Come on it turned out for the best... You seriously wouldnt rather have Michael Dickerson and Othella Harrington now would you. Both Franchises have gotten past it and frankly dont even care anymore.
if francis didn't refuse to play - i'm sure the grizz would have had a better winning % in vancouver - a more marketable player (finally a star) - and maybe some playoffs to get the city energized about the sport (the team was averaging about 15000 people with one of the worst teams in the league for 5 years straight).
I don't think the two situations compare at all. I don't believe Kobe even made his feelings public. It was a done deal on draft day. The Hornets didn't really want Kobe and Jerry West really did. West has said that Kobe was the best player in that draft-- only no one knew it except him. As I recall, the Hornets taking of Kobe was part of a pre-arranged trade contingent on Kobe being available with that 13th (?) pick. He was available. Hornets wanted Divac. Rest is history.
Agree with Major - it's no different from a company (the NFL) requiring an employee to be willing to relocate as a condition of employment.
the company analogy only works if the NFL would step in and Stepian a few owners - given the incompetence or disregard some of them demonstrate on a regular basis. In fact, what are the chances a succesful company would send it prodigies to its worst management, especially management that's ruined other prodigies in the past? Wouldn't the company have fired them by now?
Well if I was a player coming out of college I definitely wouldn't play for the ***skins. The name is totally racist and if you do not think it is you're only fooling yourself.
but then that makes it no different than just saying i don't want the job and i'm not working for you which anyone in the real world can do. i thought kobe did pretty much make it clear he was going to play for a big market team, right? i didn't pay that much attention to offseason rumors back then but i thought he made it clear that's what he wanted, though it may not have been limited to LA. of course, LA got shaq basically just b/c he wanted to play there. and of course got their trading piece for kobe from the fact they had shaq in the bag. it's a lot easier being a genius when the best players basically designate you as the place they wanna go.
Just wait until little 'ole Eli throws a few interceptions and stinks it up a little in good old NYC. I'm sure they'll be soooooooooo patient with him. He made his bed.......... D R
The only NFL teams I wouldnt want to play for would be the 49ers and Raiders, but if I'm in the draft I wouldnt complain. Both teams have great histories but I just wouldnt want to play there.
Here in Australia we have a 17 year old football player that looks like a real star. He came to Australia just five years ago. He recently turned down a chnace to play for New Zealand because....he wanted to play for Queensland and Australia! He's been here for five years. How does that make him an Aussie or a Queenlander for that matter. When players pick and chose who they want to play for against the natural progression of things....it cheapens the sport.
Archie did not want his son to have to suffer with what he went through. Archie was easily the most talented of the three and he got stuck with the 'Ain'ts. Seriously, doesn't every father want his son to not have to go through the crap that they had to deal with? Isn't that a father's job?
There are no guarantees in the NFL, though. For all we know, the Giants are going to be a piss-poor team for Eli's whole career. Not to mention that there's a whole new set of issues with being on a team in New York. I wonder if Archie talked to San Diego (or Arizona who originally owned the pick that became Ryan Leaf, a far worse franchise than the Chargers) before Peyton got drafted and told them he wouldn't go there if the Colts went with Ryan Leaf. Personally, even if I understand the not wanting to play for San Diego, I wonder why the very specific desire to go to New York. It appeared that Archie had something against 31 teams (including the Raiders who have not only won more Super Bowls than the Giants, but played in the Super Bowl more recently than the Giants), not just the one with the top pick.
