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Originally Posted by bbor
I have no words....I'll let ML rip on this one.
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I wasn't that serious, relax.
I understand the economics of it, it makes plenty of sense. Besides, most of the players were foreigners or vets anyway and I always enjoy seeing that. So, I get it. But..it's just weird to watch how much the sport has changed -- and I don't just mean the rules -- in less than 15 years.
I don't think there is a parallel for that in "major" (I use that term loosely) North American sports, where the entire sport has essentially eshewed all the things that made it great.
To be more succint, if this was baseball and it'd gone down this way, all the purists would be burning anything they could get their hands on or swearing from here to Bill James' house and back.
Not that Bud hasn't tried to out-Bettman Gary, its just different because of the dynamics involved. That and it seems baseball fans will put up with just about anything and I'm one of them.