So, here come the Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars issuing yet another challenge to an already chaotic sports world of lore and order.
That is, how can established teams achieve parity with expansion teams and avoid suffering from fiscal exhaustion?
For old franchises, part of the problem in keeping up with new franchises is determining what they’re all about. Either they’re very smart or very dumb. It’s probably a little bit of both.
Obviously, the Panthers and Jaguars benefited from benign treatment on mechanisms such as free agency, salary caps and extra draft picks. Also, because of the prevailing wasteland–on the field and in front offices–the Panthers and Jaguars jumped headfirst into a shallow talent pool. The line between good and bad rarely has been thinner.
Simultaneously, however, these precocious franchises betray a certain naivete about the way it’s done now because they blithely ignore a basic tenet of Sports Ownership 101: Winning is nice, but not necessary.
Take the Bears, please. They romped in Super Bowl XX with a roster that figured to dominate for a while. Then management discovered to its horror that this hobby of collecting trophies is expensive, and look at the Bears now.
Or take the Blackhawks, double please. They turned yet another hefty profit last season while the Florida Panthers and Colorado Avalanche competed for the Stanley Cup. But feel free to assume that the Hawks stashed more cash than both of those franchises combined. So, who really wins in the end?
The trend is not local. George Frankensteinbrenner imagines that he was put on this earth to secure championships, and his New York Yankees did indeed win the World Series at considerable cost. Yet, 10 minutes after the parade ended, they started losing important players.
It happens to all, and it will happen to the Carolinas and Jacksonvilles.
Their rapid success supposedly embarrasses venerable NFL teams, but the suggestion here is that this mood of chagrin shall pass. Expansion is tantamount to printing money, and the story of the Panthers and Jaguars is a house ad for future commerce. If they were charged $140 million to join the club, what might the next round of palpitating potential partners be asked to pay?
Aided by widespread dilution, a few expansion teams have declared themselves recently. The aforementioned NHL Panthers won their conference in their third season. The Colorado Rockies earned a playoff spot in their third. But generally, young franchises agree to be terrible, or have no choice.
The Jaguars dared to be different by hiring coach Tom Coughlin before they had a logo, and the next dangerous guy to watch is Jerry Colangelo. His Phoenix Suns won 48 NBA games in their third season and his Arizona Diamondbacks are loading up for 1998. Manager Buck Showalter was installed a year ago, and his record is still 0-0.
Occasionally, a Jerry Reinsdorf will infuriate lodge brothers by spending gobs to win, as he did with the Bulls and White Sox. Who does he think he is? Doesn’t he know mediocrity sells? Or is he himself getting ready to sell?
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New England’s Patriots aren’t an expansion team, but might as well be. Who would have thought in 1986 that they might return to a Super Bowl before the Bears? The problem with the Patriots is Robert Kraft, an oddball who bought them in 1994 and thinks there’s no substitute for winning.
He’ll learn.