Relegation?
January 20th 2011 17:38
Relegated? Most Definitely.
I really enjoy soccer. It is my favorite sport to play and coach, and I love watching it whenever we get a game on ESPN. That made me think – other than the game itself, why do I like it so much? I came up with the following reasons off the top of my head:
1. FIFA video games
2. Most of my friends play it
3. The transfer system
4. The Champions League system
5. The relegation system
Then I went on to think – What if America joined in with the Champions League system and the relegation system? How cool would that be? The reasons to implement such systems are infinite.
If you aren’t aware of the two systems, here is a breakdown:
In England for example, the last three teams in the top division (The Premier League) are relegated to the next lowest division (English League Championship), then the top three teams from that lower division go to the top division every year.
Staying with The Premier League, the top three teams in that division qualify for The Champions League and go on to play the other teams in Europe that qualify from their respective leagues. The fourth place team in England qualifies for The Champions League qualifiers, so they aren’t guaranteed a spot in The Champions League, but they have a good shot. Then the fifth place team qualifies for a lesser known tournament called the Europa League, along with two other teams from the Premier League that can qualify in a few different ways.
New Rivalries: Imagine the NBA and NBDL mashed together to form two intertwining leagues. Owners would be punished for their incompetence and be forced to spend their money even wiser. Rivalries would form – Fort Wayne Mad Antz vs. Indiana Pacers, Tulsa 66ers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, or even teams out of the ABA could form rivalries such as Georgia Gwizzlies vs. Atlanta Hawks (that’s right – Gwizzlies) or Texas Fuel vs. San Antonio Spurs. The matchups are endless.
Minor League Teams: For those of us with minor league teams in our cities, how much more entertaining would a game be if we knew they could move up a division? The guys out there are not only playing for themselves and their team, but they are playing for you, the fan. They are trying to further their careers, but they are also representing your city and trying to make a name for your team.
Restrictions on Promotion: In European leagues such as England’s, there are certain teams that can only move up so high in the system because of their facilities. Certain teams don’t meet the facility requirements of the top English divisions, therefore they cannot move up to them. If thought about, the rule is a good one because it protects revenues and doesn’t let teams get embarrassed for a whole season if they don’t have the money to spend on top talent. Sadly, you wouldn’t be seeing ABA teams such as the Gulf Coast Flash (plays at Gulfport High School) or the Dallas Impact (plays at the Lakewest Family YMCA) playing in the NBA unless they got bigger facilities.
Regular Season: Almost all regular season games matter in England. Teams are either fighting to get a top spot to qualify for European competition, or they are fighting to not get relegated. Therefore, a game between the fourth place team and the 17th placed team at the end of the season will be full of drama and actually count for something. No players will be sitting out waiting for the playoffs, that is their playoffs. The regular season counts for a lot more overseas then it does in America.
Players: A player such as Antawn Jamison wouldn’t have to waste his career on teams that have no chance at doing anything. See, when teams get relegated, they sell their top players most of the time because they can’t afford them, and the star players in turn don’t want to play in the lower league. Jamison would then go to another team by way of a transfer or a trade (transferring is the world way, trading is the American way).
In Conclusion: I realize the draft process would have to be revamped along with salary cap rules and the "minor leagues". Either way, the draft needs to be changed. Why not have a completely random draft order? Don’t award teams for how bad they are. That is the biggest difference with how Europe (and other parts of the world) and America treat their professional sports teams. In America, we pamper our teams by giving them hope with draft picks. In other places, teams are punished for being bad and need to climb back up on their own. That is how it should be.
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