This is the scene in Landshark Stadium all too often. |
It started last year when Lebron James made the decision. Then it continued on with Reggie Bush and Brandon Marshall signing with the Dolphins. Now Jose Reyes found himself in Miami and Albert Pujols has a 10 yr/"insert ridiculous amount of money here" contract offer on his table to do the same. The sports world is slowly and unfortunately starting to revolve around the detached city of Miami.
Let's be serious, no one in Miami cares about sports. Their fans show up late, and leave early. They don't ever boo when their teams suck, and they rarely make the appropriate amount of noise when they win. Going to a game is just another event. If the Heat, Dolphins or Marlins win, their fans are going to the Fontainebleau to celebrate. If the Heat, Dolphins or Marlins lose, their fans are still going to Fontainebleau to celebrate. As Charles Barkley said so poignantly, "They have the worst fans. No question." That's because sports simply do not matter to them. Unlike the sports crazy cities of New York, Boston, Philly and Chicago, it's just a game in their eyes; sports are simply another form of entertainment. Boston flips cars when the Celtics lose. Philly throws snowballs at Santa when the Eagles suck. New York boos everyone and their mother when they're struggling. Chicago just wants everyone to live up to Jordan. What does Miami do when their teams lose? Absolutely nothing.
Now that the Marlins have moved to Miami, it could be over for baseball. Why would you want to go to the Yankees, the Red Sox, or Angels when you could go to Miami? Beautiful city, beautiful women, beautiful weather, no taxes! It's like paradise, especially when you're getting 100 to 300 million dollars thrown at you, right? Well yeah, that's if you have no balls. That's if you have no soul. That's if your legacy means nothing to you. Going to Miami is trading in your legacy for materialistic desires. Yes, I will admit, we do live in a materialistic world. Yet, athletes are not remembered for how many Bentley's they own. They're not remembered for how many bottles of Grey Goose they bought in one week. They're remembered for winning championships in sports cities. And it's not like New York, Chicago and Boston are considered primitive in the materialistic world, they are awfully trendy cities. But here's the catch; you don't have to trade in your soul. It's not the end of the world if you're paying taxes on your contract. Miami isn't that much sexier than New York City. It certainly isn't as "bro" as Boston or Chicago. But there is still plenty to do in New York City, Chicago and Boston. Plenty of clubs to burn through money at. Plenty of beautiful women. Plenty of buzz. Plenty of whatever you want. What's even better about all three cities? They give a shit about their sports teams.
When you win in Miami a title in no one cares. Let's see are Larry Czonka or Bob Greise legends in the sports history? Nope. Yet they were stars on the undefeated '72 Miami Dolphins team. Can you even name one guy on the '97 Marlins championship team? How about anyone not named Josh Beckett on the '03 team? I bet you can't do it without using Wikipedia. One "legacy exception" is Dan Marino and that's because he holds about every record a QB could hold in NFL history.
In Chicago, they've literally immortalized Michael Jordan. In New York, Patrick Ewing is still revered he's title less. Eli Manning is a viciously inconsistent QB, yet New Yorkers talk about him like he's won five. Why? Because he won one title. In Boston, they talk about the 50s, 60s and 80s Celtics like they're still abusing the paint at the Old Garden. These guys are absolutely, positively, gods in their respective cities. That's because these places live and die by their sports; it literally runs through their blood. When the Knicks and Rangers were both in their respective Finals in '94, New York City was just a 6,720 square mile party. Boston has won 7 titles in the last 11 years, and guess what? Everyone wants to live there now. Sports are vital to several cities' heartbeats.
If Miami were to somehow, some way, become "Titletown," then we are talking about a major, possibly negative shift in the sports world. The city doesn't generate enough buzz about sports internally, how is it going to generate any interest from outsiders? This could potentially devastating to the small market teams, that already have enough struggles on their plate. Adding one more big market city to the forefront of sports acquisitions transforms into one more roadblock for smaller cities on their quest for at title. We're talking about a seismic shift in the sports world. It's almost as if sports would mirror the problems our nation may face with capitalism. The big market teams get bigger while the small market teams fade into darkness. This sports economy can simply not handle another New York or Boston. Our only savior? Those stars like Amar'e Stoudemire, Kevin Durant, and Peyton Manning, who took a risk and took on the pressures of being a franchise player.
We need to save the sports world from fading into a pretentious, unfulfilling, empty one. I don't know how we're going to do it, and I don't know who we should turn to next, but we must, yes we must, find a way to keep Miami from growing into a title town. It's essential to the success of the entire sports world that the city of Miami remain a contender, but never a winner.
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