***PetrinoInAlbany*** Posted September 7, 2005 Share Posted September 7, 2005 Another take ... Poor Tom. He's in - and the NFL is in - a funny position. You almost HAVE to move the franchise. And - looking at nothing other than economics and being pragmatic - now is the time. BUT .... Now you're (the NFL and Saints ownership) in a position similar to a guy who waits too long to break up with a chick. Suddenly, she suffers some terrible personal illness or tragedy. Now you CAN'T break up with her, or you'll look like a bastard. So here's what you do. Move the Saints. Now. Announce that once the relief/clean-up efforts are well along - say, a year or most likely two - the city of New Orleans will get a franchise. Announce that the city of New Orleans will retain exclusive rights to the name "Saints" and the crescent logo. Need to keep the number of teams even? The LA franchise could come in at the same time. Hey ... it could happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted September 7, 2005 Share Posted September 7, 2005 I don't want any more teams in the league - it's big enough as it is. CW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted September 7, 2005 Share Posted September 7, 2005 Tom Benson is public enemy #1 right now in La. Not only is he scheming to steal their NFL franchise, but many people feel the $25+ Million of public mnoney he received each year could have gone to fix the damn levees!. PTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinandjokin Posted September 7, 2005 Share Posted September 7, 2005 With Ralph getting on in years, and no immediate successor in the wings, any talk of expansion (or relocating teams) makes me very, very nervous... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramius Posted September 7, 2005 Share Posted September 7, 2005 I don't want any more teams in the league - it's big enough as it is. CW 431771[/snapback] exactly. theres a great balance with 32 teams and 8 divisions...more teams would throw everything out of whack. i will be really pissed at the HFL is they expand even more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tux of Borg Posted September 7, 2005 Share Posted September 7, 2005 Tom Benson, the man who didn't want to give refunds to ticket holders. I heard he was all over the news yesterday in Louisiana. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ch19079 Posted September 7, 2005 Share Posted September 7, 2005 can you say LA.... i think a big factor is the stadium. how bad is it? how much would it cost to fix? N.O. is NOT going to spend millions on that after this. (or atleast not for a long time). there are more important things to deal with in N.O. sucks for the city, not that they dont have enough already to think about. can you imagin a natural disaster of that size in Buffalo, then moving the Bills away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rubes Posted September 7, 2005 Share Posted September 7, 2005 Forget New Orleans for a second...what about Jacksonville? Criminy, the home opener this weekend is likely to be blacked out. WTF? How does this city deserve a franchise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ (not THAT RJ) Posted September 7, 2005 Share Posted September 7, 2005 Forget New Orleans for a second...what about Jacksonville? Criminy, the home opener this weekend is likely to be blacked out. WTF? How does this city deserve a franchise? 431990[/snapback] I dislike FL teams as much as the next guy, but a little historical perspective is needed here. Between 1975 and 1980, every Bills home game was blacked out. The first time I ever saw Rich Stadium (as it was then) on TV was the Raiders game (4th of the season) in 1980. Even then home sellouts were rare until 1988. Bills fans might be a bit spoiled by the recent wave of sellouts... I for one would not want to make that the sole criteria for keeping a team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SF Bills Fan Posted September 7, 2005 Share Posted September 7, 2005 The city of NO will be unable to support the NFL in the future. That team has to move. Benson is a rat, but I now see no other choice. I think they were going anyway. It's good timing in that they are forced to go now bad timing that it was the hurricane that did it. Hopefully, thye go to LA and we can shut the door on that city stealing the Bills of any other team (Chargers). They most likely will stay in San Antonio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted September 7, 2005 Share Posted September 7, 2005 The B'gals went for something like 8 years in a row without a sell-out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rubes Posted September 7, 2005 Share Posted September 7, 2005 I dislike FL teams as much as the next guy, but a little historical perspective is needed here. Between 1975 and 1980, every Bills home game was blacked out. The first time I ever saw Rich Stadium (as it was then) on TV was the Raiders game (4th of the season) in 1980. Even then home sellouts were rare until 1988. Bills fans might be a bit spoiled by the recent wave of sellouts... I for one would not want to make that the sole criteria for keeping a team. 432046[/snapback] Hey, I remember the dark times as well as the next guy. But it's not like J-ville is a bad team...they barely missed the playoffs last year, optimism for the team is high, and they still can't sell out the season opener in time? Bah. Besides, this day and age is very different from the late 70s. With teams always looking to make the most money possible, you gotta show a lot of support for the team. I wouldn't want to make that the sole criteria for keeping a team either, but hey, the NFL is a much different business nowadays... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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