Washington Redskins Sue Season Ticket Holders

As a fan of professional sports, I am SICKENED by this story out of the NFL.

Pat Hill is one of 125 Washington Redskins season ticket holders who asked to be released from multiyear contracts and were sued by the team over the past five years.

How do you expect to keep fans by acting like this. Just let them out of their contracts. Yes, they signed a contract but circumstances have changed over the past couple of years. Don’t lose your loyal fan base or pretty soon, you’ll have no one left.

Whether you’re a Dallas Cowboys, Oakland Raiders, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings (and the list goes on) fan, be sure to read the whole story and pass this along!

From the Washington Post:

It would be hard to find a more loyal fan of the Washington Redskins than real estate agent Pat Hill. She’s had season tickets since the early 1960s, when her daughter danced in the halftime shows at the old D.C. Stadium, before it was renamed in memory of Robert F. Kennedy.

In the hallway of her modest home south of Alexandria, the 72-year-old grandmother points out the burgundy-and-gold Redskins hook rug she made. In her bedroom, she shows off the pennants from two Redskins Super Bowl games she attended, and she opens a music box on her dresser that plays “Hail to the Redskins.”

Now, Hill says, her beloved Redskins are forcing her into bankruptcy.

Last year, Hill’s real estate sales were hit hard by the housing market crash, and she told the team that she could no longer afford her $5,300-a-year contract for two loge seats behind the end zone. Hill said she asked the Redskins to waive her contract for a year or two.

The sales office declined.

On Oct. 8, the Redskins sued Hill in Prince George’s County Circuit Court for backing out of a 10-year ticket-renewal agreement after the first year. The team sought payment for every season through 2017, plus interest, attorneys’ fees and court costs.

Hill couldn’t afford a lawyer. She did not fight the lawsuit or even respond to it because, she said, she believes that the Bible says that it is morally wrong not to pay your debts. The team won a default judgment of $66,364.

“It really breaks my heart,” Hill said, her voice cracking as the tears well and spill. “I don’t even believe in bankruptcy.

“We are supposed to pay our bills. I ain’t trying to get out of anything.”

Who Are the World’s Most Valuable Sports Teams?

As a sports fan, I’ve often asked myself this question. Today, Forbes had a great article which gives more insight into the answer to this questions.

It turns out that in 2003, no pro sports team in the world was worth a billion dollars. By the end of 2008, there were 24, led by European soccer powerhouse Manchester United.

From Forbes:

It begs the question: Is pro sports a bubble? That’s hard to say. But with the economy in peril, the days of skyrocketing growth appear to be over, at least for now.

“We’re in for some trying times for the next year or so,” says Larry Grimes, a Washington, D.C.-based mergers and acquisitions consultant who specializes in the sports industry. What he sees ahead is not so much the bursting of a bubble, which by definition would include a wave of selling at distressed prices, but a leveling off of franchise valuations to reflect the current reality. With prospective buyers having trouble lining up financing, many current owners will have little choice but to sit tight and ride out the storm.

The $1 billion-and-up club isn’t particularly broad-based. By Forbes’ count, it consists of the New York Yankees, a handful of European soccer clubs and, well, most of the NFL. Spearheaded by the Washington Redskins, which became the first NFL team to break the billion dollar barrier in 2004, the league now boasts 19 of 30 clubs valued above the magic number. The Redskins have since been surpassed by the Dallas Cowboys, whose lucrative merchandising business and (starting next season) new stadium have pushed their value to $1.6 billion, second overall to Manchester United.

Other NFL teams in the top 10 include the New England Patriots (three recent Super Bowl titles), the New York Jets and Giants (a shared new stadium on the way) and the Houston Texans (the league’s biggest stadium naming rights deal). Even the NFL’s least valuable franchise, the Minnesota Vikings, is knocking on the door of billionaire row at $839 million.

Other than the Yankees, no baseball team has managed to crash the sports’ billionaire club. The most valuable NBA franchise, the New York Knicks, checks in at $613 million. In the NHL, the Toronto Maple Leafs lead the valuation standings at just over $400 million. But while businesses of the NHL, NBA and MLB don’t stack up to the NFL, the average team value has grown at a pace that doesn’t figure to be sustained much longer.

Major League Baseball’s 30 clubs are worth a collective $14.1 billion, up from $6.6 billion in 1999. Growth rates are similar in the NBA, to $11.4 billion from $5.3 billion, and in the television-challenged NHL, to $6.6 billion from $3.6 billion.

Sammy Baugh Dies at 94

Sammy Baugh,  who revolutionized the use of the forward pass as a Hall of Fame quarterback for the Washington Redskins, died Wednesday night at the age of 94.

From the Associated Press:

Baugh, who had numerous health issues, died at Fisher County Hospital in Rotan, according to his son, David Baugh. He said his father had battled Alzheimer’s disease and dementia for several years and recently had been ill with kidney problems, low blood pressure and double pneumonia.

“It wasn’t the same Sam we all knew,” his son told The Associated Press. “He just finally wore out.”

Sammy Baugh was the last surviving member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s inaugural class.

After starring at TCU, “Slingin’ Sammy” played with the Redskins from 1937 to 1952, leading them to the NFL title in his rookie season and again in 1942.

Baugh was the best all-around player in an era when such versatility was essential. In 1943, he led the league in passing, punting and defensive interceptions. In one game, he threw four touchdown passes and intercepted four as well. He threw six touchdowns passes in a game twice. His 51.4-yard punting average in 1940 is still the NFL record.

“There’s nobody any better than Sam Baugh was in pro football,” Don Maynard, a fellow West Texas Hall of Famer who played for Baugh, said in a 2002 interview. “When I see somebody picking the greatest player around, to me, if they didn’t go both ways, they don’t really deserve to be nominated. I always ask, ‘Well, how’d he do on defense? How was his punting?’”

Plaxico Burress Shoots Himself in Leg

Well, it seems that New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress was released from a New York hospital yesterday after suffering what may have been a self-inflicted leg wound in a shooting on Friday evening. I’ve heard that he was accidentally shot but this is the first I’ve heard of it possibly being self-inflicted.

From the Washington Post:

According to several reports, Burress accidentally shot himself.

The Giants indicated in a written statement that Burress, 31, had suffered a wound to his right thigh in “an apparent accidental shooting.” The Giants indicated in the statement that they were gathering facts about the incident and had been in contact with NFL security officials, and added that the shooting “could become a matter for law enforcement officials.”

The team did not provide further details and did not indicate how seriously Burress was hurt or when he might be able to play football again. Burress already had been declared out of today’s game against the Washington Redskins because of a hamstring injury.

“Obviously, our primary concern is for Plaxico’s health and well-being,” the Giants’ statement said, “and given the circumstances, we are relieved to say he was released from a New York City hospital at approximately 2 p.m. . . . At this point, we are attempting to gather all the facts surrounding this incident. This incident could become a matter for law enforcement officials, and because of that, we have no comment on any of the details.”

Reports by Fox, the New York Daily News and other media outlets indicated that Burress suffered a non-life-threatening injury when he accidentally shot himself in the leg Friday night, hours after the Giants had announced that he wouldn’t play against the Redskins.