 once, but ... it doesn't get too much worse.

This thread should probably be renamed to include the Florida Panthers.

I'm a Florida Panthers fan. Weird, I know. Right here in your neighborhood Shawn. Nice to meet you. If the Panthers ever play the Blackhawks in the UC, you will see a fan with a jersey, hat, etc.

Now before you think this is leading up to a defensive reply, no, I agree. The Panthers are pretty irrelevant. But I'd argue the Thrashers are up there, too. Maybe the Predators. And as Lee said, the Panthers do have that memorable -- even if admittedly not still relevant -- Finals appearance on their resume. Since we're using some history here.

As far as the other leagues, I'd say Browns (since they aren't even the same team), Clippers edging Grizzlies and in a tough call, Pirates. But the Rays might have been named a few years ago, so things can turn around quickly. Heck, even your Blackhawks were irrevelant within Chicago just a couple years ago.