On Tuesday night , ESPN aired Barry Levinson’sThe Band that Would n’t Die , the second instalment of its30 for 30documentary series . Levinson ’s film tells the narration of the Baltimore Colts ' march band , a grouping that keep march in Baltimore even after the squad relocated to Indianapolis in 1984 . While we were watching the grim fib of sports enfranchisement move , we wondered what other move almost happened , but fall through . Here are a few moves that nearly changed the landscape painting of sports :
1 & 2. The Seattle White Sox (or Florida White Sox)
That deal quickly fell through , but the team came even closer to leaving Chicago in 1988 . After failing to assure funding for a taxpayer - supported new stadium , the team ’s ownership group eyed St. Petersburg as a possible newfangled landing spot . lover in Florida even started impress Florida White Sox shirt as it became increasingly remove the Sox would be motivate to the Sunshine State . outraged Chicago fans submerge St. Petersburg Mayor Robert Ulrich ’s mailbox with contaminating pairs of whitened socks to get him know those were the only piece of pale hose he ’d be getting . Eventually , though , the nation legislature yield in an eleventh - time of day deal that save the squad $ 60 million in fresh construction cost and keep back the White Sox in Chicago .
3. The Saskatoon Blues
Obviously , Ralston Purina was blistering to betray the team , and they found a buyer in Edmonton Oilers founder Bill Hunter . Hunter and his investing group planned to bribe the team and move it to hockey - crazed Saskatoon . The NHL was n’t too acute to lose a big securities industry like St. Louis , though , and nixed the business deal . finally man of affairs Harry Ornest bought the team and retain it in St. Louis .
4. The St. Louis Patriots
Not everyone was trying to get out of St. Louis , though . In 1992 , St. Louis aboriginal James Orthwein bought the New England Patriots with the promise of strike the dealership to his hometown . Orthwein , who was the heavy - grandson of Anheuser - Busch founder Adolphus Busch , never have his relocation act together , though , and in 1994 he sold the squad to current proprietor Robert Kraft .
5. The Louisville Rockets
6 & 7. The Toronto Oilers and Edmonton Maple Leafs
Teams trade players all the clock time , but swapping metropolis ? It almost happened in the NHL in 1980 . At the meter the Toronto Maple Leafs were hemorrhaging money with a dirty roster , and the Edmonton Oilers had a stacked team that would end up winning five Stanley Cups over the course of study of the next decade .
According to Oilers proprietor Peter Pocklington , Leafs possessor Harold Ballard called him up with a novel proposition : the teams would simply switch markets . The Oilers would move to Toronto and yield Ballard $ 50 million in cash for slipping into the bigger mart , while the Leafs would take the Oilers ' sure-enough stain in Edmonton . Pocklington write in his autobiography that he was all for the move , but Ballard induce cold metrical unit and backed out at the last min .
8. The Memphis Hornets
The Memphis Grizzlies are right up there with the Los Angeles Clippers in the subspecies for the dubious title of the NBA ’s liberal laughingstock , but they win at least one major battle this X . On March 26 , 2001 , both the then - Vancouver Grizzlies and the moribund Charlotte Hornets hold to relocate to Memphis . When the NBA granted the Ursus horribilis the right wing to move to Elvis ' old metropolis , the Hornets had to scramble to find another landing position . After eyeball Norfolk , Louisville and St. Louis , the Hornets settled for New Orleans and move to the Big Easy for the starting time of the 2002 - 2003 season .
And the Time the Colts & Rams Swapped Deeds
Who ask to swap cities when you may just switch deeds ? It happened with the Colts and the Rams in 1972 . Colts proprietor Carroll Rosenbloom was tiring of have an NFL team in Baltimore thanks to his squabbles with the local media and the Orioles ' ownership . He did like own a squad , however . Rather than move the team , Rosenbloom would just have to get creative .
Enter Robert Irsay , who was considering becoming a minority owner in any deal to buy the Colts . Irsay and Rosenbloom came up with a canny way to make everyone well-chosen : Irsay would buy the L.A. Rams . Irsay then traded the deed to the Rams for the act to the Colts and $ 3 million in cash . Just like that , the team alter hands without moving an inch . Irsay , of course , would become Baltimore ’s number one public enemy in 1984 when he moved the Colts to Indianapolis .
[ Mayflower / Baltimore Colts image credit : Lloyd Pearson , Baltimore Sun ]
