BUD SELIG OWNS BASEBALL!!!
Are you kidding me? This makes me freaking sick to my stomach! Bud Selig and Major League Baseball are now making Little League teams stop using team names of MLB teams unless they buy the official Majestic brand uniforms? We're talking about kids here Bud, the future of your sport! Last time I checked, most Little Leagues aren't exactly cash cows. I think they pretty much just operate and make enough money to run the league and lets kids all over the world groom their skills so that one day they can make millions of dollars as a member of the most powerful players union in all of professional sports. But now, if Bud has his way they'll have to do so on teams named the Birds, or Cats...instead of the Orioles or Tigers? Seriously? How can he say he owns the team name Tigers? Isn't that like one of the most popular team names in all of sports? There's probably a hundred Tigers in the NCAA. Wow.
It was bad enough when Bud banned the Cape League teams from using MLB team names, now he's going after the kids. What a fuck up. The kids look up to professional athletes, I was beyond excited when I found out I was on the Red Sox in Little League. That was like the most coveted team (for obvious reasons). I can't imagine a Little League with generic team names. Man...way to go Bud!
It was bad enough when Bud banned the Cape League teams from using MLB team names, now he's going after the kids. What a fuck up. The kids look up to professional athletes, I was beyond excited when I found out I was on the Red Sox in Little League. That was like the most coveted team (for obvious reasons). I can't imagine a Little League with generic team names. Man...way to go Bud!
To paraphrase the original article, this is shameful but not surprising. If I were running a local LL, I'd keep using the team names if that was already the practice and see if MLB dared to try to enforce this. However, I'm not so sure that this is that big a deal... don't most league's get local businesses to sponsor teams and name the teams after the business? That's how it was in my hometown and that seems to be the case when I see local kids geared up.
Posted by: Jeff | May 29, 2008 at 04:58 PM
Good point, I'd like to see him try and police all of the Little Leagues throughout the country. How many tens of thousands of them are there?
Where I grew up, teams had sponsors but there was still a tean name associated with it. Lunenburg Fire Department Red Sox, Chapdelaine Phillies, etc.
You were just a flat out business name in Leominster? Harp Farm!!!
Posted by: Kull | May 29, 2008 at 09:08 PM
Hmm- I wonder if thats why the teeball teams in Arlington have such weird names! Julia's team is The Hooks- and they play the Owls and the Volcanoes and all these teams with strange names! Watch out for the hooks- they might hook you to death- such a weird name! :)
Posted by: colleen | June 04, 2008 at 09:24 PM
Friggin Arlington! Although I can see how in some die hard regions (like where we live) it's a good idea to have generic names. Since nearly every kid would want to be on the Red Sox and not many would be caught dead wearing a shirt with Yankees across the chest. So if it's the league's own choice, that is cool but Bud should just stay out of it. Makes him look like an ass!
I heard the Hooks are off the hook this season. Sorry, couldn't resist.
Posted by: Kull | June 05, 2008 at 08:03 AM