One of the major trends of the last few years in sports has been the regular appearance of teams “tanking.” The Heat, Knicks, and Nets have all, at various points, gutted their teams for a period of time and put out terrible teams, in order to chase superstar free agents (by creating cap space). And teams in the NFL and NBA have been accused of not trying, in order to get a higher draft pick (there’s evidence of this in the NFL this year by the “Suck for Luck,” as teams hoped to be the worst, in order to draft Quarterback Andrew Luck). But is this fair to fans?
While teams try to put themselves in better shape long-term, fans are forced to watch a crappy product on the court or the field, with the only hope being that draft pick or free agent. When that person doesn’t appear (see the Knicks and LeBron), then that tanking has all been for nothing. So, have these teams broken a promise to their fans? That they’ll try their best to win, or at least be competitive?
I mentioned last week that I’m a season ticket holder of the New Jersey Nets. If you know anything about basketball, you know that the Nets are not what one might call “good.” In 2010, they won 12 games, one of the worst records in NBA history. Last year, they doubled that to 24 games, still in the bottom rung of the NBA. Clearly, the Nets are not putting a good product on the court for their fans. But are they failing their fans? I’d say no. But in considering why I’ve put up with watching a terrible, awful basketball team, the only good answer I have (besides how cheap the tickets are) is that the team has a plan, and a goal. They’ve traded for one superstar and are putting themselves in position to land another. They have a Russian billionaire, playboy owner who has made it very clear that he’s doing everything in his power to get top talent. And so I wait, watching a thawed out shell of a team and enjoy watching the talent on a real NBA team, like the Heat, as they eviscerate the Nets.
So is “having a plan” the thing a team owes its fans? Maybe. But there’s a fundamental, and hard to answer, question: is pushing fans’ focus off to the future a plan, or a way to deflect from the ownership that doesn’t want to put a real team on the field? That may be the case with the Oakland A’s, a baseball team which has been recently mediocre, and this offseason has sold off their best assets, apparently in an attempt to acquire prospects for a run in 2014 or so. The A’s can sell this because they have an accepted genius for a general manager. (Billy Beane, who’s so revered that Brad Pitt played him in Moneyball – Brad fucking Pitt. That’s pretty good life story casting.) But they also have a notoriously cheap ownership which is trying to make the argument that they need a new stadium in order to fund their team. Were the trades a plan to rebuild, or a cover for an attempt to bilk taxpayers for a new stadium under the guise of competitiveness? (The Miami (nee Florida) Marlins pulled off just such a move over the last decade, regularly spending roughly 1/7th of what top teams did, despite being in a large media market.)
When faced with that choice, a fan will always choose to believe that there’s a plan. Why? Because not believing there’s a plan is depressing. Why devote yourself to a team owned by someone who’s ONLY trying to make money off you? The key word is only – fans know that they turn money over to the team on a regular basis (for tickets, shirts, etc.) – but they have to get something back. And if all they get back are lies and crappy baseball? Well then that’s not a very good deal.
-Chris Migliaccio
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Not going to lie, I’m voting for all the Raptors. For real though, they’ve all got respectable cases (Raptor players), but I doubt they get serious consideration to start. Might get the coaches vote for reserves though.
Well its not fair, sometimes the teams are just bad, and need a lot of help. Now they cant receive one player, like Oden or Durant, that can put seats in the stands.
A Few Points:
1) There’s a historical difference between Oakland, which spent efficiently to win, and Florida, which didn’t spend in order to collect a $30 Million revenue sharing check.
2) I think “tanking” is a bogus concept. Well run teams like the Houston Rockets or the Baltimore Ravens never “tank” in order to improve their draft position. They just stockpile assets, making the best of their draft position year to year. Sometimes, they’ll lump these assets together and trade for a superstar. Dell Demps tried to avoid tanking by trading his soon to be leaving superstar for legitimate replacements before Stern essentially ordered him to tank.
3) This might be the most important point. What happens if tanking fails? Think the Celtics when they didn’t get a shot at Oden or Durant (though that turned out well for them). A better example now is the Washington Wizards. There no way their fans can even be delusional enough to believe that “there’s a plan” and that the future will be bright with the likes of Andray Blatche, Nick Young, JaVale McGee, Jordan Crawford, and a sadly regressing John Wall. Where the hell do they go from here?
thanks to all those with rsenopses. it should be easier now to get thicker skin, especially considering where i live.
It’s like pyinalg the lotto for millions. the balls came up randomly and u hoping your numbers come up and they don’t, that’s just the way it is and its only fair. the Celtics or the grizzlies don’t need a #1 pick. Not too long ago Celtics and the grizzlies were contenders and now they suck. its time for other teams to shine and get back where they were in the prime like the trailblazers and sonics.