To Tank, as in Toilet

The Cubs went through a rebuild.  The White Sox are going through a rebuild.  The Bears are always going through a rebuild, even if they don’t know it.  And the Bull just finished their season with a 27-55 record, which screams “Rebuild!” along with a few other things.

Unlike those Bulls’ fans who booed when the team won at the United Center, I can’t bring myself to accept losing in the name of winning.  It goes against my nature and defies logic (see Pirates, Pittsburgh).  You embrace losing, it embraces you.

 Bulls’ executive vice president John Paxson said in today’s Tribune the idea of losing “goes against everything as a competitive person that you believe in.  But it’s the way the system is set up.”  In that case, maybe it’s time to consider changing things.  Let’s go old-school and abolish the draft in pro sports.

Think about it.  No more gaming the system by sitting your best players a la the Bulls after the All-Star break, and no more talking gibber about what’s best for the organization or the sport.  You want ’em, you sign ’em, just like the Yankees did back in the day.  But didn’t deep-pocketed clubs have an unfair advantage before sports adopted the draft system?  To which I would say, which teams benefit from outrageous cable contracts?  Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

So, the Yankees and the Giants and the Knicks could go on spending sprees.  Big deal.  All that would do is force other teams to be smart, scout and sign and trade for the right players.  The White Sox did that all the time in the ’50s.  And, while the Yankees won the pennant eight out of ten times that decade, things were different in the National League.  The Dodgers and baseball Giants got nothing out of their New York location and moved.  Out in small-market St. Louis, the Cardinals have always done well, with or without a draft.

Turn back the clock, I say, and let’s see what happens.  It can’t be any worse than what’s going on now in Chicago.