Word: irsay
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Perhaps the best thing to happen to Indianapolis recently was the defection of professional football's Baltimore Colts last March. Under cover of night, Colts Owner Robert Irsay had his team's equipment piled into a convoy of moving vans (Mayflower movers of Indianapolis) for shipment to the Midwest. Baltimore has filed motions in federal court to block the sale of tickets to Indianapolis Colts games, but this has hardly curtailed the excitement of the Hoosiers over their new National Football League team. Irsay has been hailed as a hero; WELCOME COLTS signs are all over town...
...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...