Word: irsay
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...cold, snowy evening, a procession of moving vans crept out of a training camp in Owing Mills, Md., carrying away not only the cleats and shoulderpads of the Baltimore Colts but also the trust and affection of their fans. When Baltimore arose the next morning, Colts owner Robert Irsay had ensconced their team in Indianapolis. The Baltimore sun and the News American responded with blaring headlines about "The Rape of Baltimore," and local talk shows haven't yet stopped recycling the anguish...
...which temporarily prevented the Colts from completing their move or playing anywhere else but in Baltimore--the first step in the effort to recapture the team under the legal doctrine of eminent domain. But locking the barn door did little good, the colt was gone and legal precedent favored Irsay. In the past year a California federal court has twice ruled in favor of Al Davis, owner of the Raiders, who challenged the NFL constitution and the city of Oakland when he moved his team from Oakland to Los Angeles. Davis had long held that Rule 43 of the constitution...
...that the court's ruling pertained only to his own move. "It does not give anyone else in the league the right to move." Though NFL, commissioner Pete Rozelle predicted ruefully that the Davis decision would herald an era of "free agent franchises," he has refused to put the Irsay move to a vote, bowing before the Mammon of professional sport--money. An owner will be understandably reluctant to veto a profitable relocation when he may be the next to require his peers' approval...
Money was certainly the prime mover behind Irsay's fly-by-night relocation. He departed owing the city of Baltimore $2.3 million in back taxes, but Indianapolis was willing to overlook his credit history; they have renegotiated a large bank loan for his at favorable terms, and are promising the Colts $7 million a year from ticket sales, preseason TV rights, and regular season radio rights, Indianapolis stands to profit as well--Mayor William Hudnut estimated that the franchise will bring the city $21 million a year and give it invaluable national media exposure...
...dark of night, strikingly like a thief, the Baltimore Colts loaded up the horseshoe helmets last week and quietly moved to Indianapolis. Robert Irsay, 61, a Skokie, Ill., contractor who acquired the 31-year-old team in 1972, had been the most eligible carpetbagger in the National Football League since franchise free agency was tested in court by the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders three years ago. Romanced by Phoenix, Jacksonville, Memphis and New York, Irsay finally succumbed to a domed stadium, an inexpensive practice facility and a cheap loan...