upstater1
Hall of Fame Poster
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2005
- Messages
- 26,480
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- 16,680
I believe there's a different point here, tell me if this makes sense. If you bought an NFL team 10 years ago, you would have taken a swift ride to prosperity simply by being a part of this marvelous 32-team cartel. Yearly profits are only part of the equation. The other part is the sales value of the team as a business.
It's like owning a house on a street that just became the most desirable neighborhood in town. Wilson liked the way it was before and is complaining about the property taxes. Kraft wants him to mow his lawn and take that rusted car out of the driveway.
There's no denying that the Patriots meteoric rise in value put a luster on every other team. If Wilson really was poor, he'd sell, take the cash, and let some other owner spiff up the property. But Wilson is a rich old man who likes his membership in the country club and his name on the mantel. For him to make that quote about the rich and the poor is beyond disingenuous.
The NFLPA is demanding that teams maximize revenue so the players can make as much as possible. Kraft does that, and doesn't want to subsidize the teams that don't. So he makes the point about the name on the stadium because it's symbolic of rich old fans who refuse to run their team like a business.
Wilson's is a feel-good story if you feel good about a rich old egotist; someone who thinks having his name on the stadium is more important than paying the guys who take the field.
It's a symbol, but it's an important one.
OK, here, I'll try again. I really don't give a damn about Kraft, Wilson or McNair. All of them have become filthy rich off the fans.
I'd just as soon, however, prefer that the NFL doesn't go the route of MLB. That's my only point. Some of you can gear up your interest to watch the red Sox v. Royals in May, or Penn St. against Akron. Me, that kind of stuff bores me to death. That's why I'm a big NFL fan. Any Given Sunday will not turn into Once Every Blue Moon.