The realities of money

The NFL… does it ever make sense? My favourite team, the Dallas Cowboys, expected to do nothing, now a game away from the play-offs, playing amazing, before laying an egg against Philadelphia on Thanksgiving.

It’s a demoralising feeling.

But that leads to a point that I’ve been mulling over for a while now. I feel bad for sports fans in the UK.

In the US, nearly every sport, besides baseball, has a salary cap. This “caps” teams on how much they are allowed to spend on their roster from season to season. Everybody gets the same amount to spend. When teams are capped, it makes them stretch their dollars, making it hard for one team, or a few, to spend more than everyone else and finish at the top every year.

This is in stark contrast to football in Europe, and UEFA’s financial “fair play” rules. Essentially, all this says is teams need to break even. Simply not spend more money than they have.

So, if you are a rich club you can spend all the money that you have. But, if you are a poor club, you have your meagre pennies to spend and still try to field a competitive side. That leads to things like the Premier League, where fans know the big four (Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Man U) are going to finish near the top. It’s a foregone conclusion. They have the money to spend and they flaunt it, making for the same story lines every season.

Which one of the big four will win it this year? Which team that came up is going down?

With the salary cap system in the US, teams can go from cellar to championship in one season. Then back the next.

What more can a sports fan ask for than to be surprised from year to year?

The Beginning

I asked for this. I wanted it. I have always wanted to come study, live, and work in England and Europe. The opportunity to be here is amazing, but I forgot one thing… Sports.

I’m a sports nut. I live for it. It’s the best reality show on television. You never know what will happen. Any sports fan can appreciate they have THEIR club, and traditions that will always live in you. When the opportunity to be around other sport fans that have the same enthusiasm as you is taken away, it leaves a void in your soul.

I have a hole in my soul right now.

The National Football League is in the middle of another amazing season, with parity. Nearly every team still has a chance to make the playoffs, which keeps more fans interested until the last second of the last game of the season.

 Similarly, the NHL is so full of story lines I don’t think I can take another bite. I mean, the NY Islanders are good? That hasn’t happened in a decade. Who saw that coming? Oh, and don’t forget the absolute crash and burn going on in Edmonton again…

And whom do I have to talk about it with? Sadly, only myself.

I have found some other Brits who know and follow the American sports but it’s just not the same. Hopefully, throwing my opinions out on this blog will help me cope with what I’m missing.

This feeling of sports loneliness hit me hard on Thanksgiving. Turkey Day. But also one of the biggest days for sports in America ever year. My favourite NFL team was playing but who was there to cheer with me, or even razz me a little?

 My wife.

Sorry dear, but the Internet is my new sports friend now.