What does the absence of relegation teach us, besides the fact that sports teams here are little more than corporate subsidiaries charged only with generating cash? It teaches that there are no consequences for poor play.
If millions of dollars and adulation aren't enough to make major leaguers perform, down they go. What could make more sense? It fits perfectly with our sense of competition and the free market. If only successful businesses deserve to survive, why not the same for our sports teams? Why not give 'em a year or two to think about motivation while playing on free hot dog night in Tulsa, Omaha or Nashville and hopping on the bus after the game to bed down at the Red Roof Inn?
If the Crew can't kick it on the field, down to AAA we go. If the Bucks can't sink some crucial free throws in the final seconds and finish at the bottom of the standings, down we go. If the Packers play like they did for a couple decades before the arrival of Brett Favre, off we go to the CFL. If the Cubs continue choking, sooner or later they'll end up in the Chicagoland Little League system.
Now, I like baseball and the teams that I root for -- the hometown Brewers and my life-long team the Mets -- are not perennial winners, so as a fan I stand to lose from this concept sometimes. But that doesn't make it wrong.
And, there is an upside, too, for fans. My favorite soccer team Torino -- which was for many years the greatest team in Italy, with the national squad virtually mirroring the Toro starting lineup -- lives in the shadow nowadays of a more famous team in the same city. Imagine the joy for a fan when his Toro returns to Serie A in the same season "the other team" heads down to B. There is no greater joy.
Say what you want about the world's preferred sport -- and I know you will via the talkbacks -- but the Europeans have it right when it comes to relegation. Nothing makes a team try its darndest like the threat of playing at a city park in Little Rock and living in the partially ished basement of a local family.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
