Post by Mighty Mouse on Apr 21, 2010 0:41:50 GMT -5
Submitted on behalf of the Minnesota Timberwolves Franchise
The Plan:
The organization feels it can not continue to succeed in the current situation it finds itself in. The fan base has become very fickle with this franchise in the post-KG era and since the NBA has been renamed the Pick & Roll and all teams have been stripped of their players you would think that the fan base would be excited about the prospect of starting over and building a quality team but they have already been fed that line twice since KG was traded away and are not buying it. Without a star player on the horizon by being too low in the initial draft of current NBA talent and also not in the top-3 in the amateur draft the fan base knows it is highly likely the team will struggle for some time and is not interested in purchasing tickets, merchandise, etc.
The City:
We looked very hard at where to move the franchise. We looked inside and outside of North America. In truth, Las Vegas was very high on our list....top two really, as we view it as a very interesting place that is conducive to a pro basketball team. However, our top choice has always been London and is our desired location. The league is ready for expansion to Europe and there is no better landing spot for the first franchise overseas than jolly old England. NBA basketball will return to London for the fourth consecutive year in 2010 and tickets completely sell out three months in advance of these games, so, the interest is there for NBA basketball, so the newly named Pick & Roll league should establish a franchise there. There is a state of the art arena already waiting in The O2 Arena that has a capacity of up to 23,000 which is located on the Greenwich Peninsula in South East London. With it being the only team in Europe it will be easy to sell out each game and merchandise sales will be, to say the least, quite high.
The Name:
We also will be changing the name of the team which is needed since in a relocation it typically is a very wise move to re-brand the team to fit the new location. The team will be known as the London Plague. London has a rich history and there was many ways to go but we ultimately decided upon the Plague as no one wants to encounter the plague as it is a very hard thing to survive. Plus we wanted something with some teeth to it, something the opposite of warm and fuzzy. Well, nothing is more the polar opposite of warm and fuzzy than the plague! For those of you that don't know, the historical context is the great plague that ravaged London in the long ago past.
The League:
The best case would be if there are enough interested owners to have a foreign division that was brought up in the relocation thread by the owner of the Pacers. We would willingly have our franchise be in that division.
As is looks like the New Jersey relocation vote is likely to pass (8-0 in their favor of moving) we will put forth our suggestion of league realignment if there is not a foreign division created.
We wish to start off by saying that the Minnesota franchise, geographically, already was displaced from our divisional competition. London would be best fit into the Atlantic Division. We suggest that Toronto be moved to the Great Lake Division because, after all, they are a city by one of the great lakes. We recommend Indiana be moved to the Southeast Division and Memphis be moved into the Mountain Division. Geography was the reason for these team moves as they are the ones that make the most sense to move to a different division.
We already are working on ideas for logos and jerseys designed for this move that we think will be exciting and invigorating for the teams transition. Upon the league's acceptance of our proposal we will in short order showcase them.
Thank you for reading our proposal and we hope we have presented an argument enough to gain your vote in support of our plan.
Respectfully,
The Minnesota Timberwolves franchise which desires to become the London Plague franchise
Submitted Logos and Jerseys for Consideration:
The Plan:
The organization feels it can not continue to succeed in the current situation it finds itself in. The fan base has become very fickle with this franchise in the post-KG era and since the NBA has been renamed the Pick & Roll and all teams have been stripped of their players you would think that the fan base would be excited about the prospect of starting over and building a quality team but they have already been fed that line twice since KG was traded away and are not buying it. Without a star player on the horizon by being too low in the initial draft of current NBA talent and also not in the top-3 in the amateur draft the fan base knows it is highly likely the team will struggle for some time and is not interested in purchasing tickets, merchandise, etc.
The City:
We looked very hard at where to move the franchise. We looked inside and outside of North America. In truth, Las Vegas was very high on our list....top two really, as we view it as a very interesting place that is conducive to a pro basketball team. However, our top choice has always been London and is our desired location. The league is ready for expansion to Europe and there is no better landing spot for the first franchise overseas than jolly old England. NBA basketball will return to London for the fourth consecutive year in 2010 and tickets completely sell out three months in advance of these games, so, the interest is there for NBA basketball, so the newly named Pick & Roll league should establish a franchise there. There is a state of the art arena already waiting in The O2 Arena that has a capacity of up to 23,000 which is located on the Greenwich Peninsula in South East London. With it being the only team in Europe it will be easy to sell out each game and merchandise sales will be, to say the least, quite high.
The Name:
We also will be changing the name of the team which is needed since in a relocation it typically is a very wise move to re-brand the team to fit the new location. The team will be known as the London Plague. London has a rich history and there was many ways to go but we ultimately decided upon the Plague as no one wants to encounter the plague as it is a very hard thing to survive. Plus we wanted something with some teeth to it, something the opposite of warm and fuzzy. Well, nothing is more the polar opposite of warm and fuzzy than the plague! For those of you that don't know, the historical context is the great plague that ravaged London in the long ago past.
The League:
The best case would be if there are enough interested owners to have a foreign division that was brought up in the relocation thread by the owner of the Pacers. We would willingly have our franchise be in that division.
As is looks like the New Jersey relocation vote is likely to pass (8-0 in their favor of moving) we will put forth our suggestion of league realignment if there is not a foreign division created.
We wish to start off by saying that the Minnesota franchise, geographically, already was displaced from our divisional competition. London would be best fit into the Atlantic Division. We suggest that Toronto be moved to the Great Lake Division because, after all, they are a city by one of the great lakes. We recommend Indiana be moved to the Southeast Division and Memphis be moved into the Mountain Division. Geography was the reason for these team moves as they are the ones that make the most sense to move to a different division.
We already are working on ideas for logos and jerseys designed for this move that we think will be exciting and invigorating for the teams transition. Upon the league's acceptance of our proposal we will in short order showcase them.
Thank you for reading our proposal and we hope we have presented an argument enough to gain your vote in support of our plan.
Respectfully,
The Minnesota Timberwolves franchise which desires to become the London Plague franchise
Submitted Logos and Jerseys for Consideration: