In what should go down as one of the most ridiculous law suits in baseball history, the City of Anaheim today lost its complaint against Art Moreno, owner of the Anaheim Angels (sic). I, for one, am both surprised and disappointed by the verdict.
In the spirit of full disclosure, let’s be clear that I am not, have never been, and will never be a fan of the Angels. I could say the same about Anaheim, but it is possible that I could learn to love the city. I could never learn to love the team.
Nevertheless, what gets me is how a team can get away with claiming to be from another city. This is so shallow, so overtly image-based, it could only be SoCal. Totally dude, except, like, don’t the New York Jets play in New Jersey? Ok, ok. Others have clearly pushed this envelop before. Foxboro is so far from Boston, I’m not sure it still qualifies as New England. And don’t get me started on Auburn Hills, home to the “Detroit” Pistons.
Where does this leave those of us who are loyal to their “local” teams? A few fun suggestions for other professional teams in search of more “national attention” (read: “TV revenue”):
The Los Angeles Padres (San Diego is close enough)
The Tri-State Jets (or maybe they should have to play at Shea)
The Tri-State Giants (or maybe they should have to play at Yankee Stadium)
The Oakland Raiders of Los Angeles (it could happen)
The Los Angeles Raiders of Oakland (also could happen)
The Lost Angeles Seahawks (I *know* they have seahawks in LA, and it is probably faster to fly to LA from Seattle than to drive to Anaheim from LA)
and my personal favorite …
“&” (formerly known as the Anaheim Angels)
All this nonsense makes me as proud as ever to root for my hometown OAKLAND A’s. Small market and all, it just works for me.
