As it stood before they took on Stanford in the opening round of the CWS

As it stood before they took on Stanford in the opening round of the CWS, FSU had the fourth seed. Unfortunately, the Cardinal didn’t seem to care about the ‘Noles high seeding. Stanford crushed Florida State 16-5 and put the Seminoles within one game of being ousted. Mike Martin, FSU’s head coach, has been to 12 College World Series, but has never captured a title. He’s a good coach with over 1400 wins, but if you’ve been to the CWS 12 times, and have never won the title, something is wrong. This article is also featured on Coffman’s Corner.

 As many of you may already know, David Stern has avidly discussed a plan in which he would hope to create five NBA franchises overseas within the next decade. This would undoubtedly be a bold move, as no major league organization has yet to attempt expansion to Europe.While the idea seems impracticable upon first glance, there also appears to be a large upside to such a move. Therefore, I will analyze the pros and cons of this proposition, in hopes of better understanding the impact it may have on the NBA and its fans: ProsHaving European teamsparticipate in the NBA would greatly increase interest level among bothAmerican fans as well as European fans.Financially, the NBA couldprosper greatly. Jersey sales would skyrocket both in the USA as well as in Europe,especially within the first few years of the expansion.In recent years and in avariety of sports, foreign countries have frequently criticized the U.Sfor stealing away international talent into the American professionalleagues. With European expansion, that would no longer be an issue.If successful, the NBA wouldbecome the first professional league to expand its reach across the globein the form of actual participating teams. This would allow David Stern toleave behind a legacy unlike any other, and it would be a credit that theNBA would have above all other American professional sports leagues  ConsPotential travel issues mayarise.

In a playoff series, not many players would enjoy flying back andforth between L.A and Rome. Many American players wouldlikely not want to play for a European team, as that would likely forcethe player to move to that city as well as his family. Establishing an entirely newfan base and building new stadiums on foreign soil can be harder than itseems.In the eyes of some NBA fans,assimilating European cities into the NBA would damage the nationalistpride of the league After all, it IS the National Basketball Association. While both the pros and cons for the argument are credible, I personally believe that expanding the NBA into Europe would be a great idea. If everything goes as planned, five European teams will be playing in the NBA within the next 10 years.A separate division will be created for these teams, and scheduling would likely be extra sensitive to the difficult travel that these teams would face. All in all, I believe this move, if executed successfully, will benefit the NBA more than we can imagine. . Under popular demand we will start having a Fantasy Sports section for your daily links.

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