Breakups are tough, particularly in the sports world.
Sometimes fans get lucky and teams relocate within the same metropolitan area to help smooth the transition, à la the Nets moving from New Jersey to Brooklyn. Other times fans aren’t as fortunate, such as when the Warriors moved from Philadelphia to California.
Moves can happen for a variety of reasons, ranging from performance in the field of play to irreconcilable differences between the team and local leaders, but the feeling stings the same, regardless of the reason.
On July 18, 2006, one of the most notorious moves in sports history was made official when the Seattle SuperSonics were sold to an Oklahoma City ownership group, and the Oklahoma City Thunder were born.
Years later, former owner Howard Schultz expressed remorse about the sale.
“Selling the Sonics as I did is one of the biggest regrets of my professional life. I should have been willing to lose money until a local buyer emerged,” Schultz said in 2019.
Despite calls from NBA fans near and far, including NBA champion Klay Thompson, an NBA squad still has not returned to Seattle nearly two decades later.
Fans across professional sports can relate to the longing for a franchise that moved on to greener (or sometimes lesser) pastures.
NFL — Baltimore Colts
Notable players: Raymond Berry, Gino Marchetti, Y.A. Tittle, Johnny Unitas
Year folded: 1984
Rebranded as: Indianapolis Colts
The Colts operated as an All-America Football Conference (AAFC) squad for three seasons before joining the NFL. Baltimore’s stint was short-lived and the team posted a 1-11 record in its only year. Its one-season roster included three Pro Football Hall of Famers.
The franchise then operated as the Dallas Texans for two seasons, but it didn’t take long for football to return to Charm City as the second iteration of the Colts arrived in 1953.
Baltimore won its first NFL championship in 1958 with Johnny Unitas at the helm in “The Greatest Game Ever Played.” The squad made six more playoff appearances, including a 1970 Super Bowl victory, in the Unitas era, which ended in 1972.
Over the next decade the Colts largely struggled to reach the same level of success. In 1983, John Elway famously refused to join the Colts and demanded a trade when the team selected him with the top pick.
The team recorded six consecutive losing seasons in its last…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at www.espn.com – NHL…